Rick,

The obvious suspect would be the alternator. Attaching the battery cables backwards for the jump start could have damaged the solid state internals of the alternator.

There are diodes groups that change AC to DC that could have been shorted or blown and there are diodes in the solid state regulator that may have been damaged as well.

I think a blown regulator could be responsible for the dash light always staying on, and this would indicate reverse current flow which means the battery is discharging through the alternator.

No polarity was reversed, and the coil is most likely fine. Keep in mind you might get a clean bill of health on the alternator if you take it to a big box parts store. Their tests aren't really sophisticated enough to catch all the fatal flaws.

A good auto-electric shop knows exactly how to give your alternator a comprehensive check, and would probably pin point the problem in moments.

Good luck and keep us up to speed on this.

Stuart