The narrative that Penn State women’s hockey lost in a “heartbreaker” in the Frozen Four semifinals misses the point and does our women athletes a disservice.
Penn State women’s hockey didn’t lose. They went the distance.
In their first-ever Frozen Four appearance, they fought the returning champions to a draw and took them into overtime. They proved their heart, their passion and their skill. And they deserve the respect and support of our community as elite athletes who have made Penn State proud.
Penn State women’s hockey had a magical season. They showed up and played hard— even as this community failed to show up behind them. For most of the season, they played to a mostly empty ice arena, and they left it all on the ice, every time.
In an interview with the Daily Collegian, Tessa Janecke talked about how the passionate crowd at the Frozen Four semifinals was one of the best atmospheres she’d ever played in.
The only “heartbreaker” in this story is that she only got that true Penn State crowd experience during her last time on the ice as a Penn Stater, when our women’s hockey team deserved that energy every single game.
Women athletes deserve respect. They deserve fans. They deserve media coverage, institutional support and the time, attention and respect of the communities they play for.
Let’s show up for women’s sports. Let’s celebrate what Penn State women’s hockey accomplished this year. And next season, let’s fill Pegula Ice Arena every game.
Crystal Lee Garrett and Michel Lee Garrett
State College
Who Does Thompson Serve?
Voters across Pennsylvania’s 15th Congressional District are dealing with rising costs, shrinking health care access and growing uncertainty about the future. Yet Congressman Glenn Thompson seems focused on something else entirely.
Thompson wants another term representing this district. We shouldn’t re-elect him to a job he isn’t doing.
His record shows he represents the interests of wealthy donors and large corporations—not the people of central and northern Pennsylvania. Too often, he’s out of touch with the concerns of the people he was elected to serve.
Most recently, the only “bad news” in Thompson’s newsletter was a warning about Chinese communists supposedly “infiltrating” American universities.
What planet is he living on?
Here’s the bad news many of us are actually dealing with: rising food, housing and utility costs; an escalating conflict with Iran risking American lives and reportedly costing about $1 billion a day; higher gasoline prices; unaffordable health insurance and shrinking access to care as rural hospitals struggle to stay open; aggressive immigration actions disrupting communities; and detention facilities that strain both detainees and the towns forced to support them.
Meanwhile, Thompson’s “good news” was progress on the “Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026,” which he claims will help farmers and rural Americans.
Critics say the bill instead benefits large agribusiness and chemical companies while weakening environmental protections and maintaining deep cuts to food assistance.
Central Pennsylvania deserves a representative who fights for our needs—not the interests that fund his campaigns.
Patty Satalia
State College
Selective War on Fraud
President Trump recently launched a war on fraud, directing federal agencies to crack down on improper payments. He named VP Vance—dubbed the “Fraud Czar”—to lead a task force, claiming the recovered funds would be “country-changing,” lowering the deficit and taxes.
We aren’t fooled. Trump only cares about fraud when it’s committed by people he doesn’t like or don’t benefit him.
As the New York Times reported, he has granted clemency to more than 70 allies, donors and associates convicted in fraud cases, wiping away more than $700 million in restitution and fines. The pace has accelerated in his second term, with more than 30 such pardons in the past year alone.
The pattern is clear. This isn’t about protecting taxpayers. It’s about deciding who gets a pass—and who doesn’t.
Trump commuted a 20-year sentence for a health care executive who fraudulently billed $1.3 billion to Medicare and Medicaid—programs his crackdown now claims to protect.
And when it comes to protecting taxpayers, the record raises more questions. The administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) claims major savings, yet a nonpartisan analysis found its actions may cost taxpayers roughly $135 billion this year.
And then there’s this: The president himself was convicted of fraud—34 felony counts for falsifying business records.
Week after week, Trump asks Americans to take him at his word, while his actions tell a different story. A war on fraud that rewards fraud isn’t reform. It’s selective justice.
Haven’t we had enough?
Karen Stoehr
State College
‘Reshaping the Media‘
Recently, Donald Trump posted a graphic celebrating how he is “reshaping the media.” The graphic itself proudly lists journalists pushed out of their jobs, layoffs at major outlets, regulatory pressure, and the defunding of public broadcasters as political “wins.”
Think about what that means.
A president openly boasting about weakening news organizations that scrutinize him. A president openly bragging about violating the First Amendment guaranteeing freedom of speech. This should concern Americans of every political persuasion.
This isn’t simply criticism of the press. Democracies have always had vigorous debate about media bias. What’s different here is celebrating the use of political power to pressure the information system itself.
History offers a warning about where that road leads. Around the world, leaders seeking fewer checks on their authority often follow a familiar sequence: attack the credibility of independent media, pressure regulators to discipline broadcasters, encourage friendly ownership of major outlets, and frame all criticism as “distortion” or “hoaxes.”
Recent developments in the United States echo pieces of that pattern. In a recent social media post, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr warned broadcasters that coverage he considers misleading (what he called “fake news”) could be an issue when their licenses come up for renewal.
At a moment like this, keeping strong, independent public media alive, including WPSU here in central and northern Pennsylvania, has never been more important. Show your support for WPSU by donating today.
A free press exists to question power.
Democracy depends on it.
Mary Bruce Serene
State College
Selling National Security
It’s no longer enough to say this administration blurs ethical lines. It’s erasing them.
While ordinary Americans struggle with rising costs, those closest to power continue to profit. Consider Jared Kushner: While serving as a chief Middle East negotiator, he was also seeking to raise $5 billion for his private equity firm from governments in that region. That’s not a gray area. It’s a blatant conflict of interest—once unthinkable.
And he’s not alone. From Don Jr. and Eric’s drone venture to Stephen Miller’s private prison investments, the pattern is clear: Proximity to power is a business model.
Now it takes a darker turn.
A recent fundraising appeal offers donors access to “private national security briefings,” promising the “inside scoop” on threats facing America—wrapped in urgency and exclusivity.
And if these promised “briefings” never materialize—as watchdogs suggest—then this isn’t just dangerous, it’s deceptive. Either way, it’s unacceptable.
Let’s not sanitize this: selling access to national security insights to paying supporters isn’t just inappropriate—it’s dangerous.
And it gets worse. The appeal reportedly invokes the image of fallen U.S. service members to drive donations. Using sacrifice as a marketing tool isn’t just insensitive—it’s morally indefensible.
War isn’t a brand. National security isn’t a subscription service. Intelligence—real or implied—must never be a donor perk.
This isn’t about politics. It’s about whether we still recognize a line between public duty and private gain—and whether we’re willing to defend it.
Some lines, once crossed, don’t come back.
James Serene
State College
No Strategy, No End
Sound presidential decision-making requires guidance from experienced advisors. No president should take the United States to war because “he had a feeling,” or claim he’ll end it “when I feel it in my bones.” Yet Donald Trump has failed to provide the American people—or Congress—with a clear, consistent objective or endgame for the war in Iran.
Even some of his own allies are raising alarms. Former U.S. counterterrorism chief Joe Kent resigned, stating he could not support a war in which “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation.”
The costs are mounting: American lives lost; billions added to a $38 trillion national debt; strained military readiness; depleted weapons stockpiles; rising gas prices and inflation; increased instability.
Meanwhile, the consequences are spreading. Iran’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted global oil markets, sending prices higher and exposing the absence of a coherent strategy.
Trump now seems bewildered that NATO allies—many he has publicly disparaged—are reluctant to join the conflict.
At home, Republicans appear more focused on political survival than accountability, pushing the misleadingly named SAVE Act even as public support for this war was never strong and is fading fast.
This is the result of unchecked power. Congressional Republicans have enabled a president willing to engage in open-ended conflicts.
Is Iran just the beginning?
If Congress won’t act, then voters must. Pennsylvanians should demand that Senator Fetterman, Senator McCormick, and House Republicans reassert their constitutional authority—and end this misguided and unnecessary war.
George Polycranos
Port Matilda
Fundraising on War and National Security Secrets
President Trump’s foray into Iran has generated mixed reactions. The majority of Americans oppose the war, but voters are divided along party lines: Republicans are more likely to support the war, whereas Democrats and independents are more likely to oppose it.
But even those who accept the president’s actions have to recoil at the way he is trying to profit from the war. He’s now raising money from the casualties of the war he started – and selling our national security.
A fundraising email from a Trump-linked political action committee used a photo of the March 7 dignified transfer of soldiers killed in Iran.
Donors to Trump’s PAC are promised private national security briefings on “threats facing America … border invasions, foreign adversaries, deep state sabotage, and every danger the fake news hides.”
Securing one of the “very few spots remaining” guarantees “the inside scoop DIRECT from me, President Trump, the leader who’s rebuilt the greatest military in history, and put America First like no one else.”
Reasonable people may disagree about the justification and morality of engaging in war. But it’s hard to defend anyone profiting from war casualties and the sale of America’s secrets to the highest bidders.
It’s even harder to defend those actions from the person whose main job it is to keep our country safe and secure.
Diane Ebken
Port Matilda
War Isn’t the Solution We Need
Americans are facing many serious problems:
• An affordability crisis: High prices for food, housing and utilities
• A health care crisis: Unaffordable insurance and rural hospital closures
• A weakened safety net: Millions cut from SNAP and Medicaid
• Rising inequality
• Tariffs that function as taxes, paid by small businesses and consumers
• Unreleased Epstein files and continued lack of accountability for child sex predators
• Overly aggressive immigration enforcement that ensnares citizens and legal immigrants
• Detention centers with dangerous conditions leading to illness and death
And what is President Trump doing to solve the problems? Trying to distract us.
Instead of fixing domestic problems, the President has taken us to war. This isn’t what Americans want. It’s not what Americans voted for.
Linda Westrick
Boalsburg
