Columns
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Inside/Outside State College: Excellent Restaurants Outside of Downtown
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In this column, I’ve expressed chagrin about the lack of higher-end restaurants in a downtown as dynamic as State College. While that’s true, there is good news outside of downtown.
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Local Historia: Bellefonte’s Legacy of Innovation
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Pioneering architect Anna Wagner Keichline’s Cadillac Building combined showroom space, repair facilities and offices under one roof, reflecting both the practical demands of the automobile age and the spirit of innovation that characterized Bellefonte in the early 20th century.
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Battista: The Retiree’s Adventures Continue…
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Buckle up, baby, ‘cause we’re back on the road again! Nine states in 27 days of driving and flying, and dealing with torrential rains and tornado warnings in Pennsylvania, and a wildfire in Sun Valley, Idaho. And that was just in the first 10 days. Yes, this “retired life” is busier than ever for my…
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Column: The Penn State Men’s Basketball Paradox
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Penn State has always been and likely will always be a sports school, first and foremost. With 85 team national championships, 335 conference championships (regular season plus tournament), a historic wrestling dynasty, blue blood women’s volleyball program, ascending hockey programs and one of the biggest football brands in the country, the men’s basketball program remains…
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The Following Column Was Written by Russell Frank… Honest
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During a strategy session about our fall classes – yes, the 2026-27 academic year is nearly upon us – one of my colleagues confessed to using AI to generate the feedback he gives students on their writing assignments. I was aghast. He explained: You don’t just turn the grading over to AI. You train it,…
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Hook: Reflections on an Intriguing and Expensive World Cup
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According to media reports, the FIFA World Cup final is the most-watched sporting event in the world, and although as I write this the viewership numbers have not been released for this past Sunday’s final match between Spain and Argentina, the belief is more than 1.5 billion people on the planet likely watched. Now, many…
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Paterno: In 2026, Signing Players Is In. Recruiting Is Out
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This is that time of year when there are still several weeks until actual football games are played. Excitement for, and anxiety over, the upcoming season is building. While we wait for games, the constant zig-zag of 17- and 18-year-olds making up their minds about where they want to go to college has always held…
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Battista: It’s All About the Details
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I recently spent an amazing day getting a VIP tour of Fort Stewart Army Base located near Hinesville, Georgia. Like most young boys who grew up in the 1960s, my brother and I and our neighborhood friends spent hours in the woods near our home in Pittsburgh “playing army” or playing inside with those little…
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Frank: Something Fishy
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I do not fish. I wish I could say this was a principled stance – that I oppose the catching or killing of other sentient beings for my entertainment or nourishment. The truth is, I’m the squeamish type. I don’t like handling earthworms. I especially don’t like impaling earthworms on fishhooks. Nor do I like…
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Hook: A Welcoming Education at Penn State’s Breazeale Nuclear Reactor
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When I arrived at Penn State in the fall of 1977 as a 17-year-old – what is now referred to as a “first-year student” – I moved into Beam Hall in the North Halls dorm area. North Halls was, and is, the smallest dorm area on campus, and at the time it was the primary…