Opinion
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Hook: A Belated Spring Cleaning to Clear Out Column Ideas
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In honor of the last day of spring passing by, I’m going to do a little belated spring cleaning and clear out a few column ideas that are interesting to me, but don’t have enough “meat on the bone,” as it were, to fill out a full 1,000-word column by themselves. Here goes… * *…
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What Would Joe Paterno Have Thought of the Protect College Sports Act? History Is Instructive
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It is natural for those who’ve lost a father to think about them as Father’s Day approaches. Over the past several days, I’ve found myself thinking about my father and his life. Today would’ve been one of intense interest for him. The United States Senate Commerce Committee will be marking up the Protect College Sports…
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Battista: In Marriage, ‘Everything You Want Is on the Other Side of Hard’
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Picture these recent conversations in our retirement community in Sun City: A softball friend: “Hey buddy, we are meeting some other couples at AL’s on Friday night for dinner. You and Heidi want to join us?” Me: “Thanks for the invite, but my wife and I are attending a marriage conference at our church.” The…
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Letters: Community’s Care Depends on Ensuring Workers Can Afford to Live Here; PSU’s ‘Depressing Performance Metrics’
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Many people assume that because State College is not Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, it must be an affordable place to live. Those of us who live and work here know that is no longer the reality. State College doesn’t have Pittsburgh wages with rural Pennsylvania costs. It’s increasingly becoming big-city housing costs without big-city pay. The…
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Frank: AI Ain’t So Smart
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Threatened as we are by The Machine, we love it when we can say, “Hah! The Machine is dumber than we are!” Case in point: I had some transcribing to do. I always have transcribing to do, because in my professional life I am often asking people questions and recording their answers. My adventures in…
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Hook: Maybe a Big Ten-SEC Super League Would Be Best for Everyone
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If you’ve been paying even the slightest bit of attention to sports news lately – outside of the current NBA and NHL Finals, that is – you’ve heard that everybody has an opinion on college athletics. The president, Congress, coaches, athletic directors and all sorts of media members have weighed in on the current state…
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Paterno: Why It’s Time for College Governing Boards to Rethink Presidential Contracts
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In the news this week came another story highlighting some of the very real challenges facing higher education in the United States. The president of Michigan State University left the school for Clemson. On his way out he mentioned that tensions with the trustees were part of what drove him to leave the school after…
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Battista: What Really Grinds My Gears
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“Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble / But I’m doin’ the best that I can!” – Mac Davis My wife and I have put almost 20,000 miles on our new Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid since December. The good news is it practically drives itself, it really does get great gas mileage, is a quiet…
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Frank: Welcome to the End of the World
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Relax. This isn’t about the apocalypse. It’s about a place, specifically the southwest corner of Portugal, whence I have just returned. There are several Ends of the World/ Land’s Ends/ Fim do Mundos/ Fin del Mundos/ Finisterres around the globe. Each is on a coast that juts into the sea. The ones in Europe reveal…
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Inside/Outside State College: Something Is Still Missing Downtown, but I Think It’s Coming
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Inside/Outside State College is a regular column by Jeff Deitrich offering views on downtown and the outdoors within a 30-minute driving distance. State College last month was named the Best College Town in America by USA Today. Congratulations to my favorite town! It’s nice to see it be recognized, even if it may have been driven…