Spot 8

Emily Hu began playing chess under the tutelage of her father. “Until I got too good,” Emily says, smiling.  Emily, a sophomore at State College Area High School, recently became the state high school champion during the Pennsylvania State Chess Federation’s scholastic championships in Gettysburg. She managed an upset win over a chess…

By Kelsey Lentz As the artistic director for the Performing Arts School of Central Pennsylvania, home to the Nittany Ballet and Central Pennsylvania Youth Orchestra, Rebecca Maciejczyk arranges two major annual productions in addition to smaller ones throughout the year. Mainly, though, Maciejczyk gets to combine her passion for teaching and dancing with…

Like every parent, you have big dreams for your children. Maybe you envision them becoming doctors or lawyers, raising big families, or playing shortstop in the World Series. When something comes along that challenges those dreams – such as a developmental delay or autism – you may experience some level of denial. However, recognizing the…

As we celebrate the beginning of spring this month, many of us will begin the task of doing yard work, cleaning out flower beds, and preparing the soil for new growth. Likewise, we may go through our living spaces and clear out drawers and closets in the hopes of feeling more organized and prepared for…

Dear Emily, I have found myself extremely wrapped up in life lately and feel that I am spiraling. With this weather, I’ve been struggling to get out of bed or engage in activities that I know and love. What can I do to get out of this funk? Dear funk-y, Take an…

My mailing address says, “State College,” my tax bill says, “Patton Township,” but when someone local asks, I say I live in “Park Forest,” and most people in the “Centre Region” will know where to situate me. But these geographic facts don’t tell us much about the evolution of places in which we live and…

We all know the scene in the movies where the guy orders a bottle of wine at a restaurant and tells the server to open the bottle in order to “let it breathe” before it is served. I always snicker when I see a scene like that because the amount of “breathing” a wine can…

Pearl Gluck calls herself a filmmaker and a director, but to others she is much more – an impactful leader. For the last four years, Gluck, a professor in Penn State’s College of Communications, has been working on her feature film called The Turn Out. This film blends documentary and fiction narrative to address…

Dear Readers, My name is Emily Chertow. I am following my passion in journalism as I grow to be a senior at Penn State University. As I have a love for writing, I also have a love for helping others and giving advice. I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to combine these interests in…

Getting a “new knee” or a “new hip” is a hot topic among baby-boomers. Over the past few decades, surgical methods and artificial joints have advanced to the point where at the first sign of arthritis or injury, patients often ask their doctors about joint-replacement surgery. Although replacing a knee, hip, or shoulder with…