Russell Frank

  • Greek Life at Penn State: Plus Ça Change

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    Russell Frank

    It was back to business as usual among the Woo people last weekend, which meant very loud outdoor parties, very many shirtless young males and very many young females wearing very skimpy outfits.  If you’re just joining us, the Woo people are denizens of the Highlands, an enclave of oversized lodgings where the aforementioned young…

  • Frank: Is Sloth a Deadly Sin? And Am I Guilty of It?

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    Russell Frank

    I was about to do some yard work when my wife returned from her walk bearing a book she’d found in a Little Free Library. The title: “Find Your Inner Sloth: A Journal Celebrating Slow Living.” Perfect timing!  I refer you to page 74: “Sedentary stillness is soothing to the soul. Why get up and…

  • Frank: What’s With All the Bear Sightings?

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    Russell Frank

    The reports have been pouring in from all over: Bear sighted in the Highlands. Bear in Holmes-Foster. In Park Hills and Park Forest. West College Heights. Boalsburg. Autumnwood. Pine Grove Mills.  On front porches! Destroying bird feeders! Going through garbage! Spooking ducks! About the only place a bear hasn’t been seen is on a barstool…

  • The Following Column Was Written by Russell Frank… Honest

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    Russell Frank

    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,…

  • Frank: Something Fishy

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    Russell Frank

    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…

  • Requiem for an Oak Tree

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    Russell Frank

    Let’s see: 10 times a week multiplied by 40 weeks multiplied by a dozen years. I’d say I walked past the big white oak on Allen Road by the Chambers Building roughly 5,000 times since I moved to East College Heights.  On the 5001st pass last week, I stopped in my tracks. The mighty oak…

  • Frank: AI Ain’t So Smart

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    Russell Frank

    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…

  • Frank: Welcome to the End of the World

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    Russell Frank

    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…

  • Frank: You Think You’re Frazzled? Listen to These Kids

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    Russell Frank

    As I’ve gone from being the same age as my students’ parents to being the same age as their grandparents, I’ve increasingly felt like undergrads and I live on different planets: They don’t know anything I know; I don’t know anything they know. This can complicate grading their work. When my journos-in-training drop names into…

  • Subu in Limbo: Seven Months and Counting

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    Russell Frank

    When Subu Vedam was seized by ICE last October, he thought he’d be released in a matter of weeks, if not days.  After all, his murder conviction had been overturned and he was still a legal permanent resident of the United States. Technically, he was deportable because of drug offenses he was charged with around…