Russell Frank

  • Gratitude With a Touch of Attitude

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    Russell Frank

    Last Monday, I chanced upon an e-bike lying on its side on the strip of grass between the sidewalk and the street. Odd, I thought. I looked around, saw no one, continued on my way. The bike was still there that afternoon and the next morning and all the rest of the week. Stolen, then ditched?…

  • Subu Vedam’s Status: Still in Custody, But No Longer a Lifer

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    Russell Frank

    The news that Subu Vedam was grabbed by immigration authorities on the very day he was to be released from prison came as a shock to many of us who had supported his decades-long quest to clear his name. We had imagined him walking away from the brick walls and razor wire fences of the…

  • students walking fall 2023

    We Had to Destroy the Universities to Save Them

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    Russell Frank

    “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’” – Ronald Reagan Skim most any document wordsmithed by President Trump’s courtiers and it can almost sound reasonable. Take the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” a letter sent to nine universities that sets conditions…

  • A Black Panther, a Softball Injury, Artificial Intelligence and Me

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    Russell Frank

    Was it only last year that we profs were policing artificial intelligence as a newfangled form of plagiarism and buying blue books like it was 1975? Now we’re Tokyo train pushers, shoving our classes onto the AI Express lest it leave the station without them. The technology, we’re told, is improving by leaps and bounds,…

  • A State College Tradition: 50 Years of Indian Epics

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    Russell Frank

    As members of State College’s robust Indian community well know, yajna is a Hindi word which, according to one definition, can refer to “any selfless action performed with integrity, such as offering food, paying respects, or contributing to others’ well-being.” I heard the word for the first time at the home of Manisha and Nilesh…

  • Are We Really Just Going to Walk Away From WPSU?

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    Russell Frank

    For a little light reading over the weekend, I visited the web page that breaks down Penn State’s budget allocations for fiscal years 2026 and 2027. The list covers 41 units. The ones set to receive the most 2026-27 money are: 1. Commonwealth Campuses ($315 million)2. Physical Plant ($262 million)3. IT ($174 million)4. College of…

  • Frank: Let Subu Vedam Go

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    Russell Frank

    Let us boil down the state of things in the case of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Subramanyam Vedam:  No witnesses ever came forward and said they saw Subu Vedam shoot Tom Kinser.  No evidence was ever produced that Subu was with Tom when he died. The Commonwealth’s case against Subu hinged on one fact and…

  • The Grandkids Tour 2025: They’re Brilliant! They’re Bonkers!

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    Russell Frank

    Children are lunatics. I say this after spending much of the summer with my grandkids, whom I adore. The oldest of the four is about to turn 7; the youngest is almost 2.  Two things strike me about this crew. One is that they’re brilliant. I don’t say this in a prideful way. They’re not…

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    Face It, Campers, Outhouses Are the Pits

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    Russell Frank

    Another thing I’m aging out of: camping. My parents were not outdoorsy. My first intensive nature experience wasn’t with them but with my grammar school gym teacher. Every summer, Anthony Noto took a dozen sixth-grade boys on a six-week camping trip to the American Southwest in two Volkswagen buses. I loved it, though I can’t…

  • Thinking of Moving to Canada? Not So Fast

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    Russell Frank

    HORNBY ISLAND, BRITISH COLUMBIA – Every small town has its kaffeeklatsch – a gathering of geezers who devote an hour of their morning to solving the world’s problems over a cuppa joe. In Jamestown, California, where I got my start in the news biz in the 1980s, the gents at the Jimtown Diner humbly called…