Columns
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It’s 100 Days Before Kickoff vs. West Virginia… and Expectations for Penn State Football Are Already Soaring
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It is Thursday, May 25, and Penn State’s 2023 night-time season-opener vs. West Virginia on Saturday, Sept. 2 in Beaver Stadium is now just 100 days away. Penn State head coach James Franklin, entering his 10th season at Penn State with four top 10 finishes in the past seven campaigns, has already laid down the…
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Men’s Lacrosse Tournament Shows the Power of True Competition
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“If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!” –The final stanza of “If” by Rudyard Kipling. To paraphrase the stanza above, last weekend those of us in Annapolis to watch the NCAA men’s lacrosse…
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I’ve Found My Role Models
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If my wife and I manage to live long enough, I want us to be like Lefty and Connie McIntyre: full of good cheer, grateful for the way their lives have turned out and still very much in love. The McIntyres are in their 90s. When Connie joins Lefty and me in the sunroom of…
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Now That You’ve Graduated, What’s Next?
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Graduation is a time to celebrate but it can also be a time of tremendous stress as high school, technical school and college graduates all seek to answer, “What’s next?” It’s that time of the year when I remind young adults (and their parents) to take the time needed to develop great options and make…
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Can Penn State Weather a Friday Night Game at Michigan State?
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Now that Penn State’s regular-season finale at Michigan State has been reportedly moved to a Black Friday contest on Nov. 24, perhaps the question is whether the Nittany Lions can literally weather the storm? Though a lot can happen between now and then, Penn State should be favored in the contest, perhaps heavily. The Nittany…
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Ted Lasso Joins the List of All-Time TV Greats
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As humans we enjoy our entertainment. What the people who study human behavior tell us – that would be the sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, etc. – is that our ability to enjoy our entertainment is likely hardwired into our brains. Understanding what other people are doing and the cognitive ability to grasp another’s viewpoint allows us…
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Mom of the Year? Susan Strauss Adopted Six Kids in Two Years and Raised Them Well
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Happy Valley restaurants will be filled with Mother’s Day gatherings this Sunday, but no mom will deserve gifts or kind words from her kids any more than Susan Strauss. Strauss first became a mother at the age of 55 when she adopted three children from Ethiopia in early 2010. Then, due to her big heart…
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Memories of Long-Ago Summer Days
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In the moments before dawn fully broke on Sunday, I found myself awakening on a fine spring morning. Two rescue dogs were asleep on the foot of the bed. Through the slightly open windows the pleasant sounds of cardinals chirping, mourning doves cooing, and other songbirds were shattered by the shriek of blue jays. It…
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Hail and Farewell, Class of 2023!
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Between COVID and, before that, maybe a touch of commencement fatigue, I hadn’t been to a Penn State graduation ceremony since at least 2018. And when I dug a necktie out of deep storage on Saturday morning, I hadn’t worn one since I was invited to a reception at the American Consul General’s residence in…
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Support Spotlight PA During Centre Gives to Power Public-Service Journalism in Centre County
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All donations to Spotlight PA during Centre Gives, a 36-hour online fundraiser on May 10-11, benefit its State College regional bureau.