Columns
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Nittany Mall Casino Doesn’t Mean the Downfall of Happy Valley
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When I turned on my computer the other day a pop-up box appeared in the lower right-hand corner of my screen. It was from the Norton Security program/app, which is designed to stop viruses, malware and other nasty things from infecting my computer. The pop-up informs me of a “Data Security Incident” that has occurred…
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10 Questions with Ja’Juan Seider About Penn State Football’s Running Game… and His Future
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Ja’Juan Seider is beginning his fifth season as Penn State’s running backs coach. It has been a long and winding road to — and at — Penn State. A former All-American quarterback who was drafted 205th in the 2000 NFL Draft – just six spots after Tom Brady – Seider coached at three high schools in…
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The Cost and Benefits of Capitalism
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At the beginning of 2022, a Pew Research survey found that 78% of the U.S. population is dissatisfied with the way things are going in our country. In a March 2022 Gallup Poll, only 24% of Americans said they were satisfied with the way things are currently going in the U.S. The positive high for…
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A Townie Who Became a Trustee: Alvin de Levie Opens Up on Town and Gown Issues
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Alvin de Levie is a member of a growing local subculture that I call “RTRTs.” Yes, like me and so many others, Alvin was raised as a townie and is now a returned townie. Having graduated from State High in 1969 and Penn State in 1973, de Levie studied law at Villanova University and then…
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Penn State’s Summer of Transition Arrives with Many Challenges Ahead
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Penn State finds itself in a time of transition this summer, a time when leadership in two very high-profile jobs are changing. It’s hard to go around town and not be asked about new President Neeli Bendapudi or soon-to-be Athletic Director Patrick Kraft, who starts on July 1. Understandably, there is an energy and excitement…
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Fox News Wigs Out
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The other day I learned from a talk show host that another talk show host, Bill Maher, had declared that children were being used as “cannon fodder.” Given the timing, you might think the topic was the massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. But Maher, whose monologue aired a few days before the…
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Happy Memories in Happy Valley
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“Look upon this moment. Savor it. Rejoice with great gladness! Great gladness! …For it is the doom of men that they forget.” – Merlin to King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable, “Excalibur” (1981) A few weeks ago, I wrote a column titled “Another Trip Down Memory Lane” in which I discussed the pending…
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James Franklin About to Hit $50 Million in Penn State Football Career Earnings
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By the time James Franklin coaches the Nittany Lions in their 2022 season opener on Sept. 1 at Purdue, his career earnings at Penn State will have reached over $50 million. To be exact: $50,290,833. The total jumps another $1.98 million – for a grand total of $52,270,833 — when you add 396 private aircraft…
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Penn State Athletics: Topgolf Is a Start, but Not Every Unique Experience Has to Be Top Dollar
in Columns, Latest Penn State News, Local & Penn State Sports, Local News, Opinion, Penn State, Penn State Football, Penn State Sports—
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I will be the first to admit that launching golf balls off of Beaver Stadium and down onto the field below is a very good time. It’s one of those things you imagine doing if you were the last person on Earth, roaming the world just aimlessly hitting tee shots. Or maybe that’s just me.…
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Nature’s Ways: The Killdeer — an Inland Representative of a Common Shorebird Family
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One of our noisiest birds is the killdeer (Charadris vociferus). If you are unfamiliar with this inland version of the “shorebird” plover family, listen carefully, for an excited killdeer repeats its name “kill-deer,” “kill-deer,” over and over — up to 80 times per minute. Even its species name, vociferus, attests to its noisy nature. Killdeer…