Columns
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A Ukrainian Refugee’s Journey
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Six car rides, one overnight train, two flights, 62 hours. That’s what it took for Oleksandra Pyrozhok to get from her home city of Chernivtsi in western Ukraine to the home of her sister Svitlana Budzhak-Jones in State College. Oleksandra relived her epic journey over cups of mushroom tea in her sister’s dining room the…
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Saving College Athletics, Part 2
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Name, Image and Likeness — NIL as it is commonly referred to in the college sports world — and it’s evil twin, the transfer portal, have become the scourge of coaches and athletic administrators everywhere. NIL was billed as a positive mechanism for helping put money in student-athletes pockets and for evening out the playing…
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This Could Be a Transformational Summer for Penn State Football
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Nearly every time James Franklin met with the media this past spring, he pointedly referred to Penn State’s first game of the 2022 season – Sept. 1 at Purdue, in West Lafayette, Ind. The same Purdue – with some departures, of course – that beat then-No. 3 Michigan State 40-29 in West Lafayette last season.…
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The Psychology of Investing
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The old stock tip, “buy low, sell high,” sounds so easy; however, individuals find it hard to hold, let alone buy, through a downturn. To avoid discomfort, investors may sell for fear of further losses. Many studies show investing and emotion go hand in hand. I am getting many calls and emails from clients concerned…
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The Avid Gardener: Celebrate a Green Mother’s Day
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With Earth Day recently passed and Mother’s Day just around the corner, why not combine the two celebrations by presenting eco-friendly gifts for the indispensable women in your life? Here are some ideas. Start by cleaning up an existing garden or planting a new spring one for your mother. Get your hands in the dirt…
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Joyce Porter, Mother of 14, Is My Pick for Happy Valley’s Mom of the Year
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She has a zest for life that exceeds anyone else that I know, an energy level that would be impressive for a woman 30 years younger. How to describe her approach to life? I simply can’t avoid a pun that makes a point: “Joyce de vivre.” Only a remarkable woman could raise 14 kids—nine biological and five…
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Flying the Friendly Skies Again
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After two years of various masking requirements, millions of Americans are back to some semblance of normalcy – at least for now. When the mask restrictions were eliminated two weeks ago in airports and on airplanes – one of the last bastions of federal control that serve a huge amount of people daily – it…
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How Can We Fix March and April?
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Remember the week after Spring Break in March when the weather was amazing? For five days, it was in the 60s. I stripped from my parka cocoon, showered in sunshine and emerged for spring. Then the weather turned back to winter and it even snowed on April 18. This happens every year. And every year,…
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Beware of Geeks Bearing Gifts
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With all the excitement about an alleged new era of “free speech” coming with Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, it would be wise to pump the brakes for those believing we are readily speeding towards some fantasyland First Amendment Twitter utopia. This is a classic Rorschach test where everyone sees this development the way they…
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By All Accounts, a Tough Year in the Groves of Academe
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An essayist I admire, Tim Kreider, once confessed to being “inappropriately cheered” by the knowledge “that Things Are Tough All Over, that everyone else is secretly as wretched as I am.” I was similarly consoled recently when a friend mentioned the latest murderous attack at a school in her native Sweden. Don’t take this the…