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State needs to use leverage on tuition costs

Penn State, as reported in Friday’s edition of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, is increasing tuition for residents by 2.5% and for out-of-state students by 4%. According to Spotlight PA’s article, the university is set to receive $242.1 million from the state — with the possibility of an additional $4 million from an incentive-based program. All of this in addition to the state’s financial obligations for state-system schools like Commonwealth University’s Lock Haven and Mansfield campuses and Millersville and other universities — colleges that are less autonomous from ...

Leaders need to listen to data center concerns

There’s been smoke outside in the air to end the work week. But there was some real fire indoors at a Tuesday meeting where attendees verbally accosted representatives of a company proposing to build a data center in Oxford Township near EHOVE Career Center. There’s a lot to break down here: 1. We think that, first and foremost, any proposed data center — including this potential build by AVAIO Digital — must first do no harm. That can be direct harm to health — hearing damage caused by data centers’ noise is something people often express worry over — or harm to ...

Social media in need of a learner’s permit

Young people entering the workplace need to learn how to navigate the muddy waters of social media. They need to learn how to use it for marketing and sharing crucial information. They need to know when to court interaction and when to act as background. They need to understand that literacy isn’t just about Jane Austen and that bullying can happen online as well as in the school cafeteria. That becomes a priority as Pennsylvania puts in place new require- ments for schools to teach about the mental, psychological and even physical effects of our digital world. The new laws, ...

The Socialists v. the Senate

Political parties tend to harshly reject the idea that they are a threat to the constitutional order, but the Democratic Socialists of America are making it part of their brand. The DSA has released a new program that, besides contemplating the advent of a classless society, calls for abolishing the Senate, the presidency and the Supreme Court. This is literally a revolutionary program to topple the American system as we have known it since 1789. It's the kind of thing you might expect after angry rebels mount the barricades in Washington, D.C., and overthrow the government. It ...

Ceremony provides chance to reflect on heroism

A man from the Jersey Shore area recently was honored for, as U.S. Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Howard, put it, his part in the “legacy of those who saved the world and a representation of the best and the brightest that our nation offers.” As reported in Tuesday’s edition of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, Thompson recently presented the family of the late Browning with nine medals — among them a bronze star — he earned during his service during the Second World War. “As we celebrate America’s 250, what a privilege to honor a member from the greatest generation that ...

3 reasons not to visit Europe this summer

For some reason, many Americans seem convinced they have to tour Europe this summer — despite the heat, oppressive crowds and high prices all descending on the continent. And if anyone needs a fourth reason, it's to recognize the growing resentment among many Europeans as the tourist hordes turn their town centers into trinket malls, eroding their way of life and, in the process, stripping what made those places worth visiting in the first place. The mystery remains why so many Americans insist on their grand tour when they, too, are made miserable by the big three discomforts. The ...