Letters: Who are We?; Speak out against proposed casino
Who are We?
Watching and learning from COVID cases increasing late summer into fall and winter last year, my hope is that Penn State will issue the following statements:
WE ARE a university of learning, science, data analysis, and facts.
WE ARE committed to maintaining and improving the safety and health of not only our campus but also of the communities around us.
WE ARE an institution that embodies leadership by proactively confronting potential problems in increasingly concerning situations, such as exemplified by the delta variant.
WE ARE an institution that not only supports and protects our faculty, staff, and students, but also all the younger students in educational facilities in nearby surrounding communities, especially those under 12 who do not have the advantage of vaccination.
As WE ARE opening up this community to students from states across the nation in various stages of delta virus spread, and understanding that it takes five or six weeks from the first dose of Pfizer or Moderna to be considered fully vaccinated,
WE ARE immediately requiring that all Penn State students be vaccinated prior to returning to campus.
WE ARE ... PENN STATE, and WE ARE doing our part to stem the tide of this delta strain, and especially to prevent the creation of a vaccine resistant variant. There is no time for delays.
Speak out against proposed casino
The deadline for registering to present your views on the Category 4 casino proposed for Nittany Mall is noon on Thursday, Aug. 12. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) will conduct a Public Input Hearing on Monday, Aug. 16 at 4 p.m. at the Penn Stater Conference Center. This hearing is your opportunity to voice your support or opposition to the proposed casino. Advance registration is required. The PGCB is providing those interested in speaking at this hearing a chance to do so either in person or online. This option will present itself during the registration process. In all cases, a presenter has a maximum time limit of 5 minutes to present their position. Written input will be accepted only until the noon deadline on Aug. 12. See the PGCB website at gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov to sign up and for more detailed guidelines. I oppose the proposed casino for the same reasons as you. A casino will bring many problems to our area. Severe negative financial impact on families, decreased property values in the immediate area, and an unmentioned increase in crime. Those in favor of the casino will focus on increased revenue for local and state governments and the good-paying family-sustaining jobs the casino will bring. Really? I think those in favor of the casino are hoping this registration deadline would arrive and pass without this reminder to act now! Register now or the casino supporters will be doing high-fives and looking forward to the casino’s ribbon-cutting ceremony on its opening day.
Time for a new party?
From the mid-1830s until the mid-1850s, the United States was a two-party system of Democrats and Whigs, the latter of which had four presidents elected. Then, in 1854 the Whigs split on the question of slavery contained in the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Soon afterward, the party collapsed and shortly after that a new party, the Republican party, was formed from the anti-slavery members of the Whigs, while many of the pro-slavery Whigs joined the Democrat party or formed the “Know Nothing” party with Millard Fillmore as their nominee. In 1856 Fillmore and the Republican nominee, John C. Fremont, lost the presidential election, to James Buchanan and the Democrats, but in 1860, the Republican nominee, Abraham Lincoln, was elected president. This “new” two party system has carried on since then. The parallel to today’s Republican party and the Whigs is very similar. It may be time for the collapse of the Republican Party with another party of “real” traditional Republicans formed from its ashes, while the Trumpists form their own out-of-touch party.