Letters: Demand protection of personal data; Concerted effort needed to address rising sexual assaults

Demand protection of personal data

Remember when the Republican Party was a champion of personal privacy? Now the Republicans in Harrisburg want to know everything they can about how you voted last year — as well as your driver’s license number and partial social security number. Not surprisingly, the leader in this effort is none other than our local circus master, Senator Jake “McCarthy” Corman.

Under the guise of protecting election integrity, the Republicans on the State Senate subcommittee submitted 17 subpoenas to the Pennsylvania Department of State on Sept. 15. These subpoenas seek personal information for almost 7 million voters in Pennsylvania. Funded by taxpayer money, the scheme is a scammer’s delight. With the information they seek, your identity and money can be stolen; your credit can be ruined; and your name can be used for illegal transactions.

The last four digits of your social security number are unique — and, by far, the most important numbers to protect. The first five numbers merely reflect where and when your card was issued. What are they thinking? Who will gain access to this information? When will the circus end? Is no aspect of our private lives sacred?

How did 2021 become 1984? Something has gone awry when our Republican Big Brothers attempt to legitimize spying on We the People.

What should we do? Stand idly by and watch Corman and his cronies weaponize our personal data — or stand tall and give his office a call — 814-355-0477 —to register our ire?

Senator Corman, stop snooping. Respect our privacy.

Concerted efforts needed to address rising sexual assaults

Throughout the pandemic, many news sources have reported on the uptick in the proliferation and accessibility of violent porn on multiple internet platforms. We have also witnessed a nationwide surge in domestic violence and sexual assault. Not surprisingly, multiple studies confirm the connection between exposure to aggressive pornography and sexual violence. Perhaps it is also no surprise we are witnessing an increase in sexual violence on university campuses across the country, Penn State being no exception.

Since the end of July, the Penn State police have reported 15 forcible sex offenses. Statistics from The National Sexual Violence Resource Center show only 1 in 5 women on college campuses report sexual assault. More than 90% of campus sexual assaults are unreported. Using these calculations, PSU has witnessed approximately 75 sexual assaults since August.

Penn State students gathered at the Allen Street gates recently to call to action the University and raise awareness of this worrisome trend. To me, this seems like a long-standing cultural, educational problem that’s been exacerbated by a pandemic-fueled increase in internet use. Promoting healthy, face-to-face conversations with peers about mutually positive sex and a more sincere administrative effort to debase the bro culture, might be a really good place to start. But you don’t learn this from a one-off orientation training, it takes a much more concerted effort that includes systemic change.

Consequences of presidency?

It occurs to me that if Donald Trump is indeed the legitimate president of the U.S. right now, he is not eligible to run for another term.