Letters: What is PSU’s position on the proposed casino?; Centre County to feel impact of new state Senate maps
What is PSU’s position on the proposed casino?
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) recently approved the license for the Parx Casino Shippensburg near Shippensburg University despite significant community opposition. The leaders at Shippensburg University did not share their opinions about that casino with the PGCB before the vote on the casino license took place. Will Penn State’s leaders also remain silent while a casino that is opposed by an 8 to 1 margin in its own community is approved for development at the Nittany Mall?
The proposed casino at the Nittany Mall would significantly impact Penn State for the next several decades. Penn State’s leaders should publicly address their assessment of these impacts:
1. Would a nearby casino positively or negatively impact student grade point averages and graduation rates?
2. Would a nearby casino make the university more or less attractive as an educational choice for prospective Penn State students and their families?
3. Would a nearby casino improve or worsen the average student debt of Penn State students?
4. Would a nearby casino support Penn State’s sporting and cultural programs or compete with them?
5. How would a nearby casino impact Penn State’s rankings compared to other schools?
Penn State’s leaders and area residents can send their thoughts about these questions to the PGCB by e-mailing boardclerk@pa.gov and putting “Nittany Mall Casino” in the title of their e-mail. Please submit your opposition to the proposed casino while there is still time to make a difference!
Centre County to feel impact of new state Senate maps
Think about it ... there was a time when all of Centre, Clearfield and Clinton counties were part of the same state Senate District. That made perfect sense from an economic and community-feel standpoint. The three counties share common borders and many residents of Clearfield and Clinton work in Centre County. This also made sense because, by law, Pennsylvania must make a good-faith effort to ensure that districts are compact and preserve “communities of interest.”
Then, in 2000 and in order to make it politically safe and convenient for Senator Jake Corman, the district was changed so it ran from Centre County down US 322 to the state capitol, and through Mifflin, Juniata and Perry Counties. It now included more rural Republican counties, making it easier for Jake to campaign on his way to work in Harrisburg. After all, the changes didn’t make sense in any other way.
Now, after calling his promotion to President Pro Tempore of the Senate an “honor of a lifetime,” Corman says he is not seeking reelection to the state Senate. Suddenly, Centre County will be split in half, handing the county to two highly partisan incumbent Republican Senators based in other counties. Yes, you heard that right. We will no longer have a Centre County-based State Senator.
To add insult to injury, neither Republican Senator is up for reelection this year so Centre County citizens will go six years, not four years, before voting again for a State Senator.
Where was the uproar 20 years ago?
The current uproar in the media and governing circles concerning President Putin’s plan to effect regime change in another country via a massive military invasion might be a good time to reflect on events 20 years ago.
President Bush initiated the eight-year “shock and awe” regime change disaster visited on Iraq, a country that posed no threat to the U.S., resulted in over 100,000 of its citizens killed and 4,430 of our troops returned in body bags.
Where was the hand wringing by the world leaders and media then?