Letters: Be a hero — support public media; A call to conservative conscience

Be a hero — support public media

For more than 60 years, WPSU has been a steady friend to Central and Northern Pennsylvania — bringing us trusted news, educational programs, and stories that reflect the heart of our region. It’s one of the few institutions that truly connects our rural and urban communities.

WPSU is now at a crossroad. With Penn State ending its financial support, the station’s future — and our access to independent, local public media — is at risk. WPSU needs a new path forward.

The good news is that one exists. WHYY has stepped up with a plan to acquire WPSU while keeping its identity local and its mission rooted right here at home. This isn’t a takeover — it’s a partnership designed to protect local journalism, strengthen educational and cultural programming, and ensure that free, non-commercial media continues to reach every household in our region.

This partnership would:

• Keep local journalism anchored in Central and Northern Pennsylvania.

• Preserve and expand educational, cultural and children’s programming.

• Amplify community voices across radio and television.

• Provide long-term stability through collaboration with WHYY.

For this plan to move forward, our community must stand behind it. Public media survives only because people like us choose to keep it strong.

Donate at www.wpsu.org/donate. Every dollar goes directly to WPSU’s operations and long-term sustainability.

Advocate by telling friends, neighbors and community leaders why public media matters.

Learn more at www.wpsu.org.

WPSU has shown up for our community for decades. Let’s show up for WPSU!

Nancy Chiswick, State College

A call to conservative conscience

Many Americans who value faith, family and personal responsibility are deeply concerned about the direction of our country. We now face a situation where a national leader — one found liable for sexual abuse and long associated with individuals involved in child exploitation — asks us to overlook conduct that would never be acceptable in our own homes or churches. When someone proclaims religiosity while acting in ways that contradict core moral teachings, it threatens the credibility of faith itself.

The more Christians embrace a leader who disregards these standards, the more we risk weakening public trust in religion as a cornerstone of American culture. When any president pressures the military or police to suppress peaceful citizens, we drift from the constitutional republic our founders built and toward the kind of centralized authority conservatives have always opposed.

As power becomes politicized, respect for law enforcement and national institutions erodes. Patriotism withers when citizens feel their freedoms — speech, protest and bodily autonomy — are no longer secure. Those who speak up for constitutional limits are increasingly targeted, while government agencies are now being reshaped into tools of personal retaliation.

History shows that when a leader centralizes power and suppresses dissent, economic decline and loss of liberty follow. America has always stood for individual rights, moral accountability and limited government. If we abandon those principles now, the nation we love may become unrecognizable.

For the sake of our country’s future, we must return to leadership grounded in integrity, humility and respect for the Constitution.

Doug Keith, State College

Newsletter raises questions

I just opened and read the latest propaganda in Glenn Thompson’s “The Good, the Bad, the Local.” It left me wondering what planet this man lives on. He boasts of introducing a resolution celebrating 50 years of the Individuals with Disabilities Act, a law that has protected special education students. As a “seasoned,” now retired, special educator who began her career prior to IDEA, I know how powerful this was. This same man supports an administration that intends to destroy federal oversight of education and destroy the Department of Education and instead leave this massive job to ... wait for it ... the Dept. of Health and Human Services and Robert Kennedy. That can’t end well.

His other highlight, the Emergency Savings Enhancement Act, would allow those with pension plans to increase their maximum contributions and create pension-linked emergency savings accounts. Sadly, those who experience emergencies are often those who do not have pension plans, much less have the thousands to add to their pension accounts if they’re lucky enough to have one. Where is the help for the rest?

Congratulations to the Howard Fire Company and Moshannon Valley Emergency Medical Services on their $2 million in federal funding, something any competent legislative aid can (and likely did) accomplish.

Norita Chyle, State College

What’s next for PSU football?

So, following the search for a new head football coach, a decision has been made. Apparently the university has settled on Matt Campbell, not the first choice, and given him an eight-year contract, following a less than stellar career at Iowa State. I hope this proves to be a good choice, but I can’t help feeling that we may have already had the best candidate in Terry Smith. Time will tell.

Ellis Goldberg, Lindenwold, New Jersey