Letters: Call the SAVE Act what it is; Not Nobel Peace Prize-worthy
Call the SAVE Act what it is
Champions for the proposed SAVE Act indicate that there are provisions “for [married women who] changed their last names, by allowing alternate forms of documentation...” As a married woman who has jumped through these hoops recently, I would like to ask, exactly what are these “acceptable” provisions?
I had to travel to the Motor Vehicle Department three times last year in order to qualify for a “Real ID.” You see, despite the fact that I had a marriage certificate — and my Pennsylvania driver’s license with my full name, which included my married last name for the many decades of my marriage, and an old passport validating my visit to the American Consulate in Madrid where they certified that I was changing my last name (we were on our honeymoon) and stamped my passport to that effect. Despite all of that cumbersome paperwork, the DMV insisted on an embossed certificate of marriage from the state in which we were married. Whereupon I was given a sheet of tedious instructions filled with New York City phone numbers in order to contact the appropriate office that dealt with such matters. I would have to wait several weeks and submit a fee.
Is that the kind of “alternate form of documentation” that advocates of the SAVE Act envision? I think it’s a not-too-subtle way to limit a citizen’s right to vote.
Call it what it is. Republicans can only win by cheating.
Gina Leon, State College
Not Nobel Peace Prize-worthy
How not to “audition” for the Nobel Peace Prize:
1) Disparage the country of Sweden for not awarding you the prize, when in fact it is awarded by a committee, that being the Norwegian Peace Prize Committee.
2) Renaming the Department of Defense the Department of War.
3) Wanting to take over, by any means: Greenland, Venezuela, Cuba, maybe Panama.
4) Assassinating the leader of a sovereign nation.
5) Kidnapping the leader and his spouse of another sovereign nation.
6) Suggesting to annex Canada as the 51st state, against their will.
7) Sending bombs into seven different countries in about 16 months. It is not logical to bomb one’s way into peace.
8) Release all of the January 6th “patriots,” some of whom are already back in jail on other charges.
9) Disparage immigrants, when your own mother and spouse are immigrants themselves.
10) DOGE the framework of the CDC, contributing to unknown future health issues. Also pulling out of the World Health Organization, with the same fallout.
11) Curtail financial, scientific and health assistance to developing nations, especially in Africa.
12) Threaten to pull out of NATO and UN responsibilities.
13) It doesn’t help your Nobel application to be a convicted felon.
Nikki Haley was right. Mr. Trump generates chaos. We all then pay the price.
Leigh Wheeler, State College
Why I support WPSU
Listening to NPR’s Morning Edition today, as I do most days, I was reminded how much I rely on WPSU and how close we came to losing it.
When Penn State announced it would no longer support WPSU, I was worried. So were many of you. More than 20,000 people signed a petition to protect this essential community service and helped keep WPSU alive. The broadcast license of WPSU is in the process of being transferred to WHYY, allowing WPSU to retain its local identity and programming.
I grew up watching “Channel 13” in New York, and had passing acquaintance with public television and radio in California, but I became a public media devotee when I lived in Chicago. News programs became my companions on my 45-minute commute. I became addicted to Car Talk (as did my aunt who didn’t even drive), and Michael Feldman’s Whad’Ya Know?.
Every time I moved and traveled, I sought out the local public media stations. I relied on them for news, local information, and educational and entertainment programming.
When I arrived in State College, I turned to WPSU for all those things and to learn about my new home. It quickly became a trusted resource for national and local information — and remains so to this day.
But I know I can’t take WPSU for granted. Its future depends on financial support from me — and you. Please join me in donating to ensure WPSU’s important role in our community: wpsu.org/donate/pledge/.
Sheri Berenbaum, State College