Board of Trustees avoids responsibilities
Section VIII of the Penn State Standing Orders (“Responsibility to Inform the Citizens of Pennsylvania”) states “The Board shall inform the citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania of the University’s performance of its role in the education of the youth of Pennsylvania.” This requirement, in effect for many years, has been regularly ignored by our trustees. But our board’s non-adherence is now over. So, is a report card now forthcoming? No. Instead, the trustees voted (unanimously, Sept. 6) to simply abolish this Standing Order (and all others). So, presto, we are in compliance.
This bureaucratic maneuver allows our board to avoid their most fundamental responsibilities: establish long-term priorities/objectives along with metrics to monitor success. Without a report card one never receives an F! All high-performing organizations adhere to a vision with measurable outcomes which are shared regularly with their stakeholders. Why our board has so avoided these fundamental responsibilities should cause alarm among all Penn State stakeholders.
What is particularly shortsighted here is that next year PSU will be subject to someone else’s report card, one from the new Performance-based Funding Council (Pennsylvania Legislative bill SB1154). This Council will develop performance metrics as a basis to competitively allocate state funding among PSU, Pitt and Temple. President Bendapudi will serve on this Council. Imagine the leadership and influence she would have if a longstanding history of Penn State report cards and metrics was shared with the Council. Surely, the Council would look favorably upon PSU.
Al Soyster, Boalsburg
PA needs advocates for farms in Congress
I am very concerned with nutritious food availability and the farms on which it is produced. With dismay, I have reviewed recent legislation designed to assist farms, support healthy food choices, and benefit families and children with limited incomes. Pennsylvania has long been a farming state, and my family has a rich history of farmers right here in Centre County. Our elected officials have not done very well, and I think we need someone that will promise to do more, and deliver.
The House 2024 farm bill, (H.R.8467) championed by Pennsylvania’s Glenn Thompson, R-Howard, has no chance of passing in the Senate, and has few advocates within the community of small farms or even among fiscal conservatives. It expires the end of this month, and will likely just be extended. The current House version doesn’t help Pennsylvania farmers much and is a flawed and biased bill due to: decreasing funds for conservation projects in agriculture; recalculating food benefits programs, mostly involving cuts, such as SNAP; increasing farm subsidies, which assist primarily corporate farming; and increasing subsidies for commodity groups, such as huge wheat and corn growers, which Pennsylvania doesn’t have.
Pennsylvania needs leadership in Congress that understands the needs of our farmers and resists the lobbying efforts of corporate farms and commodity groups. Zach Womer is a 12th-generation Pennsylvanian who will represent you and your family, not the greedy corporations that have far too much power.
Elect Zach Womer as your representative in Congress this November!
Daniel L. Alters, Boalsburg
Balance must be part of tourism push
Recent articles in the CDT related how residents of European tourism hot spots are rebelling against the flood of visitors that have diminished their quality of life. There are winners and losers in tourism. Merchants and restaurants enjoy increased sales while local residents lose affordable housing options (already a problem in our area) and deal with traffic congestion, among other issues. The Happy Valley Adventure Bureau seeks to bring 6 million tourists to the area per year. The experience of other popular tourist destinations suggest that more visitors is not better if the goal is to maintain the qualities of life that make an area an attractive place to live. There needs to be a balance between economic benefits and livability. As the Area Comprehensive Plan is developed, I hope such a balance is part of the planning.
Frances Moorman, State College
Women can’t trust Dave McCormick
Women aren’t a monolithic group.
However, women across Pennsylvania won’t stand for Dave McCormick, in his capacity as CEO of Bridgewater, pressuring victims of sexual harassment to stay silent about the abuse they suffered – reportedly going so far as to tell a female employee that “she would be in litigation for the rest of her life” if she broke a settlement agreement about the harassment she experienced at Bridgewater.
Everyone, no matter their political affiliation, should disavow such behavior. Women, for years, have been subjected to sexual harassment in the workplace, fearing for their careers and reputations if they came forward with their stories.
Silencing victims is never OK, and calling out such a blatant abuse of power shouldn’t be political.
Women can’t trust Dave McCormick, not as a CEO and certainly not as a United States Senator.
Dorothy Neff, Bellefonte
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