Left of Centre

• More Movement on the Non-profit Taxation Front + a Bonus Video

  
  
  Another development in the battle to get non-profits to carry their weight from State Senator Wayne Fontana who
  ...said today that he will introduce legislation allowing municipalities to charge tax-exempt institutions a fee based on their property holdings.
  
  Mr. Fontana said it would allow municipalities to [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 10:41pm EST
  

• A Zig While We Were All Waiting For the Zag

  A new development in the battle between Pittsburgh government and the city's nonprofits occurred earlier this week. Forget about taxing tuition or a fee for county services this is big news.
  Legislation quietly introduced Tuesday in Pittsburgh City Council gives the city's nine lawmakers veto power over [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 9:49pm EST
  

• Pittsburgh Tuition Tax Proposal is Still Alive

  The despite the  reported demise of a proposal by Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl to tax college tuition it is in fact alive and well
  Tuition tax battle lines began to emerge on Pittsburgh City Council today, as Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's Philadelphia legal gun laid out the [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 11:39pm EST
  

• A Big Win For Team USAS, A Bigger Win For Workers

  The New York Times reports this evening on some big news on the anti-sweatshop front.
  The anti-sweatshop movement at dozens of American universities, from Georgetown to U.C.L.A., has had plenty of idealism and energy, but not many victories.
  
  Until now.
  
  The often raucous student movement announced on [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 12:04am EST
  

• Helping Penn State Live Up to Its Mission

  The Collegian had a story earlier this week on Seth Williams' victory in his race for Philly DA. I'm very happy about that win and I'm sure that Seth will be an extremely good, progressive district attorney. But from some of the quotes in the story, it appears' [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 10:28pm EST
  

• A "Fee"-ture Story

  I wrote a few days ago that Allegheny County was having second thoughts about imposing a fee on tax-exempt organizations. The Allegheny County Council made it official today.
  Nonprofits will not have to pay new fees after Allegheny County Council backed off its essential services fee proposal Tuesday.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 9:27pm EST
  

• Someone Needs to Explain the Concept of Transparency to These Guys

  A few years ago the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) teamed up to put together the Voluntary System of Accountability which is provides a uniform template for colleges and universities to report information for prospective students and their [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 10:35pm EST
  

• By the Numbers

  I've finally found the number I've been looking for and it's exactly the number I guessed it would be.
  
  I've written a bit about the problems with the Washington Monthly University Rankings. (Here, here and here.) A big problem is that they report an almost [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 9:05pm EST
  

• Oh Graham, Oh Graham, How Deep Are Thy Pockets?

  From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, comes the following news.
  Penn State mailed out second-semester tuition bills today with rates unchanged from the fall even as state funding remains in legislative limbo.
  It would seem to me that Old Main must have been hoarding quite a bit the tuition increases from [...]
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  Posted: November 13, 2009, 5:48pm EST
  

• Fee.... Fie Fo, Fum

  This morning the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that
  Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato on Friday vetoed a bill that would impose a fee on nonprofit groups, saying the bill County Council passed is illegal and exposes the county to a lawsuit it would have little chance of winning.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 12:55pm EST
  

• Six Degrees of ....

  ...Glenn Beck's Colon.
  
  This is John Stewart at his very, very best.
  
  Technorati Tags: Daily Show, John Stewart, Glenn Beck
  
  
  
  

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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 9:48pm EST
  

• We Have Your Students and Unless We Receive the Money...Well You Don't Want to Know...

  Spring semester tuition bills are set to go out soon and the Penn State and the other state-related universities still haven't received their appropriations from the state. Will tuition go up come January? That's what the presidents of the state-related universities suggested in a letter to House Speaker Keith [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 8:33am EST
  

• John Stewart on Fox News: It's a Perpetual Revulsion Machine

  
  What's wrong with Fox News? If you don't already know this video presents a case study and lays out the case beautifully.
  
  Technorati Tags: John Stewart, Daily Show, Fox News
  
  
  
  

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  Posted: October 31, 2009, 11:17am EDT
  

• Why Yes, Eva Pell Did Have Her Head in the Sand

  It was reported last December that graduate student applications were down at Penn State despite the bad economy and the fact that grad school enrollment has historically tended to be counter cyclical. At the time, Dean of the Graduate School Eva Pell pooh-poohed the notion that anything was amiss [...]
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  Posted: October 23, 2009, 7:50pm EDT
  

• Prescient, If I Say So Myself

  During Spring semester of this year, the Collegian held a design contest for this football season's White Out t-shirt.  When Onward State posted an announcement of the winning design (picture below the fold), I was flabbergasted. Here's the comment I posted there.
  Isn’t the graphic a bit too suggestive [...]
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  Posted: October 23, 2009, 5:56pm EDT
  

• CNN Your Network for Goat F#cking

  The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cCNN Leaves It Therewww.thedailyshow.com Daily Show
  Full EpisodesPolitical HumorRon Paul Interview
  
  If you wonder why so many people have no clue as to what is going on in health care reform, [...]
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  Posted: October 13, 2009, 10:11pm EDT
  

• A Couple of Items on the Labor Front

  First, Fritz Fitz, a longtime reader of this blog and sometime commenter, sent along word this morning that the United Students Against Sweatshops will be holding at teaching-in on the Employee Free Choice Act this upcoming Thursday, October 15, at 7pm in 160 Willard on the Penn State University Park [...]
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  Posted: October 12, 2009, 9:53pm EDT
  

• GT a Man with All the Smarts of W

  GT is upset that we haven't started any offshore drilling following the lift on the moratorium at the end of Bush's second term. He explains that there is no reason  not to and the concerns about the environment are misplaced. He recycles a Bush era talking point to [...]
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  Posted: October 11, 2009, 9:28am EDT
  

• Place Your Bets Ladies and Gentleman

  The Pennsylvania General Assembly sent a budget bill to Governor Rendell today which he is expected to sign tonight, but it is too soon for the folks in Old Main to jump for joy.
  That will leave table games and funding for Penn State, Pitt, Temple, Lincoln and other [...]
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  Posted: October 09, 2009, 8:52pm EDT
  

• GT, a Dim Bulb That Shines Only to the Right

  Late last week in a press release our congressman Glenn "GT" Thompson was full of praise for CBS News for the latter's manure spreading effort.
  U.S. Representative Glenn `GT’ Thompson today praised  CBS News, which reported the Administration’s real estimate of costs per household for the Cap and' [...]
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  Posted: September 27, 2009, 11:52am EDT
  

• More On Higher Ed Reform

  The chancellor and vice chancellor at Berkeley, Robert Birgeneau and Frank Yeary, have an intriguing  proposal for higher ed reform in the Washington Post. Here is the meat of it.
  Given the precarious condition of state finances, we propose that President Obama emulate President Lincoln by creating a 21st-century [...]
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  Posted: September 26, 2009, 11:15am EDT
  

• The Big Dog on Higher Ed

  I've been thinking a lot lately about what should be done to reform Higher Ed in Pennsylvania. I hope to post something in the not too distant future when time allows. In the meantime, consider Bill Clinton's take on the situation nationally.
  One of the main thrusts of [...]
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  Posted: September 22, 2009, 10:22am EDT
  

• An Annoucement on the Pennsylvania Budget is Imminent

  The following comes from the Harrisburg Patriot-News
  Gov. Ed Rendell plans to make an announcement at 8 p.m. and it has been confirmed that he will be announcing a budget deal.
  
  [...]
  
  The roughly $28 billion deal contains at least one new revenue source at the [...]
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  Posted: September 18, 2009, 6:41pm EDT
  

• NCAA President Miles Brand Has Died

  From USAToday,
  Brand died Wednesday afternoon at age 67, ending a nine-month battle with pancreatic cancer and an NCAA tenure that began in January 2003.
  Who, oh who, might replace him?
  Speculation on a potential successor falls on Adams and includes a number of university presidents and chancellors: Graham [...]
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  Posted: September 16, 2009, 10:25pm EDT
  

• Somewhere in State College There's a Retired Prof Sitting in Front of His Computer Screen...

  ... muttering, "what the fuck?"
  
  This is hilarious. The woman in Micheal Balsam's video shown shutting  down his show is  identified, in this blog post by Balsam's boss Matt Hurtt, as faculty member  Becky Miller. I'm guessing that would be this Rebecca Miller, Staff Assistant' [...]
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  Posted: September 13, 2009, 12:03am EDT
  

• CampusReform.org Comes to Town

  Some guy named Micheal Balsam put up a table and tent the other day in front of the HUB and video taped his efforts to sign up students for a firearms club (h/t Andy at Onward State). His show was shutdown by  campus authorities, which,  of course, he video taped.  [...]
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  Posted: September 12, 2009, 11:17pm EDT
  

• A Year of Challenges...

  The Board of Trustees met today to talk things over and to watch the latest promotional video out of The Old Main Propaganda Shop titled The 2009 State of the University Address. This year Graham decided not to prance around in the Nittany Lion get up and he [...]
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  Posted: September 11, 2009, 6:11pm EDT
  

• A Tale of Two Weather Tycoons

  From today's headlines, comes the tale of two weather tycoons.
  Joel N. Myers, the founder, president and chairman of AccuWeather Inc. and current Penn State trustee and alumnus, has committed $2 million to help ensure Penn State’s continued international leadership in meteorology, University President Graham B. Spanier announced at' [...]
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  Posted: September 11, 2009, 5:14pm EDT
  

• One More Time, The Washington Monthly College Rankings are Shoddy!!!!!!!

  Near the end of a discussion in today's New York Times of a new book on college graduation rates and the failure of schools to graduate low income students in a reasonable time David Leonhardt writes
  Washington Monthly magazine has published a new college ranking based in part on' [...]
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  Posted: September 09, 2009, 6:15pm EDT
  

• "The University of Wyoming is facing protests over...

  ...its decision to name a center for international students after Dick Cheney, the former vice president, who donated $3.2 million that was used for the program..." I don't know...I think The Richard B. Cheney International Student Detention Center has a rather nice ring to it.
  
  Technorati Tags: [...]
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  Posted: September 09, 2009, 10:04am EDT
  

• We Cleaned Their Clocks On a Worthless Ranking...And We Couldn't Be Prouder

  As I promised in an earlier post, I do have more to say about the Washington Monthly National University Rankings, although it is getting increasingly difficult for me to get worked up over rankings such as the these which most likely don't drive policy at universities. But when' [...]
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  Posted: September 05, 2009, 3:29pm EDT
  

• See Specter's State College Town Hall Meeting For Yourself

  George Chriss just informed me via email that he's uploaded a video to Moving Image Archives of Senator Arlen Specter's August 12th Town Hall meeting in State College. You can download it here.
  
  George also is asking for volunteers to  help  annotate and transcribe this and the [...]
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  Posted: September 04, 2009, 10:52pm EDT
  

• Penn State Falls Four Places...

  ...in the Washington Monthly's Annual College ranking. I've been critical of their rankings in past because of flaws which I thought inflated Penn State rank. I'm sure I'll have more to say about this year's results latter.
  
  Technorati Tags: Washington Monthly's College ranking, Penn State[...]
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  Posted: September 02, 2009, 1:31pm EDT
  

• Boilermakers Will Do It Everytime

  The Collegian reports that
  
  Kevin T. Foley, of Somerville, N.J., consumed alcohol to the degree that he could no longer care for himself and was apprehended at the Atherton Hall bus stop near East College Avenue, police said.
  
  Foley (senior-economics) finished first place in the Boilermaker Invitational...
  [...]
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  Posted: August 31, 2009, 3:36pm EDT
  

• "They Took Prayer Out of the Schools --- Replaced It With Drugs"

  I've been looking around for video of Arlen Specter's town hall meeting in State College this morning. This video from Salon is the only thing I've found so far.
  
  
  [...]
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  Posted: August 12, 2009, 6:55pm EDT
  

• For Centre County's Teabagging Ronulons

  This is for you guys.
  
  The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cHealther Skelterwww.thedailyshow.com Daily Show
  Full EpisodesPolitical HumorSpinal Tap Performance
  Ok, I know it's a bit unfair to characterize all of you as mindless followers [...]
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  Posted: August 12, 2009, 10:42am EDT
  

• From The You Can't Make This Stuff Up File

  The Glenn Beck inspired wingnut group out of the southwestern part of Pennsylvania, Southwest T.E.A. Party, is sponsored by a chiropractor and a psychologist. I'm guessing that both of those businesses thought that there would be a lot people in this group who easily get bent out of' [...]
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  Posted: August 07, 2009, 6:46pm EDT
  

• Healthcare Should be Between You, Your Doctor, Your Insurance Agent, His Lobbyist,....

  
  
  (h/t Crooks and Liars)
  
  Technorati Tags: Health Care, public option, humor
  
  
  
  

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  Posted: August 05, 2009, 12:00am EDT
  

• Drunk Students and Rich Drunk Alumni: Good. Drunk Students: Bad.

  Is it that time of year already, when Princeton Review releases its party school rankings and The Old Main Propaganda Shop  goes full metal hypocrite  while trying to downplay Penn State's high ranking? Why yes....yes by golly, it is.
  
  Before we take a look at how The [...]
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  Posted: July 29, 2009, 10:56am EDT
  

• That's Not a Very Good Likeness of Toomey

  I'm not sure what's going on here. The Club for Growth's Greed's blog seems to be proud that they follow a dictum of Valdimir Lenin. I mean that's  the only reason that I could come up with for them posting this without comment.
  
  Either that or [...]
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  Posted: July 24, 2009, 5:18pm EDT
  

• Good News and Bad News From McClatchy

  There was good news today for anyone holding McClatchy stock
  Sacramento-based McClatchy said its second-quarter profits soared to $42.2 million from $19.7 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings rose to 50 cents from 24 cents.
  The news wasn't so good for people that rely on the chain's papers' [...]
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  Posted: July 21, 2009, 6:46pm EDT
  

• Huh?

  What's with the headline on this article?
  Technorati Tags: Collegian, Humor
  
  
  
  

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  Posted: July 20, 2009, 2:52pm EDT
  

• Walter Conkrite 1916-2009

  
  
  Walter Cronkite has passed away at the age of 92. Listen to the audio of the CBS News coverage of election night 1968 which Conkrite anchored. How times have changed for the worse when it comes to TV news.
  
  Technorati Tags: Walter Conkrite, Election 1968,
  [...]
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  Posted: July 18, 2009, 7:18pm EDT
  

• Taking a Swing at the King

  The Centre Daily Time, an already  weak paper, has been weakened further by the financial crunch facing most newspapers today. Consequently it is unlikely that the paper will report on this story with a local connection. Therefore I bring it to you.
  Ten Westmoreland County landowners claim in [...]
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  Posted: July 18, 2009, 9:58am EDT
  

• Happy Talk

  How's Penn State's fund raising going? If you relied on the Penn State Propaganda Portal , you'd likely answer great.
  Penn State received a record number of donations in fiscal 2008-09, and more alumni than ever made gifts to the University during the year, the Board of Trustees learned' [...]
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  Posted: July 12, 2009, 9:45am EDT
  

• FYI

  The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports on the latest political maneuvering to get stimulus funds restored to the state-related universities.
  Fourteen members of Congress from Pennsylvania today urged the Obama administration to reject Gov. Ed Rendell's attempt to exclude the four state-related universities from receiving federal economic stimulus money.
  
  [...]
  [...]
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  Posted: July 10, 2009, 2:26pm EDT
  

• Leadership 101, Lesson One: Take Head Out of Sand

  The  Penn State Propaganda Portal has just posted  Graham's opening remarks to the Board of Trustees this morning. Much happy talk. No mention of the impending budget crisis.
  
  Technorati Tags: Penn State, Board of Trustees, Spanier, stimulus funds, budget crisis
  
  [...]
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  Posted: July 10, 2009, 10:34am EDT
  

• An Educational Video

  
  Technorati Tags: politics, humor
  
  
  
  

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  Posted: July 08, 2009, 11:08pm EDT
  

• Travlin' in Style With the Putz

  You would have had to have been asleep for the past several years not to know that Graham plays a washboard, which has suffered as much mission creep as the University has under him, in a local dixieland jazz band, The Deacons of Dixieland.
  
  
  You [...]
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  Posted: July 03, 2009, 10:59am EDT
  

• Devastating, Catastrophic, Nauseating

  The effect of the proposed budget cuts on Penn State have been described as devastating and catastrophic. Today the Penn State Propaganda Portal finally responds to those cuts and I find the response nauseating.
  
  As I noted in an earlier post, Governor Rendell does not consider Penn [...]
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  Posted: July 01, 2009, 4:47pm EDT
  

• Something You Won't Read About on Penn State Live

  Personally, I don't care about this at all. I think big time college football, even a relatively clean program like Penn State's, is a detriment to academics. But since you are unlikely to see this on the Penn State Propaganda Portal, I thought I'd, as a public service, bring' [...]
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  Posted: June 30, 2009, 10:56am EDT
  

• Devastating

  That's how the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette characterized Penn State Bullshit Artist Geoff Rushton's response to Rendell's proposed cuts to state-related universities. Old Main still has not outlined  its options should the cut go through. They continue to hold out hope that they can twist arms in Harrisburg to get [...]
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  Posted: June 27, 2009, 11:54am EDT
  

• "Catastrophic"

  Things have been quiet around Old Main this Spring and as I suggested at the end of this post, it maybe that the folks were hunkering down waiting to see what happens with the budget maneuvering in Harrisburg. With the July 1rst deadline looming, the state budget battle is [...]
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  Posted: June 26, 2009, 6:15pm EDT
  

• A Binge of Drinking Posts

  A new study of binge drinking at Washington University School of Medicine has found that following the raising of drinking age to 21 the rate of binge drinking in men has declined, but for women it has slightly increased.  Here's the kicker,
  The biggest surprises involved differences between college [...]
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  Posted: June 23, 2009, 10:00am EDT
  

• Putting a Liberal Arts Education to Humorous Use...

  
  Prague's Franz Kafka International Named World's Most Alienating Airport
  
  
  
  Technorati Tags: The Onion, humor
  
  
  
  

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  Posted: June 22, 2009, 3:05pm EDT
  

• Yeah, We Have a COI. No! Absolutely Not! We Can't Let People See It.... Don't Be Silly!

  Last year Penn State refused to participate in an evaluation of conflict of interest policies at medical centers conducted by the American Medical Student Association. That earned Penn State a grade of an F on the rankings. Penn State participated this year and earned a B. That's pretty' [...]
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  Posted: June 21, 2009, 11:20am EDT
  

• Back From the Dead: The Return of Spinal Tap

  Glue, cows, protons, anti-protons....the bond? Spinal Tap is back with a new album and a BBC interview.
  
  Technorati Tags: Spinal Tap, humor
  
  
  
  

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  Posted: June 20, 2009, 10:17pm EDT
  

• How Ya' Feelin' ?

  (h/t Digby)
  Technorati Tags: healthcare reform, AMA, humor
  
  
  
  

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  Posted: June 20, 2009, 8:55pm EDT
  

• Putting the Stupid in Congress

  A little over a week ago the GOP unveiled their new energy plan. Well, new's a little strong;it's built mostly on ideas recycled from Bush/Cheney administration.
  
  Now to be fair, there is a new wrinkle in the plan. The GOP wants to make global warming denial the [...]
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  Posted: June 20, 2009, 2:25pm EDT
  

• In Time For Your Summer Movie Viewing Pleasure...

  
  Technorati Tags: Healthcare reform, GOP
  
  
  
  

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  Posted: June 20, 2009, 12:26pm EDT
  

• A Developing Story

  It appears that an animal rights advocate may have provoked a Penn State research associate into making a veiled threat against her.fabricated a threat against her by a Penn State research associate. Well, at least that's my read. The alleged threat is supposed to have occurred on this [...]
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  Posted: June 18, 2009, 6:19pm EDT
  

• Elevating a Debate From Comments...

  I'm having a bit of a debate with  reader MoralHazard in comments over my last post on the misleading headline. MoralHazard contends that the scientific evidence backs the Penn State Propaganda Portal's characterizations of the impact of parental tolerance of alcohol consumption by a child while they are' [...]
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  Posted: June 18, 2009, 12:31am EDT
  

• Misleading Headline

  Zero tolerance alcohol policy good choice for parents
  
  That's the headline the Penn State Propaganda Portal put on an article about research done at Penn State on the connection between a parent's tolerance of underage drinking when the their child is living at home and the child's likelihood [...]
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  Posted: June 15, 2009, 12:49pm EDT
  

• Penn State Compensation and Salaries: Performance Bonuses

  For several of the individuals in Penn State Right-To-Know Report 2009 both salary and compensation data is reported. Hence one can get an idea of their performance bonuses.
  
  All of the officers of the University received current compensation only in the form of salary with the exception [...]
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  Posted: June 12, 2009, 12:27am EDT
  

• Penn State Compensation and Salaries: Gender

  One thing that jumped out at me as I was putting together the tables in my last post is that only two women appear in any of the list.
  
  Eva Pell, Vice president for Research, is the only female officer of the University and her salary of $256,400, [...]
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  Posted: June 11, 2009, 11:39pm EDT
  

• Penn State Right-To-Know Report 2009: Salaries and Compensation Data

  OK, I've avoided a discussion of the salary and compensation data in the Penn State Right-To-Know Report. The only part of the report which truly contains significant new information and the part in which everyone else has been interested. Well, I'm ready to put my own two cents worth [...]
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  Posted: June 11, 2009, 11:13pm EDT
  

• Penn State Legal Expenses 2007-2008: Loose Knots on Some Loose Ends

  I wanted to tie up a couple of loose ends from my earlier post on Penn State legal expenses.  There were several entities which received payment from Penn State which I thought likely were settlements for lawsuits.  I haven't documented any legal proceedings which may have resulted in those' [...]
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  Posted: June 10, 2009, 6:51pm EDT
  

• It's Commencement Time in the Country

  [h/t Atrios]
  Technorati Tags: Conservative Media, Humor,
  
  

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  Posted: June 09, 2009, 12:15pm EDT
  

• Reporting on the Right-To-Know Report

  As I promised the other day, here's my look at the Penn State 2009 Right-To-Know Report. It's largely a disappointment.
  
  Most of the information in the report, other than the salary data which received all of the press coverage two weeks ago and a couple of other [...]
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  Posted: June 09, 2009, 11:37am EDT
  

• Deep Thought

  How much does McQuaide-Blasko, Penn State's law firm, charges Old Main to read this blog?
  
  Technorati Tags: Penn State, McQuaide-Blasko,
  
  

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  ' [...]
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  Posted: June 08, 2009, 2:36pm EDT
  

• Jumping Through Hoops To Find and Use Penn State's Right-To-Know Report

  A couple of years ago the Pennsylvania General Assembly set out to overhaul the Commonwealth's antiquated Right-To-Know law. Freshman Democrat Tim Mahoney of Uniontown and veteran Republican Dominic Pileggi of Chester County introduced bills in the House and Senate, respectively. Both bills extended the coverage of the law to' [...]
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  Posted: June 04, 2009, 11:21pm EDT
  

• I Think We Should Start to Call GT....

  ...Shecky Greene. Here's the big buffoon-he's third up-in the well of the House ridiculing green jobs.
  
  [h/t Think Progress]
  
  Technorati Tags: Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA5), green jobs, environment
  
  

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  Posted: June 04, 2009, 11:26am EDT
  

• Dog Bites Man/Republican Opposes EFCA

  I'm sure this will surprise no one, but our congresscritter GT opposes the Employee Free Choice Act.
  Thompson spoke out against the Employee Free Choice Act, which he claims removes the secret ballot process in considering whether to unionize a workplace.
  
  "It's a job-killing measure," he said.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: June 02, 2009, 10:56pm EDT
  

• More On Penn State's Legal Expenses: John R. Hancock v. The Pennsylvania State University

  Here's a bit more information on the lawsuit filed by John R. Hancock against Penn State in October of 2005 which I mentioned in my last post.  Hancock, a maintenance worker, was fired by Penn State. He claimed  that it was because of his disability. 
  
  Here' [...]
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  Posted: June 02, 2009, 12:53pm EDT
  

• Penn State Legal Expenses 2007-2008

  When I discovered the Stairs Reports a few years ago, the first thing that came to my mind was that I could get an upper bound on the amount Penn State spent on legal settlements by subtracting the amount paid to McQuaide-Blasko, the University's General Counsel, from total legal' [...]
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  Posted: May 28, 2009, 3:40pm EDT
  

• Fun Facts

  Here are a few fun facts gleaned from Penn State's 2007-2008 financial report:
  The amount Intercollegiate Athletics spent on portable toilets:$164,778 (Vol. III pg. 656);The amount Information Technology Services spent on Angel course management software:$35,954 (Vol III pg. 317);The amount that General & Academic Administration, i.e. Old Main, spent' [...]
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  Posted: May 27, 2009, 11:51am EDT
  

• If You Feed the Watchdog, Will It Keep Quiet?

  Every year since 1996 the Pennsylvania General Assembly has issued financial reports on the state-related universities called Stairs Reports (Take a look over to your right). For even longer, the General Assembly has also issued reports on credit hours, teaching loads, etc... for both the state-owned and state-related universities. These [...]
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  Posted: May 26, 2009, 11:35pm EDT
  

• Well That Explains That

  As I noted the other day, the Penn State Propaganda Portal put up an oblique belated defense of the University's Electro-Optics Center against charges of corruption. Or at least I thought it was an oblique belated defense.
  
  The story of a lobbying scandal at the Center' [...]
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  Posted: May 26, 2009, 11:44am EDT
  

• Your EFCA Update

  Brian Buetler reports on the latest in the fight to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.
  Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), the chief sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act, has a warning for Democratic foes of his flagship legislation: Work with me in earnest on a compromise, or I'll' [...]
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  Posted: May 20, 2009, 6:24pm EDT
  

• Seth Williams Wins Dem Primary for Philly DA

  Seth William, former Penn State student activist, has won the Democratic primary for Philadelphia District Attorney.
  In a decisive victory that his supporters heralded as "historic," R. Seth Williams won the Democratic primary for Philadelphia District Attorney last night taking more than 41 percent of the votes [...]
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  Posted: May 19, 2009, 11:42pm EDT
  

• Old Main Give's Itself an A

  In March, the Washington Post and Politico each had a story about an emerging lobbying scandal surrounding the Penn State Electro-Optic Center.  Old Main hasn't had anything to say about the scandal, but today it mounts an indirect defense of the Center in a long laudatory piece published' [...]
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  Posted: May 19, 2009, 5:49pm EDT
  

• The Pelosi Sideshow

  The Pelosi briefing story is nothing more than a side show.
  
  Was she briefed on September 4, 2002 that water boarding and other torture techniques had already been employed? Pelosi has always contented that she hasn't. For example on February 25th of this year, in an interview' [...]
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  Posted: May 16, 2009, 7:21pm EDT
  

• 9/11 Has Changed Everything...

  ...and not for the better. Go have a read.
  
  Technorati Tags: 9/11, civil liberties, abuse of power
  
  

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  Posted: May 12, 2009, 8:30pm EDT
  

• Blue and White Turns....

  .....Black and White and Dead All Over. Margret Soltan, aka UD, takes a look at Penn State's very own Tim Curley's  not so surprising  view that all is fine and dandy with college sports and she sees Happy Valley's number one export,  propaganda.  Go have a read. [...]
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  Posted: May 12, 2009, 5:47pm EDT
  

• A Dry T-Shirt Contest

  Many of my readers are young, progressive, artistic and competitive. This is for them.
  

  Campus Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress, announces our 2009 Dry T-Shirt Contest, your chance to show off your creative talents, advance the progressive cause, and win awesome prizes! Between now and [...]

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  Posted: May 12, 2009, 12:32pm EDT
  

• Who Took a Peek at the Mifflin Streak?

  There were no arrests this year at Penn State's annual Mifflin Streak. In fact, Vice President for Student Affairs Damon Sims attended the event and had this to say
  "I'm not streaking," Sims said with a laugh. "It's a nice way for students to blow off steam before finals."

  [...][...]

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  Posted: May 08, 2009, 10:21pm EDT
  

• EFCA: Feinstein and Specter Work on a Compromise

  It looks like Snarlin' Arlen's own employment future has lead him to reconsider his recent opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act. He and Senator Diane Feinstein are working on a compromise bill which would  replace card check with a secret absentee-ballot-like provision. On first blush, it sounds promising. [...]
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  Posted: May 08, 2009, 9:27pm EDT
  

• Hey Tina, How About a Profile of This Guy

  Here's a Penn State alum that you won't see profiled in the Penn Stater blog anytime soon.
  (h/t University Diaries)
  
  Technorati Tags: Penn State, alumus, NASA, fraud
  
  

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  Posted: May 08, 2009, 10:36am EDT
  

• A Fallen Angel?

  Hey kids, keep an eye on this story; it may impact you in the near future. Blackboard has bought Angel and there is some trepidation, to say the least, amongst the users of the latter.
  
  Technorati Tags: Penn State, Angel, Blackboard
  
  

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  Posted: May 07, 2009, 10:49pm EDT
  

• EFCA: In Order To Form a More Perfect... Ah, Any Union

  
  
  This video does a great job of explaining what it takes to form a union under the current law and the ways in which the  law is now  stacked against workers.
  
  (h/T Matt Yglesais)
  
  Technorati Tags: Employee Free Choice Act
  
  

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  Posted: May 06, 2009, 11:56am EDT
  

• I'm Still....

  ...alive. I've been rather busy the last few weeks and haven't updated the blog much. I hope to turn that around next week. Stay tuned.
  
  Technorati Tags: housekeeping note
  
  

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  Posted: May 05, 2009, 5:38pm EDT
  

• Friday Katz Blogging*

  They dedicated the Lewis Katz Building, the new home of Dickinson School of Law on the University Park campus, this afternoon. This was the culmination of drawn out dirty fight by Graham that began when he maneuvered to   renege  on the original merger agreement with the  Dickinson  School [...]
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  Posted: April 24, 2009, 10:51pm EDT
  

• OK Centre County, Are You Embarrassed Yet?

  The Wall Street Journal's Venture Capital Dispatch  blog isn't too impressed by GT.
  Yesterday the House of Representatives’ small business committee held a hearing in which a venture investor and entrepreneurs discussed the need for reauthorization of the program, which is set to expire in July. You can view [...]
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  Posted: April 23, 2009, 11:29pm EDT
  

• That's a Terrible Hack You Have There....

  ...You know what's good for it?
  
  
  
  Why yes, Tea!
  
  Technorati Tags: Rep Glenn Thompson (R-PA5), Tea Party, hack
  
  

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  Posted: April 23, 2009, 10:22am EDT
  

• More Information, Please

  Last week the Collegian reported that the money from the new facilities fee has not been spent. I asked how money from the fees was being used while a use for it was being devised. Today, in an editorial on the various fees that students must pay, [...]
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  Posted: April 21, 2009, 10:45am EDT
  

• A Peak From a Leak is Stressful

  The Turner Radio Network claims to have a leaked copy of the Treasury's Stress Test of US banks. If the report is accurate we are in for a world of hurt.
  
  Technorati Tags: Stress Test, financial crisis, economy
  
  

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  Posted: April 21, 2009, 10:26am EDT
  

• Graham: Putting the Weasel in Nittany Weasel

  The Collegian reported on Wednesday about how the University is using the revenue from the controversial new facilities fee....it isn't.
  

  Vice President of Student Affairs Damon Sims, who is also a ... member[of the facilities Fee Advisory Board], wrote in an e-mail that no revenues from the University' [...]

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  Posted: April 19, 2009, 9:47pm EDT
  

• Old Main: Lying or Breaking the Law?

  The Collegian reported this week that Old Main now claims that it didn't lobby against the Employee Free Choice Act last year, although its fourth quarter 2008 federal lobbying disclosure form clearly states that it did.  Which is true?  Well, it is against the law to file' [...]
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  Posted: April 19, 2009, 7:38pm EDT
  

• Context Comes a Few Weeks Late

  The Collegian finally got around to reporting the Old Main's lobbying against the Employee Free Choice Act today. The reporter, Ryan Pfister, does a pretty good job explaining what the University did.
  

  ...[A]ccording to a lobbying report filed by Penn State that covers activities from October to' [...]

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  Posted: April 17, 2009, 9:28am EDT
  

• The Hundred Million Dollar Plus Question

  I've put together a little slide show for you based on Penn State's Audited Financial Statements covering fiscal years ending June 30 of 2000 through 2008. This show tells the story of how Penn State uses its revenues from tuition, fees, and state appropriations.
  
  
  
  A story [...]
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  Posted: April 07, 2009, 10:13pm EDT