F&M in the News 2022

12/19-1/2/23

Philadelphia Inquirer: Akbar Hossain’s American dream is inspiring his work on Josh Shapiro’s transition team
A great bio on F&M alum Akbar Hossain: “There are people across the country who are still looking for the same shot I was given,” said Akbar Hossain, executive director of the governor-elect’s transition team.

Nomad Lawyer: Lancaster: 7 Best Places To Visit In Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Phillips Museum of Art #2 – Lancaster, Pennsylvania is a city that is rich in culture and history. It is the seat of Lancaster County, and has been a hub for the fine arts. The city is also home to some of the oldest inland cities in the United States. Several museums provide a glimpse into the area’s past. The Phillips Museum of Art at Franklin and Marshall College is a hidden gem in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The museum is home to a permanent collection of artwork that spans many centuries, from the Renaissance to contemporary art.

LNP: 7 highlights in local entertainment from 2022, from Lady Gaga to John Waters
The headliner of the inaugural Gleaners Film Festival, held in September at Franklin & Marshall College, was the always effervescent Baltimore director John Waters. In advance, audiences were promised a screening of the newly remastered classic “Pink Flamingos,” and then Waters himself would be doing his newest one-man show, “False Negative.” The first part was right, but the second part ended up being a case of last-minute false advertising, as Waters delighted the crowd with the first public performance of his newest, still untitled show. Though it had the hallmarks of a show still in the works, it was incredibly exciting being in the test audience for a new work from a creative who never tires of surprising his audience.

Politics PA: Laughlin Introduces Voter ID Legislation to Amend PA Constitution
State Senator Dan Laughlin (R-Erie) announced Wednesday that he plans to introduce legislation amending the Pennsylvania Constitution to require voters to provide valid identification in order to vote in an election. During the height of the “Big Lie” in June 2021, Franklin & Marshall College conducted a poll and found that a large majority of Pennsylvania voters support strengthening the state’s voter ID requirements. According to the poll cited by Laughlin, 74 percent of respondents agree voters should be required to show ID at the polls. Another F&M poll in May 2022 found that just 26 percent said the one change they would like to see to Pennsylvania’s elections is voter ID. And in August 2020, when posed with the same question, only one percent of respondents said showing ID should be a change made by the legislature.

Diverse Issues in Higher Education: Furman University and 14 Others Collectively Awarded $8.625 Million to Improve Inclusion for STEM Students
Furman University and 14 other institutions have collectively been awarded $8.625 million to improve inclusion for students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The cohort includes schools such as California State University-Stanislaus; Fordham University; Franklin & Marshall College; Illinois State University; Middlebury College; and SUNY Empire State College.
 

12/12-12/19

ABC News: What 'soft landing' means for the economy and the chances it will happen
The primary tool deployed by the Federal Reserve in its fight against inflation is the interest rate hike, which increases borrowing costs, essentially making it more difficult for individuals and businesses to access loans. Since rate hikes cause the economy to slow down – which often lead to layoffs – the Fed’s use of interest rate hikes to attack inflation risks replacing one problem with another, Yeva Nersisyan, a professor of economics at Franklin & Marshall College, told ABC News. "The way I see it is we are using unemployment as a tool to fight inflation," she said. "It’s basically saying we want lower prices for all of us at the expense of some people, potentially millions, losing their livelihoods."

LNP: Six Lancaster nonprofits awarded security grants to protect against hate crimes
This round of statewide funding will support security enhancement projects for 93 churches, synagogues, and other nonprofit organizations serving diverse communities that are frequently targeted by hate crimes throughout the commonwealth. Among the Lancaster County recipients is also Church World Service, which was granted $97,000. The faith-based organization at 308 E. King St.  helps refugees immigrants and asylum seekers. [picture caption] Rachel Helwig, Development & Communications Manager at CWS Lancaster, carries a box of toiletry kits from a Martin Luther King Day of Service at Franklin & Marshall College into Church World Services 308 E. King St. in Lancaster City Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022. In the background are Jennifer Nell, assistant director of the Ware Institute for Civic Engagement at Franklin & Marshall College, left, Andrew Mashas, of Church World Services, center, and Beth Proffitt, assistant dean of Franklin & Marshall College and Bonchek College House.
 

12/5-12/12

Newsweek: Russia's Economy is Being Slowly Asphyxiated
Russia is set to face a financially turbulent 2023 as sanctions imposed by the West following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine continue to bite, according to experts. "The sanctions already in place that limit Russia's access to high technological inputs into the energy sector upon which it is singularly reliant, will likely have an even more profound impact on Russia's fiscal viability," said Abby Schrader, history professor at Franklin & Marshall College, Pennsylvania. These sanctions combined with the oil price cap and Russia's diminishing currency reserves "could cripple the Russian economy," she told Newsweek.

Fox43: Pa. House vacancies leave 2023 power, leadership in question
Control of the State House of Representatives is still up for grabs almost a month after election day, setting up an unprecedented start to 2023 in Harrisburg.  There's unfinished business to deal with in Harrisburg.  While Democrats won enough seats in November to control the House, those seats are now empty and Republicans are calling Democrat's moves to take power into question. It means the state must hold special elections to fill those posts on Feb. 7, but until then, the Republicans hold a 101 to 99 majority. "I'm not sure there's a right answer to this," said Berwood Yost, director of the Franklin & Marshall College Center for Opinion Research. Yost says this sets up an unprecedented scenario. Representatives are sworn in next month and must vote for a speaker of the house before the special elections are set to take place. "In theory, Democrats have the number of seats they need to control the House, in practical terms, when they go to swear in the members on Jan. 3, they won't," he said.

Fast Company: Corporations are incentivized to keep wages low—worker cooperatives could help
Essay from F&M economist David Brennan: ‘There is an inevitable tension between workers who seek wages for their livelihoods and corporations who seek profits for their shareholders.’ While the pandemic presented a host of challenges for the economy, something remarkable happened to workers who were able to maintain employment during that period: Their wages rose . . . significantly.

CBS Sports: The Hunt Report: Kickoff off college all-star game season with everything to know about the FCS National Bowl
The FCS National Bowl was created back in 2014 as two separate games: the FCS Bowl and the National Bowl. The former was catered to more prospects hailing from the FCS, while the latter was more for the prospects coming from the Division II, Division III, NAIA and USports ranks. Founded by former Franklin & Marshall football star Michael Quartey, Esq., both games were combined in recent years into one all-star event, where the players go through weigh-ins conducted by pro scouts and two days of practice that culminate in a game on Sunday Dec. 11.

Business Wire: Matt Murphy, President & CEO, Marvell – New GSA BOD Chair
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) Board of Directors welcomes our new appointed Chair, Matt Murphy, President and CEO of Marvell Technology. Matt earned a B.A. from Franklin & Marshall College and is also a graduate of the Stanford Executive Program. He served on the Board of Directors of eBay Inc. from 2019 to 2022 and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), where he also served as Chairman in 2018.
 

11/28-12/5

Newsweek: Russia's 'Shadow Fleet' To Bypass Oil Sanctions Likely Doomed to Failure 
Abby Schrader, history professor at Franklin & Marshall College, Pennsylvania, said that the shadow fleet "will only get them so far." "[Russia] will still have difficulty insuring their ships and they cannot manage to purchase enough of them to transport all of the crude oil that they will need to sell to keep their economy afloat," she told Newsweek. "This is especially true since they will be transporting their oil further to places like India and China, rather than selling it to Europe," she said. "Even if Russia manages to circumvent these price caps and sell its energy to Turkey, India, China, and others who are happy to purchase it, the sanctions that have already been imposed by the West will have a profound impact upon Russia."

The Sunday Post: Stella: Film-maker on inspirational twists of fate behind Cinderella-based movie
Her childhood fantasy of becoming a film-maker led Jessica Fox to the bright lights of Los Angeles, but it was under the dark skies of Dumfries and Galloway where her dream became a reality. Fox’s first feature film, Stella, which she wrote and directed during the pandemic in her adopted home of Wigtown, last week won acclaim at a prestigious international film festival. For Fox, the story could not have been set anywhere else as her script melded her grandparents’ survival of the Holocaust and migration to America; the popularity of fascist Oswald Mosley in parts of south-west Scotland in the 1930s; her love of the original folk-tale version of Cinderella; and the location of 18th Century, A-listed Galloway House, where she was permitted to film much of the movie. Fox, originally from Boston, said: “I began writing it during lockdown. I studied folklore, mythology and astronomy at college [Franklin & Marshall] and I’ve always loved old fairytales…”
 

11/21-11/28

WITF: Two central Pennsylvanians are being honored for their environmental justice and conservancy efforts
Two environmental justice advocates from central Pennsylvania, Zeshan Ismat and Brennan Ka’aihue, will lead tree planting projects in underserved sections of their communities. They were awarded 2022 Mira Lloyd Dock Partnership Diversity awards by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership. Ismat, a geology professor at Franklin & Marshall College, is founder of Blackbirds Environmental Justice group, which organizes activities in Lancaster County centered on connecting with nature and taking care of it. Ismat decided to create the  Blackbirds Environmental Justice group when she was looking for a Girls Scouts group for her daughter but could not find one. She wanted to create an empowering space for kids of color, while creating awareness about environmental issues.
 

11/14-11/21

Yahoo News: Gov.-elect Shapiro, Gov. Wolf announce first steps in transition to new administration
Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro and Lt. Gov.-elect Austin Davis were joined by Gov. Wolf at the state capitol to announce the first steps in the transition to the new administration. Next week, the Shapiro-Davis transition team will be announcing leaders of the transition process, who will be focused on recruiting top talent and hiring a diverse team that will be ready to continue bringing people together and move Pennsylvania forward on day one, a release said. Akbar Hossain will serve as the Executive Director of the transition. Akbar was most recently the policy director on the Shapiro for Pennsylvania campaign, where he led development of the governor-elect’s issue agenda and coordinated with key stakeholders across the Commonwealth. Prior to joining the campaign, Akbar was a white-collar government investigations attorney at a national law firm and served as a law clerk to Judge Harvey Bartle III of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. In his pro bono practice, Akbar represented immigrants seeking asylum in the U.S. and low-income tenants in eviction proceedings. He has a bachelor’s degree from Franklin and Marshall College and a Juris Doctor from University of Pennsylvania Law School.

WUSA9: Losing candidates are not required to concede in an electio
WASHINGTON — Candidates plan election night parties with hopes of delivering victory speeches, but when things don’t go their way, they’re instead expected to concede to the winning candidate with congratulations and an acceptance of the outcome. While that often feels like the conclusion of an election, does a concession actually matter? "The candidate that loses a race says, 'I've lost and the opponent has won legitimately, and they have every right to take office," said Dr. Stephen Medvic, professor of government at Franklin And Marshall College. "If they don't do that it doesn't stop the winner from taking office. It's just that it's kind of a nice courtesy that says, 'We played fair, they won, I concede.'"

WGAL: Pennsylvania election results being studied
Results from last week's election are being studied. Democrats defied midterm election history to win the two biggest statewide races in Pennsylvania. "Midterm turnout was higher even than 2018, which was the highest for midterm in a century," said Berwood Yost, the director of Franklin & Marshall College's election polling. Voter interest was just one takeaway from this year's midterm election. "The exit polls show us that is was abortion and the economy that were both the major issues," Yost said. "Moderate and independent voters supported Democrats. That's the bottom line," Yost said.
 

11/7-11/14

Fox43: No, conceding an election is not required | VERIFY
THE SOURCES: The National Conference of State Legislators and Dr. Stephen Medvic, professor of government at Franklin And Marshall College. WHAT WE FOUND: According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a race is over when "election administrators complete their post-election activities and the election results are certified.” “It's the certification process that all of the local county election boards go through," Dr. Medvic said. "Then once they've done that the election can be declared official. It's certified at that point." Even after races are called, there are state and local deadlines to submit petitions for recounts or recanvassing. Then, a candidate may choose to go through the legal system to challenge results. "So those go through a normal process of [making] the challenge. It goes to a court, the court decides whether some violation has taken place or not," Dr. Medvic said. "But once they've run out of those challenges, that's when the elections are our official."

LNP: Analysis: Pennsylvania Republicans may have blown once-a-decade opportunity
The midterm election historically has boosted the electoral success of the party out of power from the White House. This year those prospects were enhanced by what some Republicans saw as a perfect storm of inflation, high gas prices, President Biden’s unpopularity, and a wave of gun violence in the state’s biggest city, Philadelphia. Open seats in theory are easier to win, lacking a well-known incumbent who can raise lots of money and campaign on the job. And a Senate and governor’s seat open at the same time is a “rarity,” said Berwood Yost, polling director at Franklin & Marshall College.

York Daily Record: 'Watching people throw poo at each other': Oz, Fetterman ads set campaign spending record
The flood of political ads in Pennsylvania this year has come at a high price, as the U.S. Senate race here cost more than any other campaign in the nation: $312 million. Stephen Medvic said the pardons are a “complicated issue” that are hard for Fetterman to explain in a 30-second ad. “I don’t think Fetterman answered it.” He's a professor of government at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster and the director for its Center for Politics and Public Affairs. “The campaign attacks have omitted both context — such as recommendations of leniency from judges, prosecutors and prison officials — and the nuances of a state law that requires life sentences for second-degree murder. For example, the getaway driver in a fatal shooting can be punished just as severely as the person who pulled the trigger,” according to NBC News. Meanwhile, Fetterman has pushed on Oz’s pro-life stance and being an “outsider” to Pennsylvania. Medvic said those campaigns have been a “little unfocused.”

Central Penn Business Journal: Lombardos donate $5 million to F&M for new project
Lancaster County business owners and philanthropists Sam and Dena Lombardo are donating $5 million to Franklin & Marshall College to build a new welcome center for returning alumni and prospective students and their families. Making use of interactive technology, the Samuel N. and Dena M. Lombardo Welcome Center will be housed in College Square on Harrisburg Avenue “to provide an accessible ‘door to campus’ for visitors to start their F&M journey,” said an announcement from F&M President Barbara Altman. “The Welcome Center will draw people in to learn more about our liberal arts mission, distinguished academics and research, and the contributions our alumni are making in their occupations and communities around the world.”

LNP: Sam and Dena Lombardo donate $5 million to Franklin & Marshall College for new welcome center
Franklin & Marshall College will invest in a new tool for attracting students thanks to a $5 million gift from Lancaster County businesspeople and philanthropists Sam and Dena Lombardo. Construction of the Samuel N. and Dena M. Lombardo Welcome Center inside College Square at 931 Harrisburg Ave. is expected to begin in summer 2023. The Lombardos’ donation will fund both the renovations to develop the welcome center as well as an endowment for the center’s ongoing maintenance. As the number of college-age students decreases nationwide due to demographic trends, schools face an increasingly competitive environment to maintain enrollment. With a new welcome center, the college, with 825 employees, plans to showcase its role in graduates’ success. “The center’s location is perfectly situated to be the first stop for all campus visitors,” said F&M President Barbara Altmann in a news release. “F&M wants to make a strong first impression as students compare their options.”

Lehigh Valley Live: What to expect on Election Day 2022 in Pa.: Turnout; when will we have election results?
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8. Voters will head to the polls for the 2022 midterm elections. Well, at least half of them will. And it may be some time before we have a clear picture of results. Turnout for midterm elections is generally not as high as presidential years, but a recent Franklin & Marshall College poll found 66% of registered voters in Pennsylvania are “very interested,” up 11 percentage points from September. The state department reported 76.5% of registered voters turned out for the presidential election in 2020. Berwood Yost, who heads the college’s polling center, told lehighvalleylive.com in mid-October that 50% turnout among registered voters “wouldn’t be bad at all for a midterm.” He expected turnout to match statewide and locally in the Lehigh Valley.

WGAL: Kiwibot robotic delivery service brings food to Franklin & Marshall College students
LANCASTER, Pa. — Some colleges are adding a new type of food delivery service to their campuses. Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster is one of the first colleges in Pennsylvania to have the Kiwibot. "It's a robotic delivery food system, with the sidewalk robots. We have 15 of the robots on campus, and basically, it's a subscription service very similar to Uber Eats or DoorDash where the students can sign up for a subscription or they can pay per delivery to order food from different campus venues," said Michael Baker, F&M's assistant vice president of auxiliary services. You just download an app called Everyday, which is run by Sodexo, F&M's contracted food service provider. Then order a meal or drink from campus venues and select one of 15 locations across campus to get it delivered to.
 

10/31-11/7

The New York Times: Times/Siena Polls Show Democrats Slightly Ahead in Key Senate Races
Respondents said they preferred Republicans to control the Senate, but individual matchups showed a different story. In many of these states, our surveys are the first such poll in weeks. Consider the last such polls in the four states, and how much better they look for Democrats than the average — and how similar they look to our survey: Pennsylvania: Franklin and Marshall showed Mr. Fetterman +4 in a poll conducted from Oct. 14 to Oct. 23. In a survey fielded over a partly overlapping period, CNN/SSRS showed Mr. Fetterman up six from Oct. 13 to 17.

Lehigh Valley Live: Oz to make Lehigh Valley appearance to pump up voters, stump for Scheller
Oz is vying against Democrat Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in Tuesday’s general election. The latest Muhlenberg College/Morning Call poll puts both in a dead heat at 47% each. Other polls, such as one by Emerson College, found Oz slightly ahead while the Franklin & Marshall College poll gives Fetterman a slight advantage. Both the Cook Political Report and FiveThirtyEight continue to rate the race a tossup.

IFL Science: Men In Makeup? Yes Please, Says New Research
In a discovery that will surprise pretty much nobody who knows the purpose of makeup, researchers have found that men are considered more attractive when wearing a smattering of the old powder and rouge than when barefaced. “Male faces were rated as higher in attractiveness when presented wearing subtle makeup, compared to when presented not wearing makeup,” said Carlota Batres, the Franklin and Marshall psychologist who led the study, in a statement. “This was true for both male and female raters, and whether analyzing the data using a by-participant or a by-face analysis.”
 

10/24-10/31

New York Times: New York Times: Beaches? Cruises? ‘Dark’ Tourists Prefer the Gloomy and Macabre
Travelers who use their off time to visit places like the Chernobyl nuclear plant or current conflict zones say they no longer want a sanitized version of a troubled world. Part of the appeal of dark tourism is its ability to help people process what is happening “as the world gets darker and gloomier,” said Jeffrey S. Podoshen, a professor of marketing at Franklin and Marshall College, who specializes in dark tourism. “People are trying to understand dark things, trying to understand things like the realities of death, dying and violence,” he said. “They look at this type of tourism as a way to prepare themselves.”

PBS Newshour: Pennsylvania’s closely watched Senate race is neck-and-neck with 2 weeks until election
We are two weeks away from a hugely consequential election that will determine the make-up of Congress and the direction of U.S. policymaking over the next two years. So far, more than a billion dollars have been spent on races for 35 Senate seats, and the most expensive of those is in Pennsylvania. Judy Woodruff visited the Keystone State and spoke with voters. [interview] Judy Woodruff: Stephen Medvic directs the center for politics and public affairs at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster. He says, with Joe Biden in the White House and high inflation and gas prices, Republicans would naturally be favored in this off-year election. But it's taken time for them to consolidate around Dr. Oz.

Le Temps: La Pennsylvanie est un point focal des midterms
La bataille pour les «midterms» fait rage en Pennsylvanie, un des Etats clés de ce cycle électoral.Hier, le président Joe Biden s’y rendait une nouvelle fois, pour soutenir John Fetterman, le candidat démocrate à la course au Sénat, alors que les républicains sont déterminés à reprendre une majorité au Congrès. Stephen K. Medvic, directeur du Center for Politics and Public Affairs au Franklin & Marshall College de Lancaster, explique pourquoi cet Etat doit être particulièrement scruté.
(Le Temps: Pennsylvania is a midterms focal point)
The battle for the "midterms" is raging in Pennsylvania, one of the Key states of this electoral cycle. Yesterday, President Joe Biden went there returned once again, in support of John Fetterman, the candidate Democrat in the Senate race, while Republicans are determined to regain a majority in Congress. Stephen K. Medvic, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at the Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, explains why this state must be particularly scrutinized.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Medical experts weigh in on John Fetterman’s stroke recovery after U.S. Senate debate with Mehmet Oz
The fallout from Tuesday’s high-stakes clash between the candidates for Pennsylvania’s all-important U.S. Senate seat has already begun reshaping the final days of the pivotal contest, with questions about one candidate’s health and the other’s position on abortion dominating the conversation. “I’ve never seen a debate like that,” said Berwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster. It showcased a Democratic candidate with a unique vulnerability that was on full display during his uneven performance, in which he was aided by closed captioning because the stroke has affected his auditory processing. Opposite him stood a Republican uniquely unsuited to exploiting that vulnerability, Mr. Yost said. More than half of voters already have an unfavorable view of Mr. Oz, according to a September survey by Franklin & Marshall, meaning any attacks on Mr. Fetterman’s fitness for office are likely to backfire among people predisposed to dislike him, Mr. Yost said.

KCRW: Did Fetterman-Oz debate in PA decide the makeup of Senate? [podcast]
Former Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman and television host Dr. Mehmet Oz met for their first and only debate on Tuesday night in the race to be Pennsylvania’s next senator, which is considered a toss-up. For Fetterman, the Democrat, it was his first big public appearance since suffering a stroke last May. Moderators pushed Oz, the Republican, on his stance on abortion. This contest could decide which party controls the U.S. Senate. Guest: Stephen Medvic - political scientist, Franklin and Marshall College

Penn Live: Senate debate spurs hot takes, memes as supporters scramble to defend their guy
Fallout from Tuesday’s U.S. Senate debate was fast and furious, with much of it reflecting the political leanings of whoever was sharing memes, giving hot takes, and posting comments online. Stephen Medvic, the director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs and the co-director of the Floyd Institute for Public Policy at Franklin & Marshall College, said the big question is, do voters empathize with Fetterman as someone on the mend or take his verbal stumbles as a negative sign? “Every voter’s going to have to make that judgement for themselves,” Medvic said.

Politics PA: F&M: Shapiro Expands Lead; Fetterman Holds Edge in Pre-Debate Poll
The latest Franklin & Marshall College poll shows the Democratic candidates are still in a favorable position with less than two weeks remaining before Election Day. The poll, which was conducted prior to Tuesday’s U.S. Senate debate, shows Josh Shapiro with a 23-point advantage (56-33%) over GOP challenger Doug Mastriano, while John Fetterman enjoys a five-point edge (48-43%) over Republican nominee Mehmet Oz. One of the survey’s most notable findings is how dissatisfied GOP respondents are with their party’s nominees for Senate and governor.

Penn Live: Fetterman has small lead over Oz; GOP voters dissatisfied with candidates: F&M poll
A new poll shows John Fetterman with a 4-point advantage over Dr. Mehmet Oz in the U.S. Senate race, as Josh Shapiro enjoys a comfortable 22-point lead over Doug Mastriano in the governor’s race. Franklin & Marshall College’s October poll has Fetterman, the Democratic nominee, leading Republican Oz, 49% to 45% among likely voters. Notably, though, is how dissatisfied Republicans are with their statewide candidates, raising the question of whether that gets reflected in the election results.

Pennsylvania Capital-Star: ‘We will have to be ready,’ to protect elections every day, Black lawmakers warn | Thursday Coffee
Also: New Franklin & Marshal poll shows leads for Shapiro, Fetterman in Pa.’s marquee races
A new Franklin & Marshall College poll out this morning shows Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro with a 58 percent to 36 percent lead over Republican Doug Mastriano among likely voters. Shapiro, who held a 52-42 percent lead late September, has improved his personal favorability ratings among voters, while Mastriano’s favorables have declined, the poll showed.

LNP: F&M Poll offers a tale of two races, with Shapiro soaring but Senate race still effectively tied
Democrat John Fetterman holds a four-percentage point lead over Republican Mehmet Oz among likely voters, according to a statewide poll released today. But its findings for the U.S. Senate race may already be outdated, as the poll was conducted before the candidates exchanged blows Tuesday night in their only scheduled debate. The Franklin & Marshall College Poll shows Oz, a retired heart surgeon and former TV personality, and Fetterman, the state’s lieutenant governor, within the almost seven percent margin of error, meaning either candidate could win on Nov. 8. The two were also within the margin of error in the F&M poll released on Sept. 22.

WGAL: F&M poll releases latest numbers in PA Senate and governor race prior to latest debate
In the new Franklin and Marshall College poll conducted last week, Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman holds a narrow, single-digit lead over Republican Mehmet Oz at 48% to 43%, respectively. This includes undecided voters, who were asked which candidate they were leaning towards. The poll's margin of error is just over 5%. In the governor's race, Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro's lead has grown over Sen. Doug Mastriano since last month, now at 56% to 33%. This also includes undecided voters leaning toward one candidate. The economy continues to be a top issue for voters. When asked what the most important issue is facing Pennsylvania, the economy and finances far outweighed other issues.

Wellsboro Gazette: Poll: Oz gains ground on Fetterman, Shapiro up big on Mastriano
Republican Senate nominee Mehmet Oz has gained substantial ground on Democratic candidate John Fetterman among Pennsylvania voters in the last month, according to a new Franklin & Marshall College poll released Wednesday. In the governor’s race, the poll shows state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the Democratic nominee, widening his lead over state Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-33, Franklin, the Republican nominee.

Philadelphia Inquirer: John Fetterman and Mehmet Oz are finally facing off in a Senate debate. Here’s what we’re watching for.
Fetterman and Oz will meet on the debate stage for the only time in their Senate campaign. Here are five things to keep your eye on. “You have to be really careful about how you handle that, particularly as a physician,” said Berwood Yost, of Franklin and Marshall College. He noted that about half of Pennsylvania adults have a chronic health condition. “More people are like John Fetterman in terms of their health, dealing with some kind of health condition, than they are like Dr. Oz, who seems to be perfectly fit.”

NewsNation: Political shift: Fewer debates, partisan rallies this election cycle
Campaign rallies and the debate stage have long been a candidate’s place to shine, but with less than three weeks left until this year’s midterms, some political experts have noticed a shift. “Well, I think it’s fair to say that politics is constantly changing. Candidates now have more channels to get their message out. In olden times, it used to be the case candidates needed local TV stations to cover their campaigns to help get out their message,” Berwood Yost, the director of the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College, said on “Rush Hour” Thursday. “You can get your messaging to the voters that you need to reach much more precisely these days than you could previously,” Yost continued.

Roll Call: John Fetterman had a stroke, but have voters ever cared about a candidate’s health?
‘It doesn’t reveal a thing about a person’s character,’ one pollster says. If voters like a politician — or dislike his opponent — does his health matter to them? What if they’re on the fence about whom to vote for? Those are the questions Pennsylvanians might answer this November as Republican Mehmet Oz questions the fitness of his opponent in the Senate race, Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who had a stroke in May. Still, Pennsylvania voters don’t seem to care about Fetterman’s health, said Berwood Yost, director of the Franklin and Marshall College poll. “We ask a specific question about why they are supporting the candidate they chose for the Senate, and health doesn’t come up,” Yost said, adding that only 13 percent of voters said they were unaware of Fetterman’s stroke.

WHYY: The Fetterman-Oz debate [podcast]
This hour, we’ll talk about how the candidates performed and what they said about the economy, crime, abortion and more. And we’ll discuss whether the debate will impact voters’ candidate choices just two weeks out from ahead the election and look at the ads and all the money pouring into the race.
Guests:
Stephen Medvic, Director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs and Co-Director the Floyd Institute for Public Policy at Franklin and Marshall College. @stephenmedvic
Christopher Nicholas, Republican political and public affairs consultant with Eagle Consulting Group. @Eagle63
Mark Nevins, Democratic campaign strategist with The Dover Group. @NevinsMark

Politics PA: What We’re Watching In Tonight’s Senate Debate
It might be the most anticipated debate in Pennsylvania history as Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz meet in what is scheduled to be their only debate in the chase for the U.S. Senate seat in the Keystone State. “The debate isn’t likely to change the course of the race but, if it does, it will be because something dramatic happens to break through to the undecided voters,” said Stephen Medvic, professor of government and the director for the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College. “If something dramatic happens – something raising questions about Fetterman’s health or a gaffe that suggests Oz is out of touch with many Pennsylvanians – it could get a lot of attention both in local, state, and national media.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Mehmet Oz has run a campaign largely against John Fetterman. Now he has a chance to tell voters what he’s for.
While Mehmet Oz has railed against crime in Philadelphia, he had said little until Monday about what he would do as a U.S. senator to fix it. He has refused to say if he would have voted for the bipartisan gun-safety bill that became law last summer and offered vague answers about raising the minimum wage or a national 15-week ban on abortion. Instead, Oz has focused on his opponent, John Fetterman, painting him as soft on crime and an extension of President Joe Biden’s “liberal agenda.” Berwood Yost, a pollster at Franklin & Marshall College, said Oz’s light policy profile fits a political strategy: When the party in power is unpopular, make the election about them, not your own ideas. He noted that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) has deliberately avoided laying out an agenda, and that many in the GOP were angry when the head of their national Senate campaign arm, Sen. Rick Scott (R., Fla.), unveiled a policy plan — which immediately became a target for Democrats. ”All these midterms tend to be about the party in power,” Yost said, and voters typically take out their frustrations on that party.

CNN: ‘The decisive vote’: Fetterman and Oz bet big on women in the Philadelphia suburbs
Berwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College, which has polled the race, estimates that about 10% of eventual voters statewide are still undecided – and that the Philadelphia suburbs will be home to the “decisive vote.” “We know in the more urban centers, Democrats have an advantage. The key question there for Democrats will be the turnout and the support they get among minority communities,” Yost said. “But in the suburbs, it’s really going to be an interesting push-pull between these concerns voters have about the economy and inflation, and then concerns about abortion rights.”

Yahoo News: Fetterman and Oz Meet in Only Debate in Pivotal Pennsylvania US Senate Raced
(Bloomberg) -- Democratic US Senate candidate John Fetterman’s recovery from a May stroke will be a central focus of his debate Tuesday with Republican rival Mehmet Oz as the two men seek an edge in their battle for a bitterly contested seat in Pennsylvania. More than 556,000 Pennsylvanians have already cast a mail-in or absentee ballot, according to Department of State data, but the debate could decide the race by swaying undecided voters and those supporting a third-party candidate, said Berwood Yost, director of the Franklin & Marshall College Poll. A CNN poll on Monday showed 9% of likely voters and 12% of registered voters said they might change their minds.

FOX43: Rising interest rates lead to housing market slowdown
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — As the Federal Reserve continues to hike interest rates in an effort to slow inflation, the housing market is cooling off. Nationally, home sales are down almost 24 percent compared to this time last year and interest rates have skyrocketed from under three percent to over seven percent. It's also making it more expensive for homes to be built. "The builders have to borrow money—they're businesses—to build homes," said Yeva Nersisyan, professor of economics at Franklin & Marshall College. "And if they have to borrow that money at a higher interest rate because of Fed actions, there's going to be fewer homes that are going to be built."

LNP: Fossils date to when Manheim Township was an ocean floor
There are fossils in Manheim Township that give a glimpse into the species alive when Lancaster County was an ocean floor. Two of them, the trilobites Olenellus and Wanneria, are about 512 million years old, according to Franklin & Marshall College geologist Roger Thomas. They date to the Cambrian Explosion, a time of great diversification of marine life on Earth. Over the last 100 years, fossils have been discovered at the Fruitville Quarry on Beacon Hill Road, a quiet street that’s lined with single family homes except for the quarry, which has been owned by F&M since the 1950s. The fossils found there, along with other fossils, are exhibited at the North Museum of Science and Nature, 400 College Ave., and in the F&M’s Department of Earth and Environment. 
 

10/17-10/24

FOX43: Rising interest rates lead to housing market slowdown
Many fear a repeat of the 2008 recession, but some local experts say there are some optimistic differences this time around. It's also making it more expensive for homes to be built. "The builders have to borrow money—they're businesses—to build homes," said Yeva Nersisyan, professor of economics at Franklin & Marshall College. "And if they have to borrow that money at a higher interest rate because of Fed actions, there's going to be fewer homes that are going to be built." With more rate hikes expected in the coming months, many are fearing a repeat of the 2008 recession.

Yahoo!News: Experts: Fetterman's health unlikely to impact the Pa. Senate race
Tuesday night's debate between Democratic Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz will be the first and only meeting of the two candidates before the Nov. 8 election. Experts say, despite increased talk from the candidates and a bevy of political ads that focused on Fetterman's health in the weeks leading up to the election, past history and current polling suggest it's not at the top of the list of issues voters will consider next month. Berwood Yost, director of opinion and research at Franklin & Marshall College in Lebanon County, said polling indicates the candidate's health has not been a concern for voters in the highly competitive Senate race, where Fetterman holds a small lead over Oz. "We'll look to see how he performs in the debate, but unless there is a major issue, I suspect it will be pretty down the list people will care about," Yost said.

The Washington Post: Opinion  Oz has turned the Pennsylvania Senate election into a real race
Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race is tightening. Democrat John Fetterman led Republican Mehmet Oz by double digits in August. Now, according to FiveThirtyEight, his lead is down to five points — and RealClearPolitics has him ahead by only three. The data sources for our knowledge of the state of the Fetterman-Oz race also shifted — revealing that it may have always been closer than many believed. To see what I mean, take a look first at nonpartisan polls of this race. These polls have tightened over time, but few showed true blowout margins for Fetterman.
Franklin & Marshall    Aug. 15 - 21     43%     40%     D+3

NewsNation: Pennsylvania Senate Race: Oz vs. Fetterman on energy policy
With the economy and crime grabbing most of the headlines, energy policy in the Pennsylvania Senate Race has received less attention, although it could play a role in the upcoming midterms. Like other voters across the country, Pennsylvanians are primarily concerned about the economy and inflation, surveys show. But pollsters point out that those concerns have become closely tied to the cost of fuel, which is up about $0.50 compared to this time last year. “When people talk about inflation they tend to be talking about gas prices and food prices,” said Berwood Yost, the Director of the Franklin & Marshall College Poll. Republican candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz has made a habit of discussing his energy policy in the context of broader economic fears and blames President Joe Biden for the higher costs. That rhetoric may be working in his favor. Pennsylvanians now view Oz as having policies that will improve voters’ economic circumstances more so than Democrat John Fetterman (39% to 32%), according to a recent Franklin & Marshall College Poll.

Go Erie: President Biden co-hosting election fundraiser with Fetterman today in Philadelphia
President Joe Biden is co-hosting a fundraiser with Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman today in Philadelphia. Biden is lending his support to Fetterman as the Democratic lieutenant governor strives to maintain a slim lead over Republican candidate Mehmet Oz. The GOP nominee has nearly wiped away the significant polling advantage Fetterman had held through the summer months, and the two candidates now appear to be neck-and-neck going into the final stretch of the campaign. Could appearing too close to Biden hurt Fetterman among Pa. voters? “I think the fact that it's a closed-door fundraiser tells you all you need to know about how the campaign feels about that,” said Berwood Yost, director of Franklin and Marshall College’s Center for Opinion Research. “[Biden's] administration is not popular, and he’s not personally popular here,” Yost said. “Now, he certainly can help raise money, and that’s what he’s here to do.”

Greenwich Free Press: RMA Featured Speaker on Oct 19^th to Address History of Hate Speech
The RMA speaker Wednesday, October 19 (11:00am start) is Alison Kibler, Ph.D., Associate professor of American studies and women’s and gender studies at Franklin and Marshall College. Her topic will be: “The Long History of Hate Speech,” co-sponsored by Edgehill Lifecare Community, Stamford. The presentation will be in person and you are invited to attend. You can also view the presentation on ZOOM. Hate speech has been a century-long rift in American politics because it pits two deeply held American values against each other: free speech and equality.In this talk, and in her book Censoring Racial Ridicule, Kibler explores the relationship between free expression, democracy, and equality in America. She shows how, historically, the Irish, Jewish, and African American campaigns against racial ridicule in the early 20th century are at the roots of contemporary debates over hate speech.

The Etownian: Professor McClellan placed on monumental PA Fifty Over Fifty list
Once a year, PA City and State releases a list of the most influential leaders throughout the state. It includes both those involved in politics and those behind the scenes that work hard to help others that often do not get recognized on a day-to-day basis. Those individuals then travel to Philadelphia, Pa. to be recognized for their hard work over their lifetime and get to meet the other award winners. This year, the list coming out outlines the strength of Elizabethtown College and one staff member in particular: Dr. E. Fletcher McClellan. McClellan began his interest in political science and informing others of current events from an early age. He has distinct memories of the news on the television and in the newspapers. As a teen in the 60s and 70s, with worries of the Vietnam war and civil rights everywhere, he was very exposed to politics. Even when he went to college at Franklin & Marshall College there were issues regarding what to teach about the war as well as about students’ rights. With those topics at hand, and the school even completely shutting down the year prior to when he attended due to the overwhelming impact it had on education, he was able to be a political figure at F&M.

Nature: ‘It’s a constant hum’: a planetary geologist calls out racism in academia
In March, Martha Gilmore delivered an unusually moving keynote lecture at the annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Woodlands, Texas. Woven into a talk about the geology of Venus was a challenge for the mostly white, mostly male audience to think deeply about who is — or rather, who is not — doing research in this field. According to data from the American Geosciences Institute, people from under-represented minority groups — including Black people — made up less than 6.7% of those awarded geoscience doctorates in 2019. And the proportion of those who continue in geoscience in some capacity shrank from 23% in 2010 to 19% in 2017. “If I’m under-represented, then white folks are over-represented by definition,” said Gilmore, who is Black and a professor of earth and environmental sciences at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. “So what I’m going to ask you to do is think about, scientifically, why that’s an issue.” Gilmore fell in love with geoscience as a child in the 1980s — first through watching Carl Sagan’s Cosmos television series, and then at what she laughingly calls “nerd camp”, a summer science programme for high-school students at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In those early years, she lived in what she calls her parents’ protective bubble. She knew she wanted to be a scientist, she knew she loved rocks, and nobody in her orbit deigned to tell her that she couldn’t or shouldn’t.
 

10/10-10/17

Vox: How the Pennsylvania Senate race got so close
“I think [the crime messaging] is what has changed the trajectory of the race so far,” says Berwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research at Pennsylvania’s Franklin and Marshall College. Republicans have argued that Fetterman is “soft on crime” and releasing dangerous criminals, while the Fetterman notes that he’s focused on those who were wrongly convicted and nonviolent offenders. “The spending by the Oz campaign ... has helped get that race closer to where we expected it to be,” said Yost. Vox talked with Yost and two other Pennsylvania pollsters to get a sense of how the race has shifted in the last few months, how it could still change, and which voters remain persuadable. Their answers were edited for length and clarity.

One United Lancaster: F&M center funds projects to support Black art, doulas, youth development
The Center for Sustained Engagement with Lancaster at Franklin & Marshall College has announced awards of $15,000 apiece to three local initiatives. The grants will support four-month community projects. The recipients are as follows: Black Artist Waystation: Led by activist Isaac Etter in partnership with YWCA Lancaster; Diversifying Doulas Initiative: Dr. Sharee Livingston’s Diversifying Doulas Initiative connects non-White pregnant individuals with doula support; and Strength-Based Skill Building: Witt Welch, a senior at F&M and education coordinator at Bench Mark Program, is leading the implementation of this all-day one-on-one mentoring program at Bench Mark for court-ajudicated youth. 

Fox Business: Pollster: PA Senate Race could come down to candidates' economic stance
With just over three weeks to the midterm elections, some polls show the economy could be the deciding factor with voters worried about a recession. The Pennsylvania Senate race between celebrity surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz and the state's Democratic Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman is one that could determine whether Republicans or Democrats have control of the Senate in 2023. While voters say they're concerned about crime and abortion rights, it's looking like this race could come down to how people feel about their finances.  "I think the candidate that wins this is the candidate that ends up having the stronger message about economics," said pollster Berwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research at Pennsylvania’s Franklin and Marshall College. 

The (London) Sunday Times: Stricken giant John Fetterman clings to US Senate lead as Trump’s Dr Oz twists the knife
John Fetterman was ahead in Pennsylvania’s polls until his Republican opponent seized on his recent stroke and record on crime. Berwood Yost, a political science professor at Franklin & Marshall College and director of a Pennsylvania poll that has tracked Oz’s dramatic comeback, said the issue had proved pivotal. “The race changed when Oz started talking about crime. Republicans were reminded what’s at stake and who the candidates were and they came back to Oz,” Yost said. “In our August poll, only about 60 per cent of Republicans were supporting Oz. By this last poll it was almost 80 per cent.” Oz himself remains deeply unpopular, Yost said, but his message had consolidated the Republican vote, while Fetterman’s previously snappy online campaign was overwhelmed by the Republican spending barrage. “Fetterman didn’t have a good answer to it,” he said. “That crime stuff ran pretty much unopposed for a while.”
 

10/3-10/10

National Review: Of Course Republicans Should Run against Crime 
"If Republicans can’t run against this unfolding disaster, then democracy itself is a joke. Berwood Yost, a pollster who directs the Franklin & Marshall College Center for Opinion Research, noted that Krasner is a huge electoral liability for Democrats: “He’s a direct tie to what Republicans would call ‘woke, soft-on-crime views towards the police’ — and those views are just not a popular position anywhere outside of Philadelphia.” Elections are for checking the positions of authority against the populace.

FOX43:  Franklin & Marshall enlists robots to deliver food to students 
Leaders at one Lancaster college have introduced a new way to deliver food to students. As part of a cooperative project with food services and facilities management company Sodexo, seven Kiwibots now deliver food across campus at Franklin and Marshall College. Pitched to Sodexo during the pandemic, the project now has 15 food delivery points scattered throughout the campus.

Philadelphia Inquirer: Oz and Fetterman have a big debate Oct. 25. How many people will have voted by then? 
Mehmet Oz and John Fetterman's only Senate debate comes well after mail voting starts in Pennsylvania. Here's why that might not matter. Late September polling indicated roughly 7% to 10% of voters were undecided in the Senate race. They’re likely to make up their mind at the last minute, said Berwood Yost, pollster for Franklin & Marshall College. “These are voters who don’t feel favorable toward either candidate but who think it’s important to vote,” Yost said. “So maybe some event turns the tide. It’s possible the debate may do that.”

NBC News: Hammering Democrats on crime, Pa. Republicans target a liberal prosecutor 
A GOP-led investigation of Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner, which allies call politically motivated, has highlighted a rift between the Democratic nominees for Senate and governor. “Krasner is a target because of what he symbolizes,” said Berwood Yost, a pollster who directs the Franklin & Marshall College Center for Opinion Research, which conducts the Franklin & Marshall poll in Pennsylvania. “He’s a direct tie to what Republicans would call ‘woke, soft-on-crime views towards the police’ — and those views are just not a popular position anywhere outside of Philadelphia.”

PA City & State: Polling the pollsters—A guide to understanding political polls 
In an effort to pull back the curtain on the mechanisms behind political polling, City & State talked with three Pennsylvania-based pollsters to get their input on how to make sense of the barrage of political polls that have flooded the commonwealth this year. What follows is insight from Berwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research and the director of the Floyd Institute for Public Policy at Franklin & Marshall College, Jim Lee, president, CEO and founder of Susquehanna Polling & Research, and Christopher Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion.

NPR StateImpact: Pennsylvania climate forum brings informed public into problem-solving effort 
Climate Solutions’ deliberative forum revealed some key insights that can inform policymakers, people in positions of influence and other central Pennsylvanians as they work to solve problems related to climate change. It also showed that you can bring people together for respectful, non-judgmental discussion on issues that affect everyone, regardless of your political leaning. And it showed that people are eager to learn. The two dozen people at the forum responded to an initial random-sample survey from Climate Solutions partner, the Center for Public Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College. The survey polled people on knowledge of and attitudes about climate change and related issues.

FOX43: Hundreds of thousands of Americans cut out from President Biden's student loan forgiveness program 
Millions of Americans originally thought to qualify for debt relief no longer do, after a quiet change to eligibility requirements by the Biden administration. Applications for President Biden’s student loan relief program are expected to open this month, potentially freeing millions of Americans from up to $20,000 of debt per eligible borrower. “We’re told a lot of this will be automatic, almost like the stimulus checks were," said Eric Kopp, associate director of financial aid at Franklin & Marshall College.

LNP: Meet Kiwibot, the new food delivery robot on campus at Franklin & Marshall [photos, video] 
If you’ve traversed the Franklin & Marshall College campus as of late, you may have noticed a new addition to the regular crowds of students, faculty and visitors: the Kiwibot food delivery robot. Think of the Kiwibot as an alternative to the traditional food delivery system. A student logs onto an app (in this case, the Everyday app), orders a meal, snack or drink from an on-campus dining option (like Blue Line Cafe or The Grill Off the Green in the Steinman College Center) and that food is picked up and delivered to them. Only, instead of a person doing so, their food is delivered by a small robot, reminiscent of Disney’s “WALL·E.” “Kiwibot is a robotic sidewalk delivery food system,” says Michael Baker, assistant vice president for auxiliary services at F&M. “It’s very similar to an Uber Eats or DoorDash. It gives the students another option … During busy dining periods, or if they’re at the library or somewhere else on campus hanging out with friends, they don’t have to take time to wait in line. They can just jump on the Everyday app, order their food and have it delivered to them at a convenient time.”

The Washington Free Beacon: There’s a Democrat on the Ballot This November Who Once Referred to Holocaust as a ‘Supposedly Accepted Historical Fact’ 
"Supposedly accepted historical fact." That is how Pennsylvania state legislative candidate Mark Moffa (D.) referred to the Holocaust in a 1999 editorial in his college newspaper defending his decision to publish an ad from one of the country’s leading purveyors of Holocaust denial propaganda. Moffa, who is now running for Pennsylvania’s 142nd district House seat, published an ad from the Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust in the March 15, 1999, edition of Franklin & Marshall College’s newspaper. In the ad, committee founder Bradley Smith offered the Anti-Defamation League $250,000 to debate whether Nazis used gas chambers during the Holocaust and murdered millions of Jews, and whether Anne Frank’s diary was authentic. The ad drew an angry response on campus, with one group of students launching an alternative campus newspaper in protest. Moffa doubled down on his decision in an editorial entitled "Damned If I Do," claiming that rejecting the ad would be "censorship."

Levittown Now: State Rep. Candidate Says He Didn’t Deny Holocaust Happened, But Made Mistake As College Editor In 1999 
Mark Moffa, the Democratic candidate for the 142nd Pennsylvania House District seat, issued a statement Tuesday after a conservative political news website ran a story citing a 1999 quote from the then-college student that appeared to call the Holocaust a “supposedly accepted historical fact.” The Washington Free Beacon first published an article on the issue Monday afternoon. By Tuesday morning, it had made its way around local Democratic and Republican circles. Moffa, a Penndel Borough resident, issued a statement via social media and in an email to this news organization by afternoon. The quote which was pointed out by the Washington Free Beacon came in an editorial by Moffa that was published in a spring 1999 edition of the Franklin and Marshall College’s student newspaper, The College Reporter. Moffa was listed on the masthead as editor in chief of the publication.

PennLive: Lancaster museum to hold free lecture on prehistoric fossil found in central Pa. 
Dr. Roger Thomas, professor emeritus of paleontology at Franklin & Marshall College, will present a lecture on life forms as they were 512 million years ago on the seafloor of the ocean Papetus, in the region now occupied by Lancaster and York counties. The free event will take place at 6 p.m. Oct. 27 in the North Museum planetarium, 400 College Ave., Lancaster. Thomas will be joined by Chris Haefner, whose 21st century fossil-digging in York County scored a major discovery – in the words of one paleontologist, “a totally new member of the tree of life that takes us to the early evolution of complex life.” 

9/26-10/3

USA Today: How Dr. Oz tightened Pa. Senate race with Fetterman. Is it a warning sign for Democrats?
The race for Pennsylvania's open U.S. Senate seat this year was once considered Democrat John Fetterman's to lose, as Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz found himself on the ropes. "It was like Fetterman was running unopposed over the summer," said Berwood Yost, director of Franklin & Marshall's Center for Opinion Research. "That has changed. Oz is challenging his crime record, and the messaging is working."

WITF: Pa. U.S. Senate candidates not popular with voters according to F&M poll
A month and a half before the November 8th election, it is poll season when we find out what Pennsylvania voters are thinking. The Franklin and Marshall College poll was released Thursday. Berwood Yost, Director of the Floyd Institute for Public Policy and Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College was on Smart Talk and said his biggest takeaway from the poll was Republican Mehmet Oz gaining on Democrat John Fetterman in the U.S. Senate race. The poll shows Fetterman still leading 42%-37% — an eight point gain from the August F&M poll. The poll also has most voters who were polled viewing Fetterman unfavorably for the first time. Oz favorables have been “under water’ since polling began. Yost was asked why he thinks Oz is making up ground on Fetterman,”Perhaps some of the issues around John Fetterman’s health (Fetterman suffered a stroke in May) or his willingness to debate or some of those sorts of things could have been a problem for him. But I really think the issue that the campaign has hit him hardest on has been crime. And I don’t think that he’s had an adequate response to those claims from the campaign.”

Philadelphia Inquirer: The Pa. Senate race is tight as Oz closes on Fetterman
Democrat John Fetterman’s early lead has steadily shrunk, according to multiple public polls, and the latest surveys suggest the race is a toss-up between him and Republican Mehmet Oz. A string of polls from a variety of sources — including Emerson College, Fox News, Franklin & Marshall College, Muhlenberg College — all show narrow leads for Fetterman of between 2 and 5 percentage points. In each case, that’s within the poll’s margin of error, meaning that Oz could even have a slight edge. In August, an average of polls from Real Clear Politics showed Fetterman, the lieutenant governor, leading by nearly 9 percentage points. Now that average is down to about 4.

LNP: Voters still unhappy with state of the economy, F&M poll shows
The economy, including inflation and gas prices, trumps other issues in Pennsylvania’s closely watched U.S. Senate and governor’s races, a poll released Thursday shows. More than half of voters responding to the Franklin & Marshall College Poll say they are “worse off” financially than a year ago, a finding that underscores the national mood of this year’s midterm election. Midterms are effectively a referendum on the sitting president, in this case, Democrat Joe Biden, and typically the party out of power makes significant gains.

Pennsylvania Capital-Star: The state of American news in the age of the pandemic: An era of subscriptions
Op-ed from F&M first year Samantha Correa. What Hulu and bundling can teach legacy media about the path to viability. People don’t care about the news. At least, they don’t care about news in traditional formats. Rather than following local TV news or the daily paper, most people rely on ten-second clips with boldface captions for the rundown on current affairs.

The New York Times: Election Deniers Are Pivoting to November. Will Voters Buy It?
Mr. Fetterman has so far shied away from attacking Dr. Oz on his affiliation with Mr. Trump, said Berwood A. Yost, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College, because Mr. Fetterman believes he can win over Trump voters in the state’s small towns and rural stretches. Attacks on the man they still love may not help Mr. Fetterman make that sale. “Trump attacks are not part of Fetterman’s campaign,” Mr. Yost said. “He’s trying to appeal to Trump supporters with ‘I look like you, I sound like you, and I’m running against Washington, too.’”

Pennsylvania Capital-Star: F&M poll shows Oz gaining GOP favorability, while Shapiro maintains lead
A new Franklin & Marshall College poll released Thursday shows the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania narrowing the gap against his Democratic opponent while the Democrat vying for governor maintains a steady lead. Fetterman, the current lieutenant governor, holds a narrow lead over Oz — 45 percent to 42 percent — when voters leaning toward a specific candidate are included, according to the most recent poll. That’s down from his nine-point lead in the F&M poll released by the college’s Center for Opinion Research in August.

Penn Live: Fetterman sees unfavorable rating spike in latest Franklin & Marshall poll
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman continues to lead Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz, but Fetterman’s unfavorable rating among Pennsylvania voters has increased in the last month, according to a new poll unveiled Thursday. A Franklin & Marshall College poll of registered voters shows that Fetterman leads Oz 42 percent to 37 percent with 13 percent undecided. Fetterman’s lead, however, shrinks to 45 percent to 42 percent when voters leaning — but not committed to a candidate — are included.

WGAL: Franklin & Marshall College poll shows latest numbers in key political races
LANCASTER, Pa. — A U.S. Senate race is getting closer, a governor's race is holding steady and there are big concerns over the economy. These are the findings in the new Franklin & Marshall College poll, with a look at the latest numbers. In Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate race, the poll found Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman holds a narrow advantage over Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz, at 45% to 42%. That is closer than the 45-36 result in the August poll. This also includes undecided voters, who were asked which candidate they lean more towards.

YR Media: Lasting Impact Roe v. Wade Repeal Has On College Campuses
Amid the repeal of Roe v. Wade, college students are having to consider things they never had to before. That includes Lucy Rath, a 22-year-old junior at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa. While abortion remains legal in Pennsylvania, a 1982 law, the Abortion Control Act, is now in effect again because of Roe’s reversal. The law requires conseling, a 24-hour waiting period and limits abortion government funding, according to Yahoo Life. Underneath these limitations, Rath is uncertain what her plan would be if she needed access to care, which worries her and her parents. “I know that they worry about … how difficult it would be to access care since myself and many of my peers do not have access to reliable transportation — the nearest Planned Parenthood is 30 minutes from F&M — [or] family nearby or the ability to miss multiple days of school to receive this care if needed,” she said. 

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Drexel president John Fry named honorary consul to South Africa
Drexel University president John A. Fry has a new role with an international flavor: honorary consul of South Africa. It’s a volunteer position and he’ll remain Drexel’s leader, but with a new focus on strengthening the city’s and university’s commercial, economic, cultural, and scientific relationships with South Africa. He was appointed by the president of South Africa, and the appointment was approved by the U.S. State Department of Foreign Missions. “It made sense civically, and it made sense educationally for Drexel,” said Fry, 62, who has led the West Philadelphia university for 12 years. “So I agreed to do it.” “Few leaders in our city and region are as dynamic as John Fry,” Rob Wonderling, the chamber’s president and chief executive, said at the time. “His exceptional vision and intellect have not only reimagined higher education, but revitalized Philadelphia neighborhoods and commercial corridors.” Before coming to Drexel, Fry was president of Franklin & Marshall College and executive vice president of the University of Pennsylvania, where he also made his mark in urban development.
 

9/19-9/26

Yahoo: How the repeal of Roe v. Wade affects college students in states like Texas, Pa.: 'I felt like women everywhere were back at square one'
Lucy Rath, a 22-year-old rising junior at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., has returned to campus this fall with something new to consider on top of her workload: the overturn of Roe v. Wade. While abortion remains legal in Pennsylvania so far, the state's 1982 Abortion Control Act, now in effect once again because of Roe’s reversal, requires counseling and a 24-hour waiting period, and abortion government funding is limited (though it’s all subject to change in the upcoming election). So the potential consequences of Rath traveling to Pennsylvania from her home state of Montana, where the right to abortion is currently protected by the state’s constitution, are alarming. “When deciding whether or not to enroll at F&M, I did take politics into consideration,” Rath tells Yahoo Life. "I knew that I wanted to attend a progressive institution located in a forward-thinking community. I felt that F&M, as well as Lancaster city, was a good fit for me in this manner.” Now she’s not so sure. And she’s far from alone.

The American Independent: Doug Mastriano says he 'looks forward to signing' six-week abortion ban in Pennsylvania
On Monday, more than 5,000 anti-abortion Pennsylvanians rallied in Harrisburg, the state capital, to celebrate the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and to push for further abortion restrictions. State Sen. Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor, attended the event and gave an interview to The Daily Signal, a conservative media outlet. Mastriano's presence at the Pennsylvania March for Life is the latest instance of the Republican's embrace of the furthest extreme of anti-abortion policy. While only 11% of Pennsylvania voters say they believe that abortion should be illegal in all cases, according to polling from Franklin & Marshall College, Mastriano has consistently affirmed that he supports a total ban on the procedure.
 

9/12-9/19

WITF: How do polls account for undecided voters in Pa.’s U.S. Senate Race?
With the midterm elections two months away, people will be watching polls in key races — but they often show very different results. Here’s an explainer to help you assess the differences: The most recent polling data about Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race from both Harrisburg-based Susquehanna Polling and Research and Emerson College in Boston show Democrat John Fetterman leading Republican Mehmet Oz by 4-5 percentage points, with a 3-3.7% margin of error. Franklin & Marshall’s poll, however, shows a 13% lead for Fetterman, well outside its 5.3% margin of error. So why the stark differences? Berwood Yost, director of Franklin & Marshall’s Center for Opinion Research, included third party candidates and “aren’t you sure how you would vote” as a response in their poll about the Senate race. He says F&M’s poll initially showed 20% of voters were undecided. “If we take another step and we ask those undecided voters if they lean towards one candidate or another, about half of them took us up on that offer,” he said. “And so, the true number of undecideds is probably closer to 10%.” 

Penn Live: How did central Pa. colleges fare in the latest U.S. News rankings?
Though scrutiny is growing for the annual rankings of colleges by US News, prospective students - and thus colleges - are still invested in the results they publish each year. The schools are judged in several categories, using information self-reported by the colleges to U.S. News. They are then ranked by the resulting scores, and divided into several categories, including National Universities, National Liberal Arts Colleges, rankings by geographical region, rankings by programs such as business or engineering, and several other similar divisions.
National Liberal Arts Colleges:
·       Bucknell University, Lewisburg: 37th (tie)
·       Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster: 39th (tie)
·       Dickinson College: 51st (tie)
·       Gettysburg College: 61st (tie)
·       Susquehanna University: 111th (tie)

LNP: Elizabethtown College most improved Lancaster County college featured in US News college rankings
Elizabethtown College was the most improved overall of three Lancaster County colleges and universities included in the 2022-23 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges lists released this week. Schools are ranked according to their performance across a set of “widely accepted indicators of excellence” including graduation and retention, social mobility and graduate indebtedness. The U.S. News lists and rankings are meant to inform students looking toward post-secondary education but have been criticized for a focus on prestige over virtues like diversity and social mobility. Franklin & Marshall College, the county’s largest private liberal arts college with 2,145 students, ranked 39th of 210 liberal arts colleges in the U.S. Williams College in Massachusetts earned the top spot in the liberal arts college ranking. Overall, F&M scored 74 out of 100 – two points higher than its score last year. The college also ranked 38 of 95 in the Best Value Schools category. F&M’s tuition for the 2022-’23 academic year, according to its website, is $65,652. After aid and scholarship funds are applied, however, the total cost for the average student receiving need-based aid comes in at $28,542, according to the lists.

Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Where do Pa.’s U.S. Senate candidates stand on a proposed national abortion ban?
Since the U.S. Supreme Court decided to overturn Roe v. Wade, abortion access has become a cornerstone of the 2022 mid-term elections, including in Pennsylvania’s already high-profile U.S. Senate race. The winner of the race between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz to replace retiring GOP U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey could help determine which political party controls the chamber next year. While Republicans need one seat to become the majority power, Democrats see the race as one of the few chances to flip the seat. A proposed 15-week abortion ban introduced by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., would supersede state abortion laws if the legislation, which has already seen opposition from GOP lawmakers, became federal law. Recent polling released by Franklin & Marshall College shows growing support among Pennsylvanians for keeping abortion legal under all or some circumstances.

USA Today: At rally for Dem Senate candidate in Pennsylvania - and beyond - abortion takes center stage
BLUE BELL, Pa. – This is the type of crowd that shows how Democrats across the country could improve their odds in the November midterms. John Fetterman, the Pennsylvania lieutenant governor and the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, is speaking to a crowd that includes babies too young to vote to women in their 80s. The backdrop behind him says women for Fetterman, but there are also men here to support him. There are also registered Republicans here who say they are voting for Democrats this year. A recent Franklin & Marshall Poll shows 9 out of 10 Pennsylvanians support abortion rights. That's especially true among suburban women and independents and is out of line with Oz's comments recently that abortion at any stage is "murder."
 

9/5-9/12

The Philadelphia Inquirer: ‘Women are the reason we can win,’ John Fetterman says at packed abortion-rights rally in Montco
John Fetterman looked out at a gymnasium packed with people wearing bright pink “Fetterwoman” T-shirts and predicted that women would be the difference-maker in his closely watched Senate race. “Women are the reason we can win,” Fetterman said in Blue Bell. “Lemme say that again: Women are the reason we win. Don’t p— women off.” The crowd of about 2,700 at Montgomery County Community College screamed and stomped their feet. “Democrats are more interested in voting and more interested in this election than they were in May,” Franklin and Marshall pollster Berwood Yost said. “I think that’s because of Dobbs, and that certainly gives them a much better chance than they had a few months ago.” Yost said in Philadelphia and Southeastern Pennsylvania, 40% of voters think abortion should be legal in any circumstances. “There isn’t any part of the state that is more so called pro-choice than the Southeast,” he said.

LNP: One World Festival debuts this weekend with multicultural food, dances and free performances; here's what you need to know
This Sunday, there will be a festival in Lancaster County where you can see Indian, African, Celtic and Hispanic dance performances, all while eating food from around the world. The One World Festival, hosted at Franklin & Marshall College, will bring together a medley of people in different cultures for a full day of celebrations. "We think that the timing in Lancaster is perfect," says Lancaster Township zoning officer Tom Daniels, who organized much of the festival's schedule. "We have a great community that is really engaged in this kind of thing." The festival itself is nearly three years in the making, as COVID-19 delayed plans. The intent was to showcase the food and entertainment celebrated by different cultures that reside in Lancaster County.

Pennsylvania Capital-Star: New Pa. poll points to trouble for Republicans on abortion | Mark O’Keefe
A telltale shift in voter preference in bellwether northwestern Pennsylvania highlights the risk of GOP overreach. There are surprises in just about every political poll, but some numbers from the recent Franklin and Marshall College poll showed particularly astounding results. In the poll conducted by Franklin & Marshall College’s Center for Opinion Research, John Fetterman, the state’s lieutenant governor, leads GOP candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz 43 percent to 30 percent in the Senate race with 20 percent undecided, while Josh Shapiro leads GOP state Sen. Doug Mastriano 44 percent to 33 percent in the race for governor with 19 percent undecided. Nothing was surprising in those numbers. Both Fetterman and Shapiro jumped out to early leads and have continued to enjoy comfortable leads in both races. The big difference between the F&M poll and other polls is that it breaks down the results from different areas of the state. And that’s where the numbers vary widely from other numbers in previous elections.

Penn Live: Will the ugly Pa. Senate race get worse over the next two months? Well...
With two months to go before the Nov. 8 election, the pivotal U.S. Senate race between Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz stands at a tipping point. Can a race that’s been dominated by social media trolling and memes, sharper and sharper barbs, and increasingly acidic comments about Fetterman’s health get worse? The short answer is, maybe. An August Franklin & Marshall College poll had Fetterman up by 13 points and his average lead in polling on RealClearPolitics.com is 6.5 points with Republican-leaning pollsters showing Oz within single digits. The F&M poll showed Oz with an eye-popping 57 percent unfavorable rating among voters surveyed.

WITF: John Waters plans to host film festival at Lancaster college this month
John Waters, American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist is most famously known for directing boundary-pushing independent comedies like “Pink Flamingos” and the original “Hairspray”. According to IMDb, John, Baltimore native, rose to fame in the early 1970s when he began making feature films and became popular as his subject matter grew more shocking and polished. Sept. 22^nd through the 24^th , Waters plans to host a film festival called False Negative – An Evening With John Waters at the Barshinger Center for the Musical Arts at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster.
 

8/29-9/5

LNP: Julie Otsuka to talk 'The Swimmers,' writing and more at F&M; here's how to attend
Twenty years after appearing at the first-ever Franklin & Marshall College Emerging Writers Festival, Julie Otsuka, the New York Times bestselling author of three novels, will soon return to campus. It’s safe to say she’s since emerged. Her latest novel, “The Swimmers,” has received praise from The New York Times and Booklist, and Vogue included the release on its “Best Books of 2022” list. Otsuka will visit the Lancaster college Sept. 13; she’ll give a reading from “The Swimmers” and talk to writing students who are just starting to explore their craft. “I’m looking forward to F&M, because they took a gamble on me for their first Emerging Writers festival 20 years ago,” Otsuka says from her home in New York City’s Upper West Side during a recent phone interview. “That was a few months before my first novel (“When the Emperor was Divine”) came out. I hadn’t been taken seriously as a writer yet, and to be taken seriously, at that point in my development as a writer, really meant something to me.”

LNP: Senate Race Analysis: Fetterman moves to deflate questions about his health as Republican campaign arm spends big for Oz
John Fetterman on Wednesday night took a big step toward being transparent about the effects of the stroke he experienced in May. The issue is whether the aftereffects would limit his ability to serve in the U.S. Senate. He says those effects are primarily auditory, causing him, he says, “every now and then to miss a word, or mush two together.” Political analysts say asking about a candidate’s health in the context of a U.S. Senate race is legitimate. Fetterman’s health “is a fair question in a campaign. He had a serious health incident. I think voters have a right to understand how his recovery is coming,” said Berwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research and Floyd Institute for Public Policy at Franklin & Marshall College. “They are deciding on someone who will represent Pennsylvania for six years.” But Yost thinks Oz overplayed his hand in how he posed the issue to the public. While Fetterman’s health is a legitimate campaign issue, the “real issue for me is how you ask about it,” Yost said. In this case, Yost said Oz and his surrogates have mishandled it by attempting to use humor and language you would not expect from a doctor.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Sparring between Pa.’s U.S. Senate candidates John Fetterman, Mehmet Oz offers voters little substance, experts said
What started as basement barbs and crudité cuts, the campaign for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat continued to devolve this week, with Democrat Lt. Gov. John Fetterman officially declining to debate his opponent Republican celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz for “mocking” his recovery from a stroke. Stephen Medvic, a political science and government professor at Franklin & Marshall College, said there’s evidence in academic research that voters who don’t know a lot about the candidates in a particular race can learn a lot from them. But first: they’d need to pay attention to the race — while most of the people who would tune in already have made up their minds on whom they’ll support. “Theoretically, it’s possible that voters learn something about candidates, but only a certain kind of voter — a voter who doesn’t know a lot about the candidates, and who takes the time to watch the debates,” Mr. Medvic added.

Yahoo News: Fetterman slams Dr Oz’s ‘medical personnel’ on standby offer for first debate as he backs out
Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman rejected Dr Mehmet Oz’s offer to hold a debate in Pennsylvania the first week of September, while simultaneously shaming the celebrity doctor for continuing to “mock” his recovery from a stroke. The Oz campaign, the Democrat blasted, has made it “abundantly clear that they think it is funny to mock a stroke survivor.” Recent polling places the Democrat at a slight advantage, according to surveys from Emerson College and Franklin and Marshall College.

Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Republican endorsements of Shapiro could give conservatives cover to reject Mastriano, analysts say
Since July, more than a dozen prominent Republicans, including two former congressmen, and a former secretary of homeland security, have crossed partisan lines to endorse Democratic gubernatorial nominee Josh Shapiro. Implicit in their approval of Shapiro’s experience as a legislator and attorney general, policy positions and bipartisan accomplishments is a repudiation of Republican nominee Doug Mastriano, who surprised party leaders with a commanding victory in the crowded May primary. ‘It sends a signal that if you’re not comfortable with the choice you don’t have to vote for them,’ Franklin & Marshall pollster Berwood Yost said.

Bloomberg: Biden Tests Political Muscle as Midterm Travel Blitz Begins
President Joe Biden is kicking off a travel stretch intended to save the Democratic Party’s majorities in Congress with visits to two pivotal states that will provide an early test of his political clout ahead of November’s midterm elections. Over the next week, Biden will make three visits to Pennsylvania and one to Wisconsin -- both states with competitive Senate and gubernatorial races. It’s part of a series of upcoming trips White House aides say are designed to promote Biden’s achievements and contrast his record with Republicans. Many Democratic office-seekers in competitive states have kept their distance from the president. Fetterman, Shapiro and Cartwright have not tied themselves to Biden in their campaign messaging and advertising. Fetterman, the Senate hopeful, has explicitly run against Washington. “They’re holding their own running their own campaigns, and I think keeping some distance from the president in a competitive race isn’t a bad idea for them,” said Berwood Yost, director of the Franklin & Marshall College Poll. 

The Washington Examiner: Biden tries to preempt Republican attacks on crime ahead of midterm elections
President Joe Biden is hoping to counter Republican criticisms of spiking crime before the fall's FBI data dump and November's midterm elections. Biden is promoting his Safer American Plan by addressing gun crime in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, his first midterm campaign trip after returning from his summer vacation. Berwood Yost, director of the Franklin & Marshall College Center for Opinion Research in Lancaster, contended the speech could puncture the Republican "narrative" that Democrats' policies have failed. "If the narrative is that the Biden administration and his colleagues in Washington, they have not been successful in the way that they've guided the country, I think you can fit a whole bunch of policies into that," Yost told the Washington Examiner. "They can say things aren't working, whether it's the economy, whether it's the safety of your local schools or your local community."

Associated Press (via Lock Haven Express): Shapiro breaks with Dems on COVID policies in Pa. gov race
As attorney general, Josh Shapiro went to court repeatedly to defend Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration against legal challenges to his pandemic-era mandates and shutdowns. Now, as he’s running to succeed Wolf as governor, Shapiro says he is against some of the same COVID-19 containment measures that his fellow Democrat used to help manage the nation’s worst pandemic in over a century. “Let’s face it, this would be a very rare thing to have a third term for the same party, so that and the fact that the general election this time around looks to be favorable to Republicans, I don’t think it hurts to create distance from a Democratic officeholder,” said Berwood Yost, a pollster and director of the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College.

The Hill: Fetterman won’t participate in early-September debate with Oz
Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman said Tuesday he won’t participate in a debate against his Republican opponent Mehmet Oz during the first week of September, citing his ongoing recovery from a recent stroke. Fetterman in his announcement also called out Oz’s campaign over a mocking statement it released earlier that day in which it listed several “concessions” it would make if the Democrat agreed to a debate. Among them was payment for “additional medical personnel [Fetterman] might need to have on standby.” A string of polls from Emerson College and Franklin and Marshall College show Fetterman, the state’s current lieutenant governor, with an advantage over Oz, a doctor-turned-talk show host. 

Lancaster Online: Voter data suggests PA Republicans voting by mail could be even less common than in 2020
The gulf between Pennsylvania Democratic and Republican voters applying to vote by mail is currently wider for the 2022 midterm election than it was in 2020, according to state data. But observers say the disparity might not hurt the GOP’s chances in November. Before 2020, Republicans and Democrats in states with no-excuse mail-in voting used the service at about the same rate, according to Stephen Medvic, a Franklin & Marshall College political science professor. In Florida, Medvic said, Republicans were more likely to vote by mail than Democrats. Data from the 2020 presidential election shows Republicans across the country were less likely than Democrats to vote by mail. The dramatic shift, Medvic said, shows how party leaders hold sway over voter behavior. “So now, I think what we know is that President Trump's rhetoric and that of other Republican leaders in 2020 had a major impact on the behavior of Republican voters, that it really drove Republicans away from mail-in ballots,” Medvic said.

LNP: No doubts as Franklin & Marshall football rolls to opening win over LVC
It was a night of firsts at Shadek Stadium. First night football game in the history of the stadium — second overall in F&M history — first victory of the Tom Blumenauer era. Franklin & Marshall delivered their new boss his first win as a head coach, defeating Lebanon Valley 26-7 Friday night in a game that was, at times, sloppy, at times scintillating. The Diplomats took advantage of timely defense, and even timelier offense, to secure the victory.

LNP: New coach, new challenges for F&M football
So it’s a new challenge, and a new normal, as F&M welcomes Tom Blumenauer as its new head coach. With a background of building successful offenses at multiple programs, Blumenauer comes to F&M after six years as assistant head coach/offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Williams College. In 2021 the Ephs won their first New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) championship in over a decade, completing a 9-0 season. Settling in with the Diplomats, he likes what he sees and the progress made in the early going. “I think I’ve walked into a terrific culture that was built here before I got here,” Blumenauer said. “The kids have been incredibly receptive. It’s a tight-knit group who do things the right way. They play hard for the guy next to them.”

LNP: Lancaster Galleries hosts Franklin & Marshall College professor's photography exhibit plus a book launch on First Friday
Lancaster Galleries hosts an innovative photography exhibit by 2017 Pennsylvania Art of the State first place photography winner, Richard Kent, that explores space and time. Kent’s “Layered Time: Photographs” explores human impact on the environment over time among other things. The photography exhibit, which features work from three different series of photos, runs through Sept 2. But fans of Kent’s work can enjoy a bonus event on the last day of the exhibit. A book launch for Kent’s latest poetry book “Seeking Habitat: Poems” takes place during First Friday from 5-8 p.m. on Sept. 2. Kent, a professor of photography and art history and poetry at Franklin & Marshall College, photographs landscapes over long periods of time — some series’ like “Patch of Woods” span more than a decade — to document the transformations from fading ecosystems to litter and graffiti. The images featured in the exhibit were taken at locations in Lancaster County and Forestburgh, New York. “As an artist, I make photographs that echo and extend my concerns as a writer,” Kent wrote in an artist’s statement for the exhibit.

LNP: Ahead of the Gleaners Film Festival in September, a conversation with John Waters [Q&A]
As a director, writer and performer for more than five decades, John Waters has left an indelible mark on pop culture. A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a major Academy of Motion Pictures Sciences exhibit, coming sometime in the next year, will honor both Waters and his work. However, he wasn’t always this beloved.  It took well over a decade of writing and directing works such as “Pink Flamingos,” “Female Trouble” and “Multiple Maniacs” before the world at large caught on with “Hairspray,” which first released in 1988 before becoming an acclaimed musical in 2002. These days, Waters is known for his long-running one-man show, which he will be bringing to Lancaster for the first time on Friday, Sept. 23, for the inaugural Gleaners Film Festival at Barshinger Center for the Musical Arts.

The Swaddle: Across Cultures, People Associate ‘Attractive’ Faces With More Intelligence, Trustworthiness: Study
It’s called the “what is beautiful is good” principle — the idea that attractive people must also be better human beings. Of course, this isn’t inherently true of the world, but it describes a dominant perception people seem to have about physical attractiveness, also called the “halo effect.” Many studies have looked into this, albeit from a Western lens — but a new one analyzed data from 45 countries to conclude that the positive bias toward pretty people extends across cultures. Across regions, participants rated the attractive faces as having more positive social qualities, and the ones they rated to be unattractive, having more negative ones — this is the “beauty goggles’ effect, where attractiveness clouded judgments leading to a heightened perception of positive personality traits,” according to Carlota Batres, a psychology professor from the Franklin and Marshall College, and co-author of the study.
 

8/22-8/29

Axios: Drones are sniffing out landmines in Ukraine
"The standard now for de-mining is largely just using chopsticks with little prodders to poke in the ground," says Fronefield Crawford III, a Franklin & Marshall College professor who's part of a group working on mine detection using land-based robots. "So using technology really is overdue for this kind of project." Drones, he says, have an advantage over rovers in that they're "not subject to the variations of the terrain," meaning they won't get stuck on hills or rocks — but they also have to be capable of hauling heavy sensors and cameras. Still, Crawford adds, "as drone technology improves, I'm sure that drones will become a more and more important piece of the mission."

Philadelphia Inquirer: Talking about suicide on college campuses may help save a life
F&M’s Care Counselor Susan Knoll offers her perspective in this op-ed: I’ll never forget something a student once told me when I first started my position as a care coordinator at Franklin & Marshall College. They were referred to our care team during spring semester when the student’s depression and anxiety debilitated them, almost unable to leave their dorm room. After a couple of missed appointments, the student finally showed, and I began by asking, “How are you? Are you doing OK?” The student took one look at me and burst into tears. They told me it was the first time anyone had asked them how they were doing since they arrived on campus in the fall. 

LNP: On ‘hire’ education and workforce preparation [column]
Barbara K. Altmann became the 16th president of Franklin & Marshall College in August 2018.
For many employers, successfully navigating the “Great Resignation” or the “Great Reshuffle” will depend on hiring strong employees who possess the skills that contribute to a thriving workplace. According to LinkedIn’s 2022 Global Talent Trends, “The Great Reshuffle is an epic talent migration with legions of employees coming and going, taking their company culture elsewhere. ... It’s crucial to make sure new hires are adding to, rather than subtracting from, your culture.” Employers are saying that it’s not just technical competence they are looking for in those new hires — they also want the “soft skills” that make employees more adaptable and able to learn. In fact, 73% of companies said they value soft skills more than ever before, according to a 2020 Harris Poll survey commissioned by Express Employment Professionals. Luckily, Lancaster County and surrounding counties have an unusual concentration of postsecondary institutions that teach those skills. Along with content knowledge, our dozen colleges, institutes and universities also teach those badly needed “soft” skills to the roughly 20,000 students on our campuses.

The Daily Mail: Forget beer goggles! 'Beauty goggles' mean we perceive physically attractive people as more confident, intelligent and trustworthy, study finds
Attractive people are more likely to be perceived as having positive personalities, a new study shows – a phenomenon that has been dubbed 'beauty goggles'. Researchers presented photos of men and women to 11,000 participants from 45 countries, including the UK, to determine perceived attractiveness and personality. People in the photos who were deemed attractive were also generally perceived as intelligent, sociable and trustworthy, as well as other positive traits, they found.  The new study was led by Dr Carlota Batres, a psychologist at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and published in the journal Current Psychology.  'The results of our study provide evidence for what I am calling a "beauty goggles" effect, where attractiveness clouds personality judgements,' she said.  'Results showed that attractiveness correlated positively with most of the socially desirable personality traits.' 

KRON4 San Francisco: New study finds people are ‘blinded by beauty’
Do people judge others based purely on their physical attractiveness? Most of us know it’s not wise to judge a book by its cover. New research, however, found that’s exactly what most people do, even across different cultures and regions of the world. The study found attractiveness has a positive “halo effect,” in which people attribute socially desirable personality traits to physically attractive people. The study explored whether the “halo effect,” or “beauty googles,” existed beyond Western countries, looking at 45 countries in 11 world regions. Data collected through the Psychological Science Accelerator asked participants to rate 120 faces on one of several traits. Dr. Carlota Batres, director of the Preferences Lab at Franklin and Marshall College, said, “The results of our study provide evidence for what I am calling a ‘beauty goggles’ effect, where attractiveness clouds personality judgements.” And “beauty googles” are cross-cultural, Batres said. The study’s findings — that we are “blinded by beauty” — can have real-world effects. For instance, in jury studies, jurors recommend less severe sentences for more attractive defendants on trial. This could partially be explained by the study’s results, that more attractive faces are judged as more “responsible” and “trustworthy,” researchers wrote. 

Philadelphia Inquirer: At Philly Bug Fest 2022, humans learn to love the bug. And who knew a roach had two brains? 
Why do harmless insects creep us out? Maybe it's time to get over it. The Academy of Natural Science's Bug Fest celebrates our invertebrate neighbors. The oval-shaped Madagascar cockroach climbed up [Franklin & Marshall College sophomore] Josh Kulak’s index finger as he spoke, hissing like a snake and scuttling out of his hand as if it had somewhere else to be. “This one is having a day,” said Kulak, a volunteer at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, “so I’m going to put it down.” Anyway, what was he saying? Ah, yes. Did you know a cockroach has two brains? One in its head, one in its abdomen. “They can live and reproduce for multiple days without a head,” Kulak said.

Business Insider: John Fetterman holds a 13-point lead over Dr. Oz in the Pennsylvania Senate race: poll
Pennsylvania Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman has a 13-point lead over Republican Mehmet Oz in the state's open-seat Senate race, according to a recently-released Franklin & Marshall College poll. The survey showed Fetterman with 43% support among registered voters in the Keystone State, while Oz earned 30%; twenty percent of respondents were undecided.

MSNBC: Friday’s Campaign Round-Up, 8.26.22
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country. * In Pennsylvania, polling in the commonwealth shows Democratic state Attorney General Josh Shapiro leading Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano in the gubernatorial race, but there’s some disagreement about the margins. A survey from Franklin & Marshall College found Shapiro ahead by 11 points, but the latest Emerson College poll showed the Democratic nominee ahead by only three points. * As for Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate race, the survey from Franklin & Marshall College found Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman leading Republican Mehmet Oz by 13 points, while the latest Emerson College poll showed the Democratic nominee ahead by only four points.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: New poll: Support for abortion access reaches all-time high in Pa., while Oz and Mastriano continue to trail Fetterman and Shapiro
HARRISBURG — Support for abortion access among Pennsylvania voters reached an all-time high this month, according to a Franklin & Marshall College poll released Thursday. Thursday’s poll was the first one that Franklin & Marshall College conducted since the U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned a federal constitutional right to an abortion. According to the poll conducted last week, 37% of registered voters believe abortion should be legal under any circumstances and 52% believe it should be legal under certain circumstances. All together, nine in 10 Pennsylvania voters support abortion access in some form.

Pittsburgh City Paper: John Fetterman, Josh Shapiro lead in new Franklin & Marshall College poll
A new Franklin & Marshall College poll shows Democrats Josh Shapiro and John Fetterman with double-digit leads over their Republican rivals, even as President Joe Biden’s approval ratings remain underwater with voters in a key 2022 battleground state.

WITF: Pa. voters are confident in the 2020 election outcome, a new F&M poll shows
A new poll shows a majority of Pennsylvania voters surveyed are confident in the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. More than 500 registered voters answered the survey, and nearly 70% say they believe votes from the 2020 election were counted correctly. But just over half of the respondents say they’re dissatisfied with the state’s election laws — according to the latest survey by Franklin and Marshall College. Berwood Yost directs the college’s Center for Opinion Research. He says voters’ beliefs about Pennsylvania’s election system are influenced heavily by what the state’s leaders say: “It doesn’t matter how you change the laws, if people in elected positions continue to suggest that they produce an outcome that’s not accurate, then you’re gonna have the same opinions,” he said.

Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Shapiro, Fetterman lead in new Franklin & Marshall College poll | Thursday Morning Coffee
A new Franklin & Marshall College poll shows Democrats Josh Shapiro and John Fetterman with double-digit leads over their Republican rivals, even as President Joe Biden’s approval ratings remain underwater with voters in a key 2022 battleground state. In the state’s nationally watched U.S. Senate race, Fetterman, the current lieutenant governor, leads Republican Mehmet Oz, a celebrity physician, 43 percent to 30 percent. But the race tightens to 45-36 percent when people who are leaning toward a particular candidate are included.

LNP: Biden's unpopularity underscores Pa. GOP's advantage in fall election, F&M poll finds; abortion a wildcard that could help Democrats
The bread-and-butter issues that traditionally steer election outcomes remain bleak for Democrats heading into the final months of the 2022 midterm election campaign, according to the latest poll of Pennsylvania voters conducted by Franklin & Marshall College’s Center for Opinion Research. Registered voters’ low opinions of Joe Biden’s performance as president, the state of the economy and their own personal financial situations are largely unchanged since F&M released its last poll in May. Just 34% of voters rank Biden’s job performance as “excellent” or “good,” the same level of support found in May. And only 12% said their personal financial situation was better than a year ago, three points lower than the 15% who said so in May. Still, this midterm election year looks slightly different for the party out of power than the last one in 2018, according to Berwood Yost, the head of the F&M Center for Opinion Research.  “The data in 2018 was probably stronger for the Democrats than the current circumstances for the Republicans,” Yost said. “Trump’s approval rating was similar to Biden’s, but the generic ballot had Democrats ahead by 9 points in congressional races,” he said, noting that the GOP edge in the same measure this year is just 2 points. “While Republicans have an edge,” he added, “it doesn’t seem to be as strong as the last midterm.”

Real Clear Politics: Can The Fed Manage A Soft Landing? | Intelligence Squared Debate [podcast]
Economists Dean Baker and Yeva Nersisyan debate the Federal Reserve's interest rate policies on the "Intelligence Squared" podcast. The Fed recently announced aggressive interest rate hikes and is signaling more to come. Its goal? To stabilize the economy amid surging inflation (reaching rates not seen in some 40 years) and lingering supply chain disruptions and shortages. But just what can the Fed actually do to stave off a potential recession? While many are calling on the central bank to use its monetary policy tools to quell consumer demand and help stabilize the economy, others warn that higher interest rates will backfire and end up hurting the nation's most vulnerable. In this episode, two esteemed economists debate the Fed's role in the modern economy, the potential for a "soft landing," and the policy choices that will shape our economy in the months ahead. 

LNP: Why did so many viewers find fake 'Amish Mafia' so entertaining? [The Scribbler]
The Scribbler watched “Amish Mafia” one time to see what all the fuss was about. He found the “reality show,” aired on the Discovery Channel from 2012 to 2015, phony, funny, stupid and vapid. Dirk Eitzen, professor of film and media at Franklin & Marshall College, did not stop with one episode. He watched every one, some of them several times. Then he polled a multitude of other viewers. He interviewed the show’s producers. He thought a lot about the reality show genre in general. He considered the popularity of “fake news.” The result of that effort, “Fooling With the Amish: Amish Mafia, Entertaining Fakery, and the Evolution of Reality TV,” will be released in September by Johns Hopkins University Press as part of its Elizabethtown College/Young Center in Anabaptist and Pietist Studies series. The Scribbler has read an advance copy. It is amazing how much Eitzen has learned from studying a ridiculous and forgettable TV show. That is not meant as criticism. It is a simple statement of fact. Eitzen looked deeply into one of the most sensational reality TV shows ever produced and discovered something valuable about how Americans relate to frauds and lies.
 

8/15-8/22

Washington Examiner: Trump tempts Democrats to risk nationalizing more races this fall
Democrats dispute that their 2022 strategy is defined by Trump, instead more broadly by so-called MAGARepublicans and their own accomplishments. But while Cheney may help Democrats compare themselves to Trump Republicans, nationalizing certain campaigns may also open opportunities for GOP candidates to push Democrats, many of whom have distanced themselves from Biden, on the president's record. Context and candidates dictate how dominant national issues will be in a race, according to Berwood Yost, director of Franklin & Marshall College's Center for Opinion Research. "In a midterm, it's normally just people reacting about the president's performance, and it doesn't usually go well for the president's party," he said.  But for Yost, who has contributed to the forthcoming book Are All Politics Nationalized?, that conventional wisdom may not hold this November because of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and Democrats' unexpected legislative victories, which have partly stabilized Biden's dismal polling. Those wins include this week's signing of the long-awaited $750 billion Inflation Reduction Act, 18 months after the party's first Democrats-only spending bill, the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act. Republicans maintain, though, that the latest climate, healthcare, and tax measure will eventually prove unpopular with voters. "It isn't just now about the president," Yost said. "Maybe the right question is: Do those two issues give the Democratic candidates running additional ways of thinking about how to campaign?" 

Politics PA: Mastriano Declines LNP Debate Invite; Calls News Staff “Left-Wing Hacks”
Apparently Doug Mastriano meant what he said when he outlined his criteria for participating in fall debates. The Republican candidate for governor declined an invitation from LNP | Lancaster Online to debate Democratic opponent Josh Shapiro on Oct. 18 in collaboration with Franklin & Marshall College and WITF. The trio proposed Stephen Medvic, professor of government and director of F&M’s Center for Politics and Public Affairs, as the moderator with reporters from LNP and WITF on the panel. The official response from the Mastriano campaign came in the form of an email from Kimberly Orr, who identified herself as his campaign scheduler. “Thank you for the debate invitation. Unfortunately, he will not be able to attend.” The unofficial response came in the form of a radio interview with WHP-AM 580 on Thursday morning. “I just got another invite last night from, you know, Lancaster news online,” Mastriano told host RJ Harris. “Are you kidding me? These guys have been inflammatory ever since I stepped my toe in politics. I mean, they’re a paper that listed, ‘Mastriano is all this …’ It’s typical left-wing stuff. They call me names. ‘He’s a hater. He’s this. He’s a supremacist.’ 

LNP: Mastriano declines LNP | LancasterOnline debate invitation, cites 'inflammatory' coverage and 'hack' reporters
Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor, has declined an invitation from LNP | LancasterOnline to debate his Democratic opponent before the November election, baselessly criticizing the news organization’s staff as “left-wing hacks.” Mastriano’s campaign responded to the invitation Wednesday afternoon, nearly three months after receiving it. “Thank you for the debate invitation. Unfortunately, he will not be able to attend,” wrote Kimberly Orr, who identified herself in an email message as Mastriano's campaign scheduler. The LNP | LancasterOnline debate was to be held in collaboration with Franklin & Marshall College and WITF on Oct. 18. It was to be moderated by Stephen K. Medvic, a government professor and director of F&M’s Center for Politics and Public Affairs. Reporters for LNP | LancasterOnline and WITF were to serve on a panel questioning the candidates.

Pocono Record: Did overturning Roe v. Wade lead to spike in new voters? It's complicated
The Supreme Court ruling that kicked abortion rights back to the states in June might have also contributed to a spike of tens of thousands of new voters this summer, with Democrats seeing the biggest gains. Nearly 30,000 new voters joined the rolls in June and another 24,655 voters followed in July, accounting for nearly 45% of current voters who registered in 2022, according to Pennsylvania Department of State voter registration data updated on Aug. 8. Of the 8.75 million total voters in the state, about 3.9 million, 45.7%, are Democrats and about 3.45 million, 39.5%, are Republicans. Just over 10,000 of June’s new voters signed up the week immediately following the Dobbs ruling, with about 57% of those voters registering as Democrats, almost 20% joining as Republican and 26% choosing another party or no affiliation. A Franklin & Marshall College poll in April showed nearly 84% of voters wanted abortion to remain legal to some extent in Pennsylvania.

Pleasanton Weekly [CA]: 5 Things Communications Programs Can Do to Help You Succeed
3) For students who are interested in advertising and public relations careers, they offer an education that balances business and the liberal arts with the technical skills required to go to work. It is not necessary to be an advertising major to work in advertising or public relations major to work in public relations. A general business major or liberal arts major with a business or communications minor can suffice. However, potential employers will expect interns and entry-level employees to have a skill set that includes strong writing, presentation skills and analytical skills. It will be difficult for an entry-level hire to advance to mid-level and senior-level positions without them. Among the small and mid-sized colleges that fit the bill include Franklin & Marshall College and Muhlenberg College, both located in Pennsylvania; two others of note are Marist College, located in New York, just outside of the Big Apple, and the College of New Jersey.

Business Wire: FINRA Board of Governors Elects Eric Noll as Chair
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The FINRA Board of Governors elected current FINRA Public Governor Eric Noll as its next Chair. Noll succeeds Eileen Murray, whose term on the Board and service as Chair concluded at the Aug. 19 annual meeting of FINRA firms. Noll—the CEO of Context Capital Partners—first joined the FINRA Board in August 2020, and has since served on its Executive; Finance, Operations and Technology; Management Compensation (as Chair); Nominating & Governance; and Regulatory Oversight committees.  Noll is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of Franklin and Marshall College, where he had earned a bachelor's degree with a double major in government and economics; a member of the Board of Advisors of Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University, where he had earned an MBA with a finance concentration; Chair of the Board of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania; and Trustee of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

LNP: Manheim artist's work added to Lancaster Museum of Art permanent collection; learn more about the 60th annual Community Art Exhibit
Tranquil nature scenes, colorful cityscapes, inventive assemblage pieces and surreal abstractions. The entries into the Lancaster Museum of Art’s 60th annual Community Art Exhibit are as diverse as the Lancaster County landscapes and the people that inhabit them. The newest addition to the Lancaster Museum of Art’s permanent collection is a sewn fabric piece by Manheim-based artist Carol Piersol, “Tree of Life.” The Lancaster Museum of Art committee made the selection. “I’m very honored. I can’t say I expected it,” says Piersol, 68. “I think it’s very nice they included a piece of fabric art into the collection.” Piersol has been sewing for as long as she can remember, making wall hangings for 15 years and before that worked at the Franklin & Marshall College costume shop.
 

8/8-8/15

Fox News: Dr. Oz Accuses Fetterman of 'hiding in his basement'
F&M's Berwood Yost in interviewed about the latest in Pennsylvania's US Senate race.

Missouri S&T: New physics book covers atoms, lasers and gravity
Ever since quantum field theory was effectively invented in 1947 by Hans Albrecht Bethe, it has been a part of advanced physics studies. Quantum electrodynamics provides researchers with a framework to study the interaction of particles and radiation through mathematics. “Quantum electrodynamics helps us to see the world in new ways and then changes our perspective,” says Dr. Ulrich Jentschura, professor of physics at Missouri University of Science and Technology. “It deals with the very fundamentals of physics and connects research aspects in ways that cannot otherwise be put together for comparison.” Jentschura covers the topic at length in a new book titled Quantum Electrodynamics: Atoms, Lasers, and Gravity published by World Scientific. Written alongside Dr. Gregory Adkins, the William G. and Elizabeth R. Simeral Professor of physics at Franklin & Marshall College, the book delves into the origins of quantum field theory and builds upon it to include modern fields of research, such as intense-field laser physics and gravitational interactions in ultrarelativistic limit, where particles approach the speed of light and are subject to curved spacetime.
 

8/1-8/8

IntelNews.Org: CIA-JSOC convergence impedes covert action oversight, researcher warns
A GROWING CONVERGENCE BETWEEN the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the United States military has been one of the most notable changes in American intelligence after 9/11. Some argue that the resulting overlap between the CIA and the military, in both capabilities and operations, has altered their character —perhaps permanently. The CIA has become more involved than ever before in lethal operations, while the military has embraced intelligence work with unprecedented intensity. In an article published on Sunday, Dr. Jennifer Kibbe, Professor of Government at Franklin and Marshall College, and a specialist on the oversight of intelligence operations, explores the effects of the CIA-JSOC convergence on democratic accountability. The article, “CIA/SOF Convergence and Congressional Oversight”, appears in the peer-reviewed journal Intelligence and National Security. It features statements from interviews by current and former Congressional staffers with experience in working for the intelligence committees of the US Congress. Kibbe finds that the system of compartmentalization, which has traditionally secluded the activities of Congressional committees, coupled with the CIA-JSOC convergence, presents significant challenges for oversight. 

WITF Smart Talk: What can we learn from images from Webb Space Telescope
Images from deeper into space than humans have ever seen from the James Webb Space Telescope captivated the world when they were first released last month. Located a million miles from Earth, the Webb Telescope shows some of the earliest galaxies in the universe – located some 13.5 billion light years from Earth. But what are we seeing and how can information gathered be used? Ryan Trainor (PhD.), an assistant professor of Physics and Astronomy at Franklin and Marshall College told Smart Talk Monday that as an astronomer he was excited about seeing in the images, “Anything that might be within our own galaxy, but looking out of our galaxy into kind of the deep recesses of space and seeing what’s out there and these are images that show us, some of the very earliest galaxies that we can measure things that are emitting light…That’s been traveling for almost the entire history of the universe and letting us know what our origins are like, what were the conditions of the universe? Back in these, first, periods a few million years after the big bang.”

LA Times: Red wave shrinks as abortion issue limits Republican prospects
In the Senate race, the Democratic candidate, John Fetterman, has attacked his Republican opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz, for opposing abortions without exceptions for cases of rape and incest. Like Mastriano, Oz is trailing badly in the race. “If you were doing a thought experiment” about a midterm election in Pennsylvania with a president whose job approval is as low as President Biden’s is now, “the question you would probably ask is how far ahead the Republican candidate would be,” said Berwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research at Pennsylvania’s Franklin & Marshall College. “It’s a startling fact that the Democratic candidates for these statewide races have a clear lead at this point,” he said. Democrats have aimed to portray the Republican candidates as “extreme,” Yost said. So far, the GOP hopefuls have “done nothing to combat that perception.”

Taiwan News: Taiwan on edge following Pelosi's visit
"If the speaker of the US House of Representatives is willing to come to Taiwan to validate the relationship with Taiwan from a democratic perspective, this will influence other democratic leaders," said Wei-Ting Yen, a Taiwanese political science professor at Franklin and Marshall College in the US.

ABC27 WHTM: Pa. colleges try to keep students safe against monkeypox
We reached out to several universities about how they plan to keep students safe. They say they’re closely monitoring the situation. In a statement, Franklin & Marshall College said that while the risk to the greater campus community remains low, they’re preparing for the possibility of monkeypox cases on campus.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Camera Bartolotta: Pennsylvanians need to know that the people elected were really elected
Sadly, our country is experiencing more political tension and division than most of us have seen in our lifetimes. People’s perspectives about how best to run the government and provide critical services to those in need are as strong as they are polarizing — which is why it is more important than ever for everyone to trust the outcome of elections. However, a recent poll shows that is not the case. A June Franklin and Marshall poll found 59% of Pennsylvania voters supported election reform, including a majority of Independent voters (52%) and a large percentage of Democrats (46%).

LNP: Polarization stymies attempts to hold Trump accountable [column]
Stephen K. Medvic is the Kunkel Professor of Government and director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College.
In deciding whether to indict the former president, the Justice Department has at least two questions to consider. The first is whether the evidence it has is sufficient to win a conviction. That’s difficult to know because not only are jury trials unpredictable, but jurors may expect especially convincing evidence if they are to convict a former president. The second and more vexing question the Justice Department must answer is whether putting a former president on trial is in the public interest. Such a trial would be extremely divisive and would be viewed by a significant portion of the public as a political hit job. Who knows how some of Trump’s more fervent supporters would respond? But not indicting Trump would alsobe viewed as a political decision. It would be seen by many as surrendering to the threat of mob violence and it would surely undermine faith in the notion that “no person is above the law in this country,” as Attorney General Merrick Garland recently insisted.

LNP: Volunteers needed for Lancaster's One World Festival Sept. 11 at Franklin & Marshall College [United Way column]
Heralded as America’s “refugee capital” of the east in 2017 by the BBC, Lancaster city is one of the most culturally diverse cities of its size in the nation. Diversity is woven into the fabric of the community, and on Sunday, Sept. 11, neighbors will converge at the city’s first One World Festival to celebrate our cultures with food, music, art and so much more. The seed of One World Festival was planted by Deepa Balepur, president of the Indian Organization of Lancaster County. She reached out to planners of local Hispanic and African events, who agreed that Lancaster was the prime spot to hold a festival celebrating a community rich with neighbors of many cultures. Franklin & Marshall College is hosting the free event, which runs from 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on the second Sunday in September. The festival is seeking more than 50 volunteers to fill essential roles that will help the event run smoothly.
 

7/25 - 8/1

Architectural Digest: Ad It Yourself: 3 Things to Know About Urban Beekeeping
If you looked around your neighborhood this year and wondered where all the bees went, you’re probably not alone. Researchers conducting a recent review of biodiversity records found that nearly a quarter of all known bee species haven’t been seen in decades, raising concern (but not concrete proof) that bee biodiversity is shrinking. Why does that matter? Wild bees help pollinate the vast majority of the plantsthat we use for food, helping to fill a crucial role in their own local ecosystems. Some species will only pollinate one or two “very specific plants” or categories of crops, meaning the plants might not reproduce without their designated bee buddies, according to Eve Bratman, a sustainable development professor at Franklin & Marshall College with a focus on pollinators.

Politics PA: Poll: Fetterman, Shapiro Hold Commanding Leads
Democratic candidates John Fetterman and Josh Shapirohold commanding leads in their races for the U.S. Senate and the governor’s mansion in a poll released by Blueprint Polling. “This could be a sign that Shapiro’s advertising is beginning to pay off,” said Stephen Medvic, Director, Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College. “He’s painting Mastriano as an extremist, and there hasn’t been a response from Mastriano, and it could be that voters are getting the message. Having said that, it’s too early to know for sure and I’d urge caution in interpreting these results until other polls find something similar.”

LNP: Frankie Valli, in Lancaster tonight, helped the Clair brothers to worldwide success
Even in the wake of Beatlemania, the Four Seasons remained a popular act, touring up and down the East Coast nearly every weekend to play colleges. One such college was Franklin & Marshall in Lancaster, where the brothers Clair had recently been employed to do sound for concerts.

White House Press Release: President Biden Announces Key Nominees
Today, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to serve as key leaders in his administration: Joseph L. Falk, Nominee for Member of the United States Institute of Peace. Joseph Falk is a consultant with the law firm of Akerman LLP and a licensed mortgage originator. Akerman is a top 100 law firm and employs over 700 attorneys and consultants. Falk was past President and Legislative Chairman of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB). Falk is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Franklin and Marshall College and received his MBA from the Harvard Business School. Falk is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Franklin and Marshall College and received his MBA from the Harvard Business School.
 

7/18-7/25 

LNP: With professional career set, East Petersburg resident Katie Yoder has returned focus to triathlon [column] (PDF)
Katie Yoder competed in her first triathlon in the summer of 2017, shortly after her sophomore year at Franklin & Marshall College [Katie Schick ‘18]. Two years later, Yoder competed at the Ironman World Championships, placing 467th out of 610 competitors, and 24th out of the 31 racers in her age group (then 18 to 24). Not an incredible showing, but something to build on for a relative newbie to the sport. The future was bright. Then the COVID-19 pandemic happened. And Yoder went back to school to obtain a Master of Business Administration degree, graduating in May. She also got married last September and landed a dream job in April. With her plate cleared for the first time in about three years, and thus having more time to devote to training, Yoder returned to the triathlon game — and won the Ironman 70.3 (or half-Ironman) Musselman race in Geneva, New York, on July 10. Ideally, that is how Yoder’s comeback story would be described. But it wouldn’t be entirely true. Go back to 2019, for instance, where her performance at the Ironman World Championship made her realize something. “I knew that I’m not an Olympic champion,” Yoder recalled. “So I knew I had to prioritize my career. It was hard. But I knew if I found a career as much as I love triathlons, then I would be excited about it.”

NPR Intelligence Squared Debates: Agree to Disagree: Can the Fed Manage a Soft Landing?
The Fed recently announced aggressive interest rate hikes and is signaling more to come. Its goal? To stabilize the economy amid surging inflation (reaching rates not seen in some 40 years) and lingering supply chain disruptions and shortages. But can the Fed actually manage a so-called "soft landing"? Arguing "yes" is Dean Baker for the Center for Economics and Policy Research. Arguing "no" is Yeva Nersisyan of Franklin & Marshall College. Emmy award-winning journalist John Donvan moderates.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices.

The Print: ‘Fierce advocate for peace’ — US scholar Michael Krepon, who fought against nuclear weapons, dies (PDF)
New Delhi: Michael Krepon, scholar, an international peace and nuclear non-proliferation advocate, and co-founder of the Stimson Centre, a Washington DC-based think-tank, died in Virginia, US, Sunday. Krepon was a global leader in the fight against the threat of nuclear warfare. He was amongst the earliest voices, in the aftermath of the Cold War, to advocate for nuclear non-proliferation and elimination of nuclear weapons. He had also argued for pragmatic solutions to reduce the threat of nuclear warfare. Apart from studying nuclear proliferation and advocating for nuclear peace globally, Krepon’s scholarship also focused on the nuclear dynamics of South Asia. Throughout his life, he mentored many scholars researching on the sub-continent. Krepon was a graduate of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He attended the Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania for his undergraduation.
 

7/11-7/18

NPR: John Fetterman's back on the Senate campaign trail. The end of Roe has changed things
Yet economic anxiety and soaring inflation still top the list of voter concerns. Add in President Biden's dismal job approval ratings, and Oz is counting on voters holding Democrats accountable. Berwood Yost is a pollster at Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania. BERWOOD YOST: The economy and President Biden's performance are both at the same place they were in May during the primary. And so the foundational issues that are shaping this campaign have stayed in place.

WGAL: WGAL 8 In Focus: Abortion in Pennsylvania
F&M Berwood Yost joins host Susan Shapiro to explain F&M’s decades-long polling on abortion.

Erasing 76 Crimes: Invitation: Survey aims to learn the realities of LGBTQI lives worldwide
Gay-friendly researchers are reaching out to LGBTQI community members with the goal of creating an accurate account of what LGBTQI life is like in each of 204 nations worldwide. To accomplish that, they are inviting LGBTQI people worldwide to take a survey about their lived realities. The survey, called the LGBTQI Perception Index survey — is available in four languages: Arabic, English, French, and Spanish. Dr. Susan Dicklitch-Nelson, founder of F&M Global Barometers, is a professor of government at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Penn.  Her research on human rights has led to the creation of the F&M Global Barometer of Gay Rightsand the F&M Global Barometer of Transgender Rights, which evaluate and rate countries’ human rights records on the basis of data from multiple sources, including newspaper articles and reports from the U.S. State Department, ILGA, Transgender Europe and Human Dignity Trust

Wealthy Gorilla: The 20 Most Expensive Colleges in the World
11. Franklin and Marshall College, US
Cost: $56,550
Franklin & Marshall College is a private liberal art residential college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1787, the college has roughly 2,800 students and 175 full-time faculty members. Roughly 55% of undergrads that attend Franklin & Marshall receive need-based financial aid. It was the first bilingual college in the United States and was America’s first coeducational institution.

Go Local Prov: Top Higher Education Leader David R Proulx Dies at 52
David R Proulx, 52, a prominent leader in higher education, unexpectedly passed away on Thursday, July 7, 2022. He was the beloved husband of Rachel Kate Adams Proulx for over 25 years, and a devoted father to Madeleine Merrill Proulx of New York City, NY, Evan Adams Proulx, and Maxwell “Max” Adams Proulx, both of North Kingstown, RI. Recognized as a national expert in college and university finance with almost 30 years of experience, Dave was most recently Rhode Island School of Design’s Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration, and for a time, served as the institution’s Interim President. He was to begin at Bryant University in August as Vice President for Business Affairs and Chief Financial Officer. Before RISD, Dave served as Vice President of Finance and Administration at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA, and at the University of New Hampshire as Associate Vice President of Finance.
 

7/4-7/11

Games Reviews: STEPHEN RADOSH: A Q&A WITH THE CREATOR OF HOTEL MARIO
Hotel Mario is one of the most popular, infamous, and memorable video games of the 1990’s. Initially released in 1993 to positive reviews, it has since become a cult classic among gamers for its iconic soundtrack, voice acting, animated sequences, and gameplay. It was released on April 5, 1994 on the Phillips CD-I as part of a licensing agreement where Phillips would design Super NES’s CD-ROM add-on. I had the privilege of speaking with Stephen Radosh, who was the designer and executor producer of Hotel Mario. He lives in Palm Springs, California, where he is active in theatre and journalism. “I was with Atari for years when they were successful with their consoles. I was employed with Sega as well. I played a lot of video games, but I also had a background in acting which is important when creating video games. I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theater at Franklin & Marshall College in 1971, and I began producing television series in the 1980’s. I switched industries after being hired by Atari, as it gave me an opportunity to be creative.”

LNP: James P. Duckworth 7/17/1923 - 8/3/2021
James P. Duckworth passed away peacefully at his home in Peoria, AZ on August 3rd, 2021. He was 98 years old. Jim was a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather; a pioneer in nuclear engineering and a master at his hobby, ballroom dancing, which he enjoyed with his wife, Nellie. Jim attended Franklin & Marshall College and then Penn State University, where he would receive a Master's degree in Petroleum Engineering. After graduation, Jim was invited to become part of the developing Hanford Project in Washington State, which was creating methods to use nuclear fuel for commercial power production. While there, he invented and patented an apparatus still being used today as part of the Purex Process to reprocess spent nuclear fuel. Jim returned to ballroom dancing and became a dance host on cruise ships as a way to see the world and keep himself busy. He eventually slowed down and moved to Sun City, AZ. A memorial service will be held at St. James Episcopal Church, 119 N. Duke St., Lancaster, PA, at 3:00 pm on July 16, 2022. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
 

6/27-7/4

ABC 27: Record voter turnout for Pennsylvania Senate, Governor race
PENNSYLVANIA (WHTM) – The May Pennsylvania Senate and gubernatorial primaries had some of the highest voter turnouts in decades. According to Franklin & Marshall College’s Polling & Opinion Center, voter turnout for Republicans was the highest for a Pennsylvania midterm primary since 1994, and for Democrats the highest since 2002. Nearly 40% of Republicans turned out to vote in an election where they chose Mehmet Oz as their candidate in the U.S. Senate race and Doug Mastriano in the gubernatorial race. Thirty-two percent of Democrats turned out to vote in an election highlighted by the U.S. Senate race won by John Fetterman. Attorney General Josh Shapiro was the only Democrat on the ballot for Governor.

Politics PA: Does Abortion Rights Make PA a One-Issue State?
Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and overturning Roe v. Wade has set off a firestorm around the Commonwealth and the nation. While Pennsylvania voters have responded in polls conducted by Suffolk University and AARP that the most important issues to them are the economy, high gas prices and inflation, will upcoming polls show that abortion rights leaps to the top? Will Pennsylvania become a one-issue governor’s race? “I’m not sure the fall election will turn solely on abortion but it’s going to be an enormous part of the campaign,” said Stephen Medvic, professor of government and director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College. “At first blush, you might conclude that the Dobbs decision will activate Democrats more than it will Republicans because those on the winning side of a political battle have a tendency to get complacent and those on the losing side want to fight.  But in this case, there’s another stage to the battle, which is whether or not to change Pennsylvania law.  Both sides will be mobilized because the next governor will be the difference between vetoing an abortion ban and signing one (assuming the legislature remains in Republican control).”

Spotlight PA: New Reality
Abortion remains legal in Pennsylvania up to 24 weeks into a pregnancy, and in some cases beyond that, after last week's landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and 50 years of legal precedent. Roughly 15% of Pennsylvania counties had an abortion clinic in 2017, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which advocates for abortion rights, and providers in places like Pittsburgh are expecting an influx of patients from states where new restrictions are suddenly taking effect. There are several proposals pending in the legislature, including a veto-proof state constitutional amendment that abortion rights advocates say could open the door to new restrictions — and not just on abortion. (Track the SB956 amendment here with Spotlight PA's tracker tool.) Franklin & Marshall polling from May shows 85% of Pennsylvania registered voters support abortion being either completely legal or legal under some circumstances, which were not defined in the poll.

Baltimore Brew: Mass cancellations at the Center for Talented Youth were caused by organizational failures, staffers say
After Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth (CTY) abruptly canceled classes for hundreds of students last week, officials in charge of the venerable summer youth enrichment program blamed “the national labor shortage.” But program leaders in Baltimore deserve most of the blame, say CTY instructors and staffers who have signed an open letter accusing upper management of “gross negligence” leading up to the fiasco. They say one significant misstep, involving multiple sites in Pennsylvania, was caused by the failure of CTY’s central office to make sure that state-mandated security clearances for staffers had been obtained in time. “We were told last Friday – 48 hours before the students were to arrive – that because a large amount of instructors and other staffers didn’t have their clearance, we would have to cancel classes,” said David Kumler, an instructor at the Franklin & Marshall College site in Lancaster, Pa. That’s why Kumler and his colleagues were surprised to see a Washington Post story that quoted officials  attributing  the cancellations to “the nationwide labor shortage affecting many industries.”
 

6/20-6/27

The Washington Post: Johns Hopkins summer programs canceled as some students are en route
Many teenagers had already packed for the three-week academic program. Some were en route. Sunny Chanel’s 16-year-old daughter was on a flight to the East Coast when Chanel noticed an email from Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth. The teen’s program in Pennsylvania was suddenly canceled. “She was devastated,” said Chanel, who was stunned that families were kept in the dark until after 3:30 p.m. Friday, less than 48 hours before the residential program began. Virginia Roach, executive director of CTY, said in a statement that families were offered full refunds of tuition and travel costs, and she apologized to “every child and parent who expected more.” CTY sites include Johns Hopkins in Baltimore; Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa.; Haverford College in the suburbs of Philadelphia; Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; and the University of California at Santa Cruz. Fifteen of the 21 sites were affected by cancellations. Lucy Cummings, who lives in D.C., said her 14-year-old son was looking forward to attending a residential philosophy program at Franklin and Marshall for three weeks, which cost more than $5,200.

Spotlight PA: Decision to overturn Roe v. Wade won’t have immediate impact on abortion access in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG — The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that established the constitutional right to abortion. The decision effectively gives states the power to determine how, where, and why someone can get a legal abortion, if at all. It won’t have an immediate impact in Pennsylvania, where Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf has vowed to veto any efforts to further curtail access to the procedure. But that could change as early as 2023 should state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R., Franklin) win the November election to become Pennsylvania’s next governor. According to a May Franklin & Marshall College poll, 85% of registered voters said they support abortion being either completely legal or legal under some circumstances (which were not defined in the poll.) Only 14% of respondents said abortion should be illegal under any circumstance.

Solemn reflections on Juneteenth in Duke Street cemetery [photos]
On the day Juneteenth was celebrated as a federal holiday, citizens came together Monday for moments of silence, reflection and fellowship in a Lancaster city cemetery where African American veterans and the ancestors of many Lancaster families are buried. Juneteenth celebrates Black culture, and commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the 1860s.Monday's event was organized by Lancaster Courtwide D.R.I.V.E. (Diversity, Respect, Inclusivity, Values and Equity), a committee dedicated to helping the local judicial system to embrace diversity. The African American Historical Society and Franklin & Marshall College partnered with the committee to run the event.

LNP: Mastriano won't talk to the mainstream press, an unconventional strategy as contest against Shapiro begins
Lacking a primary opponent, Shapiro “did not have to campaign,” said Berwood Yost, the polling director at Franklin & Marshall College. “He wasn’t on everybody’s TV screens the last two months. His public campaign is in its infancy.” Many in the advertising industry see free and paid media working together, Yost said. “It’s hard to see how it would work in a general election” if Mastriano is not talking to the state’s newspapers and TV stations.

Seattle’s Child: Dad Next Door: Portrait of an Artist
My father was a practical man. He didn’t have much choice. He was a child of the Great Depression, in a family that was trying to scrape by in a foreign land. If he wanted to escape the uninspiring future that awaited him in their Chinese laundry, he needed a solid, workable plan. At 16, near the end of World War II, he lied about his age and joined the U.S. Navy in the Pacific fleet. After two tours of duty (and a case of tuberculosis), he went to Franklin and Marshall College on the GI Bill. A career counselor there put him through some tests and declared that he should find a job where he could work with his hands, so he enrolled in Tufts Dental School. Soon after graduation, he started a dental practice in Amherst, Massachusetts, had four sons, and spent the next forty years working and providing for his family. In the evenings, when he finally got off his feet, he’d read dental journals or manage his investments. He didn’t really have any hobbies — there were never enough hours in the day. Once in a while, though, he’d do something that seemed strangely out of character: he’d take out a piece of paper and a pencil and try to draw.

USC Viterbi School of Engineering: Wanda Austin Receives 2022 ISE Distinguished Alumni Award
Wanda Austin, former interim president of the University of Southern California, ex- chief executive officer of the Aerospace Corporation, and the holder of a USC Viterbi Ph.D., received the ISE Distinguished Alumni Award for her many contributions to USC and the field over the years. She is co-founder of MakingSpace, Inc., a systems engineering and leadership development consultant and motivational speaker. She is also the former president and CEO of The Aerospace Corporation, an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to the application of science and technology toward critical issues affecting the nation’s space program. Growing up in New York City, Austin attended The Bronx High School of Science, then earned a B.A. in mathematics from Franklin & Marshall College, M.S. degrees in systems engineering and mathematics from the University of Pittsburgh and a Ph.D. in systems engineering from USC.
 

6/13-6/20

Diverse: Issues in Higher Education: Universities Studying Slavery Consortium Carries On
As this year’s Juneteenth celebrations near amid mounting backlash to teaching about the history of slavery in K-12 schools let alone colleges, scholars reflect on why continuing to unearth higher education institutions’ ties to slavery matters now more than ever. “Universities have done a terrible job for most of their existence of telling a real, truthful account of their history, and so we confuse myth and memory,” said Dr. Kirt von Daacke, professor of history and assistant dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia (UVA), which is home to the international Universities Studying Slavery (USS) consortium. In April of this year, Franklin & Marshall College (F&M), a private and predominantly white liberal arts college, became one of the newest members of USS. The college enrolls about 2,283 students, has roughly a $450 million endowment, and is in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. F&M is also named after Benjamin Franklin and John Marshall, both enslavers. “Franklin and Marshall have been scrutinized about owning of slaves as part of their history, and that history has long been hidden, so our goal is to educate our community about it,” said Dr. Gretchel Hathaway, F&M’s first vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion. “I want our youngsters to know the true story of how slaves were brought to America, how people made money off the backs of people they did not pay.” With the college’s president, Dr. Barbara Altmann, Hathaway launched a Legacy of Slavery at F&M study group to look into the past of not only the college’s namesakes but the history of slavery around the college as well as the indigenous history of the land the college sits on. Soon after the group’s launch, F&M joined the USS consortium.

PennLive: HACC signs articulation agreement with F&M College
Honor students attending HACC will now be eligible to finish their bachelor’s degree at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster. Starting this fall, honors students who have completed at least one year at HACC (formerly known as Harrisburg Area Community College) can transfer to Franklin & Marshall College under an articulation agreement the two institutions signed last month. The agreement is the first of its kind between the two institutions. “Through this agreement with HACC, F&M is able to reach more students in the region, which is part of the College’s mission,” Jimmie Foster Jr., vice president for enrollment management at Franklin & Marshall College, said in the news release.

LNP: Florida prosecutors decline to formally charge F&M student with sexual battery
The Florida Office of the State Attorney has declined to file formal charges against a Franklin & Marshall College student who was accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl. Police in Winter Haven, Florida, filed a charge of sexual battery against Steven Rizzo, 20, of Remsenburg, New York, on March 18 in Polk County. However, on May 10, state prosecutors filed a “no bill” to the charge, meaning they declined to file a formal charge. In an email, Rizzo’s attorney, Peter S. Heller, said, “Steven has suffered irreparable harm to his previously impeccable reputation as well as (being) both emotionally and mentally affected from this unfortunate incident based upon false allegations made by what we firmly believe was an extremely unreliable and contradictory accuser.” Prosecutors “declined to prosecute but more importantly, they made the decision to not even formally charge him with any crime,” Heller wrote.

Penn Live: Both sides in abortion debate preparing for a fight over Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat
With an expected decision from the U.S. Supreme Court coming that would overturn federal abortion rights, both sides are gearing up for a bitter fight over Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat. The seat being vacated by GOP Sen. Pat Toomey already has national implications with the majority at stake in the evenly divided Senate, but the leak of a draft majority opinion overturning the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade case last month has only ratcheted up the heat. Although advocacy groups have turned up the rhetoric after the Supreme Court ruling leak, it remains to be seen how much of a factor abortion rights will actually be in the general election, said Berwood Yost, the director of Franklin & Marshall College’s Center for Opinion Research, which regularly polls Pennsylvanians on issues. Yost said the Senate will draw millions in outside spending on a laundry list of issues, from abortion to gun control to the economy just to start. “It’s going to be hard to pinpoint which one thing is going to make a difference,” he said.
 

6/6-6/13

LNP: 'One of the highest honors': F&M professor elected to National Academy of Sciences
Long before she was studying active fault lines in the western U.S. or examining soil erosion in Lancaster County streams, Dorothy Merritts learned to love science when she was a kid roaming the forested hills of Blair County with her friends. “I really liked hiking and exploring,” she said. “We looked for fossils and minerals and rocks, and we found human artifacts like old bottles, and we just did this all of the time.” Jumping at any opportunity to get her hands on a nature book or an issue of National Geographic magazine, Merritts described a childhood obsessed with the outdoors. Even before she was out of elementary school, she knew she wanted to be a scientist. Now, decades later, Merritts is a geosciences professor at Franklin & Marshall College and recently was elected to the National Academy of Sciences — an elite society “charged with providing independent, objective advice to the nation on matters related to science and technology.” Merritts, who is now in her 60s, is the first F&M faculty member elected to the academy. She was one of just 120 scientists chosen in the new class last month. “I was thrilled. I’m still thrilled,” she said, explaining she learned of her election after the academy’s annual meeting in early May.

The Morning Call: Poll: Pennsylvanians feeling worst economic pain in years as gas prices approach $5 a gallon
When asked about his current financial situation compared to last year, Allentown resident Douglass Karll said, “Everything is worse off.” Karll isn’t alone in his concerns. A Franklin & Marshall College poll conducted in late April and early May found about 43% of respondents believed they are “worse off” financially than they were one year earlier, the worst level shown by the poll in the past six years. Lawmakers from both parties in Harrisburg say they’re aware of the public’s financial pains and are taking steps to figure out what to do. The Franklin & Marshall poll showed inflation, gas prices, rent, unemployment, etc., are the most mentioned problems facing Pennsylvanians in the past few months. Sen. John Yudichak of Luzerne County, an independent and chair of the Senate Community, Economic & Recreational Development Committee, said the Franklin & Marshall statistics probably underestimate how many Pennsylvanians are struggling. “I think 100% of Pennsylvanians are hurting,” he said.

The Daily Item [from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]: How Pa.'s Senate race between Fetterman and Oz could play out
HARRISBURG — The matchup is finally set: Democrat Lt. Gov. John Fetterman will face Republican Mehmet Oz in the November election, in what's expected to be one of the most-watched and expensive Senate races in U.S. history. Political pundits and experts can only characterize the race as unprecedented and unpredictable. It won't compare to any race before, as both candidates try to paint themselves as political outsiders. A celebrity doctor and a progressive giant, both vying to win the open seat being vacated by Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey — and in turn, control the majority of the 50-50 U.S. Senate. "It's going to be close, it's going to be intense and it's an important state," said Stephen Medvic, a political science and government professor at Franklin & Marshall College. "When you couple that with the gubernatorial race, all national political eyes are going to be on Pennsylvania the whole summer and fall."
 

5/30-6/6

LNP: Land in demand: County’s farmland sells for thousands more per acre than rest of Pa., U.S.
High land costs can be seen as a testament to desirability — reflective of productive local soils, flat fields and the proximity of farm-supporting businesses and markets. But it can limit options, favoring established farmers looking to expand or those with sufficient wealth to afford ever-increasing prices. In Lancaster County, desirable farmland regularly sells for about $30,000 an acre, tens of thousands of dollars more than the statewide and national averages, local experts like Ann DeLaurentis have estimated. Demand for the land isn’t the sole result of its productivity, according to Patrick Fleming, an assistant professor of economics and public policy at Franklin & Marshall College. Lancaster County farmers have the benefit of working in close proximity to agriculture-supporting businesses and markets — equipment, feed, fertilizers and services — that have developed around the robust farming community, experts said, revealing another factor that could drive costs. The county’s multiple suburban and urban areas also set it apart from other heavily agricultural communities, like those in Iowa, Fleming said as an example. “Population density is a lot higher here than in Iowa, so you just have more people competing for a fixed plot of land,” he said. “East Coast farmland just has more people nearby that are interested in purchasing it.”

The New York Times: Fetterman’s Heart Issues Add Wild Card to Key Pennsylvania Senate Race
Part of John Fetterman’s appeal as the Democratic Senate nominee has stemmed from his brash sense of vitality. It’s not clear if his recent stroke and absence from the trail will affect that. Among Democrats and many independents in Pennsylvania, Mr. Fetterman is popular. A poll from Franklin & Marshall College just before the primary — and before his stroke — found that 67 percent of Democratic voters viewed him favorably, well above the 46 percent who felt warmly toward his primary opponent, Representative Conor Lamb. Berwood A. Yost, the director of the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall, said that given the Democratic nominee’s 52 years of age, his health problems “may make Fetterman even more relatable. ”You get to your 50s as a working-class person, and you’ve got some scars to show for it, right?” he said. “It’s a further contrast between the two candidates. I mean, the contrast couldn’t be any more stark.”

WHYY: The Regional Roundup: June 6, 2022
More than two weeks after primary election day in PA, the Republican party does not have a nominee in the race for the senate. We’ll talk with Franklin and Marshall College expert Stephen Medvic (@stephenmedvic) about the optics and legal issues surrounding the ongoing recount between Mehmet Oz and Dave McCormick and what it means for democratic challenger John Fetterman, especially considering questions about his health.

LNP: HACC honors students can transfer to Franklin & Marshall College beginning in the fall under new agreement
HACC honors students can transfer to Franklin & Marshall College beginning in the fall under an agreement between the schools. The partnership allows honors students completing HACC’s one-year liberal studies certificate to transfer as sophomores and those earning an associate degree in applied science to transfer as juniors, the school states in a press release. According to HACC’s website, honors students must have a 3.5 GPA or higher. The agreement allows F&M, which graduated 38 students from Lancaster County this year, to expand enrollment opportunities to central Pennsylvania students while giving HACC students another way to pursue a bachelor’s degree, according to the press release. “HACC is pleased to partner with F&M, a selective and highly regarded college in our service region where HACC honor students will experience a challenging and robust education in the liberal arts tradition, preparing them for careers in business and medicine, for example,” said John J. Sygielski, HACC president. F&M President Barbara Altmann said the college wants to be a part of Pennsylvania’s post-secondary education network “and this agreement with HACC is an excellent starting point.”

Washington Post: Taiwan is moving away from ‘zero-covid.’ That’s harder than it seems.
Analysis by co-author Franklin & Marshall Government Professor Wei-Ting Yen. Until the recent omicron wave, “zero-covid” policies in China and Taiwan had proved largely successful in keeping the coronavirus at bay. In both places, the government consolidated a zero-covid strategy by “securitizing” the virus, treating it as an existential threat. The “war with covid” rallied people in China and Taiwan to be highly supportive of zero-covid measures such as border controls and mandatory quarantines. Taiwan recently began to shift its pandemic approach. While China is doubling down on zero-covid policies, Taiwan has now decided to adopt a “living with the virus” mentality.

Philadelphia Inquirer: To get action on climate change, change the subject
Op-Ed from F&M’s Berwood Yost. Rising sea levels. Stronger hurricanes. More frequent droughts and heat waves. Significant changes in rainfall. These are just a few of the non-reversible and ongoing effects of climate change, according to most climate scientists. These predictions of catastrophic change should be enough to focus our attention on addressing the climate crisis, but stalemate and incoherence are probably the best words we can use to describe America’s policy response to the issue.

USA Today: Inflation. Guns. Abortion. Trump. Here's what mattered to voters in the May primaries
Celebrity candidates — who often climbed to fame outside political circles — gained solid traction in May. That includes Fetterman and celebrity surgeon turned TV star Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania, Herschel Walker in Georgia, and others. Outsiders and celebrity candidates aren't new. That same path was traveled by Trump, former President Ronald Reagan, former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and others. "Traditional resumes are not resonating," said Berwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It's partially driven by voters rejecting the political class in favor of celebrities they find easier to connect to and trust, he said.  "Focus groups show the same sentiment – nobody is happy with government. Nobody is happy with politics as usual," Yost said. 

Altoona Mirror: Tyrone native to join National Academy of Sciences
A Tyrone native and professor of geoscience at Franklin & Marshall College was recently elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Dorothy Merritts was the first professor from the school to be accepted into the private, nonprofit society of scholars. Merritts is a role model for female scientists and other marginalized groups, professor and biology chair Dan Ardia said. Her election to the academy was well deserved, said professor of economics Patrick Fleming, who said the seat at the academy reflects Merritts’ scientific insight and her ability to be a great colleague and collaborator.

Government Technology: Drexel President Talks Need for Computing, Engineering
(TNS) — Built as a factory and financial center, Philadelphia's economy now relies more on its universities. So it's no surprise that the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia recently picked John Fry, president of Drexel University and an architect of the development around its main campus in University City, for its highest yearly honor, the William Penn Award. Fry, once a senior officer at the University of Pennsylvania, then president of Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, set big goals for Drexel when he arrived, and recently signed on for five more years running the city's second-largest university. He spoke to The Inquirer about how his focus has evolved, and Drexel's role in the region's future. The interview was edited for brevity and clarity.
 

5/23-5/30

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Drexel’s John Fry talks about nurturing biotech, building University City, and why the school wants to mint more engineers
Built as a factory and financial center, Philadelphia’s economy now relies more on its universities. So it’s no surprise that the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia recently picked John Fry, president of Drexel University and an architect of the development around its main campus in University City, for its highest yearly honor, the William Penn Award. Fry, once a senior officer at the University of Pennsylvania, then president of Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, set big goals for Drexel when he arrived, and recently signed on for five more years running the city’s second-largest university. He spoke to The Inquirer about how his focus has evolved, and Drexel’s role in the region’s future. The interview was edited for brevity and clarity.

The Manilla Times: Covid and travel [Opinion]
I WAS debating between writing about another issue the next administration should consider or Covid, having read the New York Times article on May 19, "What's Going on With the Testing Requirement for Travel?" to the US and Ben Kritz column last Tuesday. Given my schedule this week, my apologies for taking the easier topic. Before I get to that, I recommend reading Paul Krugman's "The Perils of Plutocratic Pettiness" and "The Heat is Already On" in May 23 and 24's New York Times. And most of all please read or listen to Pulitzer Prize winner (and who I am honored to call my friend) Viet Thanh Nguyen's commencement address at Franklin and Marshall University. Very enlightening and insightful. It is on the school's website. The admiration many have for Viet's work is an example coincidentally of one of Paul Krugman's points on admiration in the column on plutocrats.

The Daily Herald (Tyrone): Tyrone native elected to National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences recently elected Tyrone native Dorothy Merritts, the Harry W. and Mary B. Huffnagle Professor of Geoscience in Franklin & Marshall College’s Department of Earth and Environment. According to an article posted online at F&M, Merritts is their first faculty member ever accepted into the ranks of the prestigious academy, a private, nonprofit society of distinguished scholars. “Her research and knowledge includes streams, rivers, other landforms, and the impact of geologic processes, climate change, and human activities on the form and history of Earth’s surface. Her primary research focus is the Appalachian mid-Atlantic region, where her groundbreaking investigative work demonstrated the role human activities have had in transforming the upland woodlands and valley bottom wetland meadows of eastern North America to a predominantly agricultural, industrial and urban landscape since European settlement.”

Lead Stories: Fact Check: Wilhelm Reich Did NOT Invent A Cure For Cancer Or Claim That He Had
Lead Stories called James E. Strick, a science historian and associate professor in the department of earth and environment at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania who wrote the book, "Wilhelm Reich, Biologist." The two most problematic and persistent misconceptions about Reich are that he claimed he could cure cancer and that the Orgone Accumulator was some sort of a sex box, Strick said on May 23, 2022. Neither is true. Reich never claimed that he could cure cancer. While he felt his experiments in 1941 on both mice and humans were promising, Strick explained, in many cases the subjects who showed the most dramatic reduction in the cancer were sickened by acute inflammation of their liver and kidneys. The treatment was not merely a few sessions, and for the human volunteers the experimental treatment also included psychotherapy. Doctors had deemed their cases terminal. The human volunteers signed an affidavit that they understood Reich's therapy was experimental and there was no promise of a cure. Strick estimates there were less than 20 people involved in these experiments and except for one, they all died. 

Center Penn Business Journal: Why hiring managers need to understand workers’ growth mindset
Essay from F&M President Barbara Altmann and Professor of Legal Studies Jeff Nesteruk: In an uncertain world, everyone is looking for a sure thing, hiring managers perhaps most of all, as the struggle to retain and attract talented employees continues. 

LNP: The pandemic disrupted their education, now college grads are trying to find jobs
A pandemic-induced labor shortage makes this spring’s entry-level job market one of the best there’s been for recent college graduates, say college career advisors and employment specialists. With that great opportunity, however, comes challenges and caveats also wrought by the pandemic. “It’s definitely an employee’s market,” said Beth Throne, senior associate dean of student affairs at Franklin & Marshall College. “But it’s a pandemic-disrupted market.” For F&M government and business graduate Ellyn Fritz, the disruption meant lack of internships at a crucial time in her college career. She was able to assist a professor with research on communication strategy. That opportunity helped her land a job in Washington, D.C., as an analyst for multinational professional services company, Deloitte, at a salary between $70,000 and $90,000. Fritz said she started in October contacting F&M alumni to help her figure out her post-college steps. She talked to around 45 alums to see what kind of work would resonate. By the end of January, she had an offer from Deloitte, the first in her group of friends to get hired. Fritz said pandemic restrictions allowed for more self reflection. “One of the best things for me was to be able to focus on the future,” Fritz said. “I was able to narrow what I wanted to do without the distraction of a busy environment.” Throne said the students that are most coveted by employers are those who are able to articulate how they navigated the pandemic and demonstrate an ability to work in a difficult environment.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Democrats kick off Pa. governor's race with $2.7 million TV campaign attacking Mastriano's abortion stance
HARRISBURG — Democratic groups will kick-start their gubernatorial general election campaign on TVs across the state in a new commercial that attacks GOP nominee state Sen. Doug Mastriano’s commitment to a strict ban abortion. The ad seeks to highlight Mr. Mastriano’s views on abortion, arguing that he would send the state “backwards.” It replays Mr. Mastriano’s comments during a gubernatorial debate last month, where he said he supports a total ban on abortion and would not permit certain exceptions, such as circumstances where the woman was impregnated due to rape or incest, or if the mother’s life is in danger. According to a Franklin & Marshall College Poll from earlier this month, 31% of Pennsylvanians believe abortion should be legal under any circumstances, 54% believe it should be legal under certain circumstances, and 14% believe it should be illegal under any circumstances. This rate has stayed consistent over the last 12 years, according to past Franklin & Marshall College polls.

LNP: It's way too soon to bet against a Doug Mastriano win this fall in the race for governor
Many political analysts see him as having little or no chance against the Democratic nominee, Josh Shapiro, the state attorney general whose lack of a primary opponent allowed him to amass $20 million for his campaign. Stephen Medvic, a political science professor at Franklin & Marshall College, sizes up Mastriano as having “an outside chance but not a longshot.” Mastriano’s election night victory speech hinted that he’s not moving to the middle of the political spectrum, as general election candidates often do. That could signal a strategy of “base mobilization, pure and simple,” Medvic said. It means mobilizing Trump voters and extracting every single vote possible in the state’s red counties. That strategy, in what’s looking to be a “bad year for Democrats,” could put Pennsylvania’s governor’s race in play, Medvic said. “In a polarized environment, people would vote for the party nominee. That gives him a fighting chance,” Medvic said. “That all makes it possible.”
 

5/16-5/23

FOX 43: After stock market hits record lows, local experts say a recession could be near
LANCASTER, Pa. — After last week's troubling drop at the stock market many are wondering if we are headed towards a recession. "A recession is the kind of thing that you can't really do much about as an individual," said Yeva Nersisyan, Assistant Professor of Economics at Franklin & Marshall College. On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Average sank more than 1,100 points and S&P 500 had its biggest drop in nearly two years. Nersisyan says the volatility of the stock market has some people on edge. "The Federal Reserve has started tightening the economy, they're raising interest rates which is going to potentially affect consumption especially consumption of durable goods things that you have to finance," she explained.

USA Today: In primaries, a spotlight on the unhealed wounds of 2020 - and the ongoing divisions in America
WASHINGTON – If the latest primaries are any indication, the wounds from the 2020 election and the violent insurrection that followed it still run deep – and figure to get worse during the 2022 midterm elections. Republicans who promoted former president Donald Trump's myth of a "stolen election" prospered in Tuesday's primaries, though there are questions as to how effective those protests will be in a general election against Democratic candidates. The partisans who vote in a primary are different from the range of voters who cast ballots in a general election. A candidate can win a primary by appealing to a narrow set of the electorate, but that won't guarantee success in a general race, according to Berwood Yost, a pollster and political analyst at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Politics PA: Analysis: What They’re Saying Around PA
After the craziness of the last 72 hours, we decided to reach out to some experts and included some others for their take on what transpired on Tuesday in Pennsylvania.
Berwood Yost, Director, Center for Opinion Research, Franklin & Marshall College
“I think after 2020, we knew the process of counting vote-by-mail ballots needed to be fixed. Clearly we haven’t done it. That’s on our political leaders. It’s unexcusable when you how other states are able to do it. Citizens want to use mail ballots. There were nearly 1 million requested. So why don’t we fix the problem. This is exactly what we saw in our polling. Our polling showed a bit of a surge for Kathy Barnette – in that poll we report among Trump-faction of voters that Barnette and Oz split, leaving door open for McCormick. Both Barnette and Oz were competing for the Trump faction, so Barnette’s rise hurt Oz.”

Yahoo News: Mastriano's appeal beyond base at question as Pa. governor election transitions
May 19—HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania's primary electors chose the mid-term matchup for this fall's gubernatorial election, pitting Republican Doug Mastriano against Democrat Josh Shapiro. Election observers say it's a matchup Democrats had hoped for, though, there's reason to pause as to whether history may repeat itself. "The Democrats, they think he's the easiest candidate for them to beat. I think they sincerely believe of all the Republicans running, that (Mastriano) would give them the best chance to win. It's a risky bet, though, because we don't know what the electorate's going to look like," said Berwood Yost, who oversees political polling conducted at Franklin & Marshall College. Multiple polls completed by Franklin & Marshall dating to August 2020 show little variance — about 8 in 10 respondents believe abortion should be legal, even with certain restrictions.

Bloomberg News: Trump-Backed Pennsylvania Nominee Wants to Scrap 8.7 
Former President Donald Trump’s false claims about his 2020 defeat and proposals to shake up the way voting’s handled will be central issues this fall as swing-state Pennsylvania picks its next governor. Mastriano has given Democrats the ammunition to argue that the presidency in 2024 is at stake in Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial election because the GOP nominee can’t be trusted to accept a legitimate election outcome, said Stephen Medvic, a political scientist at Franklin & Marshall College. That could help Democrats, Medvic said. “Their hope is that something about their opponent is disqualifying to the electorate—something about the opponent is just too extreme,” he said. “Even in a good Republican year, many swing voters just can’t go quite that far.”

GoErie (USA Today): In 2024, these two groups will decide which president PA picks
It raises the question: What does Tuesday’s turnout and vote mean for the next presidential race, in 2024? Well, political wonks say the mid-terms foreshadow nothing for the presidential election. “Midterms are always bad for the president’s party, so in this case, that means the Democrats,” said Stephen Medvic, government professor at Franklin and Marshall College and director of its Center for Politics and Public Affairs. But playing out two years, much can shift and often does. Most midterm elections swing away from the president’s party but turn back to re-elect the president two years later. “Two years is a lifetime in politics,” he said. “You never know what’s going to intervene. Something tragic, a war or something or a pandemic can really change the dynamics in 2024.”

The Atlantic: What the Primaries Reveal About the Future of Trumpism
The movement no longer depends on Trump himself.  Pennsylvania crystallizes that change. In the early 1990s, about one-third of Republican primary votes in the state were cast across the southeast, in Philadelphia and its four surrounding suburban counties, according to calculations by Berwood Yost, the director of the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College, in Lancaster. But by 2018, as residents of those suburbs continued a generation-long migration toward the Democratic Party, the Philadelphia region’s share of the state’s GOP primary vote had fallen to a little over one-fifth. Simultaneously, the mostly blue-collar counties around Pittsburgh, in southwestern Pennsylvania, slightly increased their share of the GOP vote, while the less densely populated counties in the state’s center increased their share even more, Yost found. Results as of early Wednesday suggest that these patterns largely held in this primary, with Philadelphia and its suburbs again contributing only a little more than one-fifth of GOP primary votes, the southwest a little less than one-fifth, and the interior counties the remainder. According to statewide Franklin & Marshall polls that Yost provided to me, from 2000 to 2022 the share of registered Republicans in Pennsylvania who were college graduates has declined slightly (even while college graduates’ representation nearly doubled among Democrats and increased by almost one-third among independents). The share of Republicans who identify as moderates or liberals has fallen by about half, as has the share who support tougher gun-control measures or believe that abortion should be legal in all circumstances; the share of Republicans who own guns has soared. “We’ve all heard about the realignment along [a] religious and cultural axis, but it’s pretty clear in this state that’s what’s happened,” Yost said. “And I think that mirrors the country as a whole.”

The Washington Post: How Trump’s Dr. Oz endorsement could cost the GOP in Pennsylvania
For a while now, valid questions have been raised about whether Republicans’ momentum in the 2022 midterm elections might be thwarted — at least somewhat — by a candidate problem. Specifically, the GOP has a number of inexperienced and baggage-laden front-runners in high-profile Senate races. And it wasn’t long ago that such candidates very likely cost the GOP multiple Senate seats. Pennsylvania, on the eve of its primary, appears to be a case in point. A poll this month from Franklin & Marshall College showed Oz at 18 percent and David McCormick at 16 percent. But Republican primary voters actually disliked Oz on net: Four in 10 had a negative opinion, while 3 in 10 had a positive one.

Billy Penn: Philly and Pa. could know most primary results by Wednesday morning, as experts predict quick turnaround
Philadelphians eager to know the results of the midterm primaries will probably get most of their answers by Wednesday morning, experts say. Statewide, about 199k Republicans applied for mail ballots and roughly 125k of them had been returned by Monday. About 680k Democrats applied for mail ballots, and about 452k of those were received by Monday. It’s difficult to tell exactly how close the statewide primaries will be, particularly on the Republican side. Even with a smaller number of Republican mail ballots, if the Senate or gubernatorial races are as close as polls show, “it could be a few days until we know the outcome,” said Stephen Medvic, a government professor at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster. “In fact, depending on whether there are any lawsuits, it could be longer than that.”

ABC 7: Lifelong New Yorker celebrates 102nd birthday
GRAMERCY PARK, Manhattan (WABC) -- A lifelong New Yorker celebrated a birthday milestone over the weekend. Robert E. Gross was surrounded by family and friends Sunday as they celebrated his 102nd birthday in Gramercy Park. Ross was born and raised in Manhattan. The father of two has three grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Before retiring, Gross owned a successful pawn shop across the street from Madison Square Garden. He is the last surviving alumnus from the class of 1942 from Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania.
 

5/9-5/16

Rent Café: Best College Towns in the Northeast to Spend Your Student Years
Interview with Hillen Grason Jr., director of recruitment, Franklin & Marshall College:
How important is the college town itself in the college selection decision and why?
Grason: A college town, in many cases, is synonymous with location when considered in a student’s college selection. Location is typically among the top three (initial) factors when students build their college list, along with size and academic programs. Similar to the early stages of one’s college search, a college town can play a major part in a student’s final selection.  

The New Yorker: The Strange Post-Trump Politics of the Pennsylvania Republican Primaries
To pollsters who have tracked the race, Oz’s failure to separate from the field has been tied up in Barnette’s rise. “The largest faction in the Republican primary are the strong Trump voters,” Berwood Yost, who directs the Franklin & Marshall College poll, told me. Although they might have been expected to follow Trump into Oz’s column, “in fact, about half are for Oz and half are for Barnette.” At the May 4th debate, when one of the moderators asked Barnette to address Trump’s endorsement of her opponent, Barnette hinted at a disconnect between the President and his followers, “maga does not belong to President Trump,” she said.

BillyPenn: Why Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race is drawing attention from around the country 
The U.S. is in the midst of a decades-long streak where neither party has 60 or more seats in the Senate, noted Stephen Medvic, a government professor at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster. In this political climate, every race matters, he said. “It’s part of what’s fueling the intense polarization. Every single move that gets made is thought to be determinative of who is going to control national politics,” Medvic said. Pennsylvania’s political landscape has the same divided dynamic. Because of that, the primaries also matter a lot. “The nominees can really make a difference [in the general election result] either because they don’t appeal to swing voters or they’re not exciting to their party’s base,” Medvic explained.

WHYY: The Regional Roundup: May 16, 2022
The 2022 Pennsylvania primary election is just one day away, with especially tight margins in the Republican races but a sizable number of undecided voters on both sides of the aisle. We’re taking a final look at the candidates, expected turnout and top issues before Tuesday’s heated race with polling expert Berwood Yost. Our guest, Berwood Yost, is the Director of the Floyd Institute for Public Policy at the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College (@FandMPoll)

New York Times: Conor Lamb Had All the Makings of a Front-Runner. So Why Is He Struggling?
In the Democratic primary on Tuesday in Pennsylvania, Mr. Lamb, the congressman running for Senate, has been a less competitive candidate than his supporters had hoped. Mr. Lamb, 37, a native of the Pittsburgh area, boasts of scores of endorsements, including from the mayors of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, officials in the all-important Philadelphia suburbs and members of the state legislature. Mr. Fetterman has made his lack of endorsements into a kind of badge of honor: He has long disdained glad-handing other elected officials and is an unpopular figure even in the statehouse, where he officially presides over the State Senate. Mr. Fetterman’s approval with Democrats in the state was 67 percent in a recent Franklin & Marshall College Poll, compared with 46 percent for Mr. Lamb.

NBC News: Upcoming Pennsylvania Senate primaries present clarity and confusion
Pennsylvania’s primaries are now less than a week away, and the Democratic Senate race has become crystal clear, while the GOP contest is anything but. With progressives gaining strength in their party, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is running away in the Dem race, with last week’s Franklin & Marshall poll showing him ahead by 39 points (!!!) over Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Pa. “We are squandering, in my opinion, an enormous opportunity to do some transformative good through legislation that is being stopped by a senator like Joe Manchin. And I'm not criticizing him. I'm simply saying I would vote differently,” Fetterman says in an interview with NBC’s Dasha Burns.

McClatchy: ‘A David and Goliath fight’: Is Kathy Barnette a sleeper Senate candidate or a spoiler?
Another poll, conducted by Franklin & Marshall College at the beginning of May, had Barnette in third place, but only 6 points behind Oz and 4 points behind McCormick. Berwood Yost, Franklin & Marshall College’s Center for Opinion Research Director, warned that Barnette is splitting the hardcore Trump vote with Oz, potentially aiding McCormick. “If Oz and Barnette split that vote, that’s going to be an advantage for McCormick,” Yost said. “McCormick’s getting more of that traditional Republican vote. That gives him a path.” To which Barnette responds: “Oz needs to drop out, so we don’t split the vote.” But Yost also noted the deluge of advertising has also made a significant amount of Republican primary voters question if Oz and McCormick are liberals.

Penn-Live: Some GOP officials worry their Pa. governor nominee will be the most far-right candidate
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — With six days until Pennsylvania’s primary, Republicans are openly worrying that a leading candidate in the crowded GOP field for governor is unelectable in the fall general election and will fumble away an opportunity for the party to take over the battleground state’s executive suite. Doug Mastriano, 58, a state senator since 2019 and a retired U.S. Army colonel, is running to the right of the nine-person Republican field and against the party’s establishment in a state still roiled by former President Donald Trump’s baseless conspiracy theories that Democrats stole the 2020 election there. A recent Franklin and Marshall College poll showed 20% of GOP primary voters saying they support Doug Mastriano. Bill McSwain and Lou Barletta trailed slightly, with 12% and 11%, respectively.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Trump supporters still unsure about Oz in Pa.'s U.S. Senate GOP race, despite former president's endorsement
When Donald Trump endorsed Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate, many pundits began wondering whether the former president’s backing would put the celebrity surgeon and former TV host ahead as the front-runner in one of the most-watched and most expensive Senate races in the country. Recent polls show Mr. Oz did get a small bump from Mr. Trump’s endorsement, with a Franklin & Marshall College poll last week showing him 2 percentage points ahead of former hedge fund CEO David McCormick. But Mr. Oz is still polling at only 18% of voter support, while 39% of GOP voters surveyed are still undecided about who they will vote for in just over a week’s time, according to the poll.

BNN Bloomberg: Trump Puts GOP Clout on Line Again as Oz Seeks Edge on McCormick
Donald Trump is trying to rally his staunchest Pennsylvania Republican voters to Mehmet Oz’s side as the celebrity physician struggles to break loose from a crowded Senate primary field and provide the former president with his second consecutive victory-by-proxy of the early 2022 midterm election cycle. Trump notched a win Tuesday after his pick for Ohio’s Republican Senate nominee, venture capitalist JD Vance, came from behind to prevail in that crowded race. The question now is whether Trump’s seal of approval will deliver the same boost in neighboring Pennsylvania. Polling, including a survey released Thursday by Franklin & Marshall College, shows Oz, known for his “Dr. Oz” television show, in a close race with former Bridgewater Associates executive David McCormick as conservative political commentator Kathy Barnette surges. “The evidence from the polling is that Dr. Oz really hasn’t received any bump as a result of the Trump endorsement to this point,” said Berwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College.

The Tribune-Democrat: Election 2022 | Action-packed Pa. primaries near end; Fetterman, Mastriano ahead in polls, Oz and McCormick in tight race
Several Democrats joined the fray for the Senate and lieutenant governor races, sparking tensions of their own over electability, flip-flopping and, in the case of Senate candidate Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, a near decade-old confrontation with an unarmed, Black jogger. “There’s a lot of uncertainty here. If you like politics, man, this is good stuff,” said Berwood Yost, who oversees political polling conducted at Franklin & Marshall College. Franklin & Marshall’s final pre-primary poll shows Fetterman leading the next-closest challenger in the Democratic Senate primary, U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, by a count of 53% to 14%.
 

5/2-5/9

Los Angeles Times: Essential Politics: If you care about abortion, these are the states to watch
Support for abortion rights is similarly strong in Pennsylvania, said Berwood Yost, director of the Franklin & Marshall College poll. Only about 15% of the state’s voters say all abortions should be banned, the poll shows. “The general pattern is that Pennsylvania voters support abortion rights,” Yost said. The state allows abortions through 24 weeks, and the issue now seems likely to be a big one in the race for governor. Josh Shapiro, the Democratic candidate for governor, this week vowed to veto any antiabortion bills that the Republican majority legislature might pass.

The New York Times: Midterms’ Biggest Abortion Battleground: Pennsylvania
The leading Republicans running for governor in the state want to outlaw abortion. The presumptive Democratic nominee promises to veto any ban. Still, support for abortion rights in Pennsylvania has gradually increased, according to polling by Franklin & Marshall College over more than a decade.

WITF: Pennsylvanians support keeping abortion legal; Election changes according to F&M poll
Pennsylvanians support keeping abortion legal under any circumstances(31%) or under certain circumstances(54%) overwhelmingly compared to those who think abortion should be illegal in all circumstances(14%). Those are the findings of the May, 2022 Franklin and Marshall College Poll. However, those were the only three choices on the abortion issue in the poll that doesn’t differentiate which circumstances. Abortion is getting more attention this week after the leak of a draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court that strikes down the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

Business Insider Africa: Fetterman has wide lead among Democrats in Pennsylvania Senate race, with Oz, McCormick in tight race for GOP nomination: poll
Business Insider India: [same]
According to the most recent survey conducted by Franklin & Marshall College, Fetterman has a 53%-14% lead over his closest challenger, Rep. Conor Lamb. State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta came in third place, with 4% support, while Jenkintown councilwoman Alex Khalil registered with 1% of the vote. While Fetterman has long boasted a significant advantage in most major polling, 22% of Democratic voters remain undecided in the Franklin & Marshall survey, and 51% of respondents who had a preferred candidate indicated that they could change their minds before the primary date. The poll included responses from 357 Democrats and was conducted from April 20 through May 1. In a Franklin & Marshall poll released last month, Fetterman led Lamb 41%-17%, with Kenyatta at 4% support.

NBC10: Oz's Ties to Turkey Attacked in Pennsylvania's Senate Race
Mehmet Oz’s rivals in Pennsylvania’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate are escalating their attacks on the celebrity heart surgeon’s connections to his parents’ native country of Turkey, raising it as a possible national security issue. Oz, best known as TV's Dr. Oz, has rejected any suggestions he is a threat to national security and has accused his opponents, particularly GOP rival David McCormick, of making “bigoted attacks.” If elected, Oz would be the nation's first Muslim senator. The criticism of Oz and his ties to Turkey has mushroomed in the weeks after Oz won the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, who remains deeply popular with conservative voters. With the state's May 17 primary quickly approaching, Oz is locked in a tight three-way race with McCormick, a former hedge fund CEO, and conservative activist Kathy Barnette, according to a recent Franklin & Marshall College poll.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial race has high stakes when it comes to how we vote
If this year’s election puts a Republican in the Pennsylvania governor’s office, next year’s election — and those that come after it for at least four years — may look drastically different. Mr. Mastriano has sought to get a repeal onto the ballot as a voter referendum. That would require both the House and Senate to vote in two consecutive legislative sessions to approve putting the question on the ballot. He’s cited public polling as a reason for the effort, saying Pennsylvanians have lost confidence in their elections. A recent Franklin & Marshall College poll backs Mr. Mastriano’s assertion, but the discontent with the electoral system falls along party lines for the most part, with Republicans far more likely to say they are unsatisfied.

The Times Herald: Poll shows most Pennsylvania voters want to reform election rules
A new poll shows that Pennsylvanians are not particularly pleased with how elections are held in the state but cannot agree on how to change them. And things have only gotten worse since the baseless election claims that followed the last presidential election. A Franklin & Marshall College poll released Thursday shows that more than half of registered voters are not satisfied with the rules and procedures that guide the way elections are conducted in the commonwealth — double the proportion that felt that way in August 2020. Berwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research at the Lancaster college, said that those who were dissatisfied with the the way elections were conducted in 2020 were most likely to report that they wanted to change the way candidates got on the ballot.

WGAL: Latest Franklin and Marshall poll shows uncertainty remains in key Pennsylvania races
LANCASTER, Pa. — With less than two weeks until the Pennsylvania Primary, the latest Franklin and Marshall College Poll is out with a look at the races for U.S. Senate and Pennsylvania governor.

LNP: Pa. voters, buffeted by election fraud claims, aren't happy with how elections are run, new F&M poll finds
HARRISBURG — The "Big Lie" has sunk in. Pennsylvania voters have grown increasingly dissatisfied with how elections are run over the past two years, a new statewide Franklin & Marshall College poll shows, and analysts say their concerns are directly fueled by baseless claims of voter fraud peddled by former President Donald Trump and other Republicans. The findings are stark: More than half of the voters surveyed in late April — 52% — said they don’t like the way elections are handled, more than twice level of dissatisfaction found in a similar poll conducted before the 2020 presidential election. And they favor ditching mail ballots and imposing tough new voter ID laws. “The rhetoric about 2020 has clearly had an impact,” said Berwood Yost, director of F&M’s Center for Opinion Research.

Penn Live: Poll: Fetterman enjoys big lead over Lamb, GOP candidates battling to end in U.S. Senate, governor primaries
With less than two weeks to go before the May 17 primary election, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is maintaining a comfortable lead in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary, while the Republican races for Senate and governor appear to be up for grabs, according to a new poll. Fetterman leads U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb 53 percent to 14 percent with 22 percent of Democratic voters saying they remain undecided, the latest poll from Franklin & Marshall College showed. State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta is a distant third with 4%. Since the college’s April poll, Fetterman has increased his support from 41 percent to 53 percent, while Lamb has seen his numbers drop from 17 percent last month to 14 percent. “Fetterman is in a good position. He’s certainly built on his advantage,” said Berwood Yost, director of the college’s Center for Opinion Research. Yost said that Lamb has proven to be an attractive and effective candidate in his purplish suburban Pittsburgh congressional district, but the dynamics of a statewide Democratic race are different, with the base concentrated in southeast Pennsylvania.

The Philadelphia Inquirer: What Pennsylvania voters think about abortion, according to polls
The majority of Pennsylvanians support some access to abortion. But polling on abortion is nuanced. As lawmakers start drafting abortion restrictions — ones that ban the procedure six, 12, or more weeks into a pregnancy — it’s unclear where people polled on the issue might be, or if they even know what to make of those cutoffs. “The broad general patterns kind of hide complicated decision-making that is really contingent on circumstance,” said Berwood A. Yost, a Franklin & Marshall pollster. “It’s clear to me that most people are not in the extremes on this issue. People are willing to accept some limitations. But ... most people would not want to see this banned outright.”

Erie Times: Abortion in Pa. won't be illegal if Roe v. Wade is overturned. At least not immediately
Dr. Stephen Medvic, director of Franklin & Marshall College’s Center for Politics and Public Affairs, put it more bluntly.  “I guess what I’d say is it’s going to be a central point in the fall campaigns,” he said. “When you lose something, you are more motivated than when you gain something,” he said. “Losses motivate people more than gains do. That’s just human psychology.” Democrats and civil libertarians may also be more motivated as they learn more about the draft decision. The ruling revokes the Roe assertion that the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution grants Americans the right to privacy. If that stands, the ruling could lead to overturning a number of other rights, from rulings that struck down laws forbidding gay and interracial marriages and contraception to even more pernicious limits on basic rights. For instance, the argument against due process rights guaranteed in the Fourteenth Amendment could be used to curtail gun ownership rights in the future. “It may be more sweeping than we might have guessed,” Medvic said. “It opens up a new area of conflict.”

Spotlight PA: What happens if Roe v. Wade is overturned? In Pa., the answer depends on the November governor’s race.
HARRISBURG — The outcome of the Pennsylvania governor’s race could determine the future of legal abortion access in the state, which is uncertain following the leak of a draft U.S. Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade. Such a decision would leave how, where, and why someone could get a legal abortion, if at all, up to each state’s legislature and governor. All nine of the Republican gubernatorial candidates in Pennsylvania support additional abortion restrictions, and at least five would seek a complete ban with no exceptions. A March 2022 Franklin & Marshall College poll found that 31% of Pennsylvania voters think abortion should be legal in all circumstances, 13% in none, and 53% under “certain circumstances.” What those circumstances are was not defined in the question.

WHYY: First new sculpture in 70 years for Philly’s 30th Street Station
The last time 30th Street train station in Philadelphia got a new public sculpture was in 1952, when Walker Hancock’s Pennsylvania Railroad War Memorial was installed in the main hall, honoring the 1,307 Pennsylvania Railroad employees who died in World War II. Now, 70 years later, the station has a new sculpture. “Tools of the Trade” is a large (14’x10’) wall sculpture depicting an abstract map of the United States with a network of rail lines. Those routes are made from peen hammers and wrenches lined end-to-end, mountain ranges are denoted by piles of spikes, and main rail hubs like Chicago and Seattle are made of fanned hatchets. [F&M emeritus professor and] Artist Virginia Maksymowicz cast them from vintage tools in a porous white polyurethane that makes them look like the bones of a skeleton.
 

4/25-5/2

Fox43: Independents can't vote in Pennsylvania primaries—here's why that might change
Nearly 15% of registered voters, or 1,290,062 people, aren’t eligible to vote because they aren’t registered to the Democratic or Republican parties. “The idea behind closed primaries is that a primary is really the party’s business, it’s the party determining who its nominees will be,” said Stephen Medvic, director of the Center for Politics at Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College. Some also argue only members of a political party can accurately choose the best representation of their party. On the other hand, open elections can pressure candidates away from extreme views. They also allow more people to vote in primaries overall. “It’s a pretty powerful argument to say, ‘Let’s not shut somebody out of the system, let’s not shut somebody out of the process,’” Medvic said.

Newsweek: Will Trump Candidates Endanger Republicans' Washington Takeover?
But even if Trump's endorsement does help catapult [Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance] and others to primary victories, some Republicans are nervous that Trump-endorsed candidates won't be able to win in general elections. For one, Trump "remains toxic in the suburbs," said Berwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research and the Floyd Institute for Public Policy at Franklin and Marshall College. Yost's polling work suggests that in Pennsylvania, where another critical Senate seat is on the line this year, the number of voters who consider themselves core members of the Trump coalition has diminished since 2020.

LNP: Avian flu likely in wild birds throughout state, can spread from wildlife to poultry, experts say
Humidity and changing temperatures, however, will have little impact on transmissions through direct contact with bodily fluids like infected-bird feces, Rydnock said. Dan Ardia, a professor of biology at Franklin & Marshall College, agreed, especially when it comes to infections in poultry houses, where climate is at least somewhat controlled and birds often are stacked and crowded, causing stress that can lower immune systems. “Housing conditions, they don’t change year-to-year, month-to-month,” Ardia said.

LNP: On the benefits of starting kids young in team sports [column]
An op-ed from F&M first-year Adde Hollander. I grew up participating in almost every sport, from soccer to T-ball to golf to cheerleading. I learned something different from each. I would not be the athlete, student, daughter or friend I am today without team sports. I believe that every kid should play a team sport growing up because athletics teach crucial life skills at a young age. Sports can teach young kids life skills such as commitment, leadership and accountability; and sports can help them live longer, healthier lives.

LNP: Law in Florida silences, hurts LGBTQ individuals [column]
An op-ed from F&M first-year Isabelle Foster.  In late March, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law House Bill 1557, the Parental Rights in Education Law, commonly known by its critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law. The law aims to prevent schools from teaching or speaking about sexual orientation or gender identity. Other states are preparing similar legislation, written under the guise of protecting children. But legislation that “protects” some by silencing others won’t end up helping anyone. Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law prevents discussions in a “manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate.” The language used in the law promotes the narrative that there is something inappropriate or wrong about being LGBTQ. Legislation that prevents students from talking and learning about sexual orientation or gender identity allows for biases to grow.

WHYY (Philadelphia Public Radio): Texts show details of Pa. Rep. Scott Perry’s role in plan to overturn 2020 election
The Jan. 6 Select Committee has received text messages that midstate Pennsylvania Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry sent to White House staff, confirming Perry’s direct involvement in the Trump administration’s plan to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Berwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research and the Floyd Institute for Public Policy at Franklin & Marshall College, said that Perry’s claims of voter fraud don’t line up with the facts. “He was clearly one of the leaders in trying to get the election results overturned. An election, I would add, that he won handily,” Yost said, adding that he understands Perry’s rhetoric is a tool to “work up” his supporters. “It’s really a dangerous thing for democracy. We need to trust our processes. And this is a real problem by continually calling into question the legitimacy of an election that, frankly, was very good for Republicans across the board. It doesn’t make much sense.”

The Chronicle of Higher Ed: Tuition and Fees, 1998-99 Through 2020-21
A table shows the “sticker prices” — published tuition and required fees — at more than 3,400 colleges and universities for the 2020-21 academic year. Click the institutions’ names to see historical data back to 1998. Franklin & Marshall College is listed second.
 

4/18-4/25

WHYY: Amid Trump-initiated turbulence in the Pa. governor race, Dave White makes his move
Going into the Republican primary for Pennsylvania governor, one of Dave White’s goals was “peaking at the right time.” The former union steamfitter and Delaware County Council member, who owns a profitable HVAC company, has been self-funding his way to a respectable standing in polling of the crowded race. Stephen Medvic, a pollster at Franklin and Marshall college who is watching the race closely, notes that White’s relative stability in the race to this point has been largely due to his ability to fund ads. This recent move, Medvic said, could pay off. “I think his ads — leaving aside accuracy or whatever you might want to say about the content of the ads — they’re effective,” he said. “I think his message probably resonates with the base of the Republican Party.”

NPR: Trump's endorsement of Oz reframes the Pennsylvania GOP Senate contest
Professor Berwood Yost of Franklin & Marshall College says Oz has very high name recognition — something candidates crave — but also has high unfavorability scores in primary polls. "I think Oz's larger problem is that he's not well-liked among Republicans," Yost said. "And that's why I think President Trump's endorsement of Oz is a bit risky." One question in the race's final weeks, before the May 17 primary, is whether Trump's endorsement now changes Oz's numbers with conservatives.

Newsweek: Will Putin Use Nuclear Weapons in Ukraine? 
Russia has carried out its first successful test of a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which Vladimir Putin said would make adversaries "think twice." What world leaders might be thinking about even more is whether the Russian president could resort to such weapons during his invasion of Ukraine. Abby Schrader, history professor at Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania said that the latest ICBM test was not necessarily an indicator of Putin's intentions in Ukraine and was "macho saber rattling more than a real threat." "Much more concerning to me is that Putin could well resort to the use of tactical nuclear weapons," she told Newsweek. "Old-school, low-yield nukes, with short-range delivery systems, similar to those dropped by the U.S. on Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

Politico: Fetterman comes under fire in first televised debate
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania Democratic Senate front-runner John Fetterman took fierce incoming flak Thursday night from his primary opponents for pulling a shotgun on an unarmed Black man in 2013 when he was mayor of Braddock. At a televised debate in Harrisburg hosted by ABC27, Rep. Conor Lamb and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta attacked the lieutenant governor, calling the incident disqualifying and criticizing him for not apologizing for it. The debate was one of the few remaining chances that Lamb and Kenyatta have to change the trajectory of the primary. In a poll by Franklin & Marshall College released earlier this month, Fetterman was leading Lamb 41 percent to 17 percent among Democratic voters. Kenyatta received only 4 percent, while 26 percent were undecided.

WGAL: Democrats met for debate in US Senate race
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The three leading Democrats in the race for U.S. Senate debated on the same stage for the first time on Thursday night. Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta faced off at 8 p.m. in Harrisburg. The three are jockeying for the nomination to try to succeed retiring two-term Republican Sen. Pat Toomey in the premier presidential battleground state. The May 17 primary election is less than four weeks away. A Franklin & Marshall College poll released last week found Fetterman in the lead, but about one-quarter of voters surveyed were still undecided.

The Philadelphia Inquirer: John Fetterman, Malcolm Kenyatta, and Conor Lamb debate tonight. Here’s how to watch and what we’re looking for. 
In the first debate, Conor Lamb and Malcolm Kenyatta directed more attacks at the empty podium meant for John Fetterman than at each other. This time, Fetterman will be there to respond. In an April poll of the race, about a quarter of Democratic voters were undecided. Fetterman had 41% support in the Franklin & Marshall College survey, Lamb 17%, and Kenyatta only 4%. Now is when a lot of voters will start paying attention. Will Kenyatta or Lamb make a splash that can boost them in the final weeks?

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: U.S. Senate candidates John Fetterman, Conor Lamb finally will square off on Harrisburg debate stage Thursday 
For the first time in his run for U.S. Senate, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the frontrunner in recent polling and in money on hand entering the final stretch, will go toe-to-toe with U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta on a debate stage. Mr. Fetterman missed the first opportunity earlier this month in Allentown, and it didn’t go unnoticed. Mr. Lamb and Mr. Kenyatta used a big chunk of the debate at Muhlenberg College to poke fun at the empty lectern where Mr. Fetterman would have stood if he attended, labeling him an unserious candidate unwilling to have tough conversations. But at the very least, it’s apparent that Mr. Fetterman’s standing in the race is quite serious. In a poll last week by Franklin and Marshall College, Mr. Fetterman led the pack with 41% of registered Democrats saying they’d support him in the primary. Mr. Lamb registered 17% in that poll, with Mr. Kenyatta trailing at 4%.

York Daily Record: This week on the campaign trail for PA governor, Senate races: Polls, debates and pledges 
There remain some clear favorites among decided voters for both Senate races and the GOP gubernatorial primary, but a significant amount of undecided voters make the outcomes a toss up leading up to the primary. Pennsylvania is considered one of several battleground states in this election with the Senate currently evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, but Vice President Kamala Harris gives the advantage to the Democrats if a tie-breaking vote is called. With Sen. Pat Toomey retiring this year, the commonwealth could sway the balance of power on the national stage. A Franklin and Marshall College poll released last week reported little change from poll results the previous month, when economic concerns and disapproval over Democratic President Joe Biden's performance were main issues among voters. About 36% of voters polled, including a quarter of Democrats and 40% of Independents, reported feeling "worse off" financially compared to a year ago. Only one in four voters told Franklin and Marshall they felt the state was headed in the right direction, with 75% of voters who said they are worse off also saying the state is "on the wrong track," the report states.

LNP: Nikole Hannah-Jones, Charlie Kirk visiting Lancaster this week to present differing visions of America 
Two prominent figures in the culture wars embroiling American politics are set to speak in Lancaster this week at separate, unrelated events. On Thursday night, journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones is scheduled to appear at St. James Episcopal Church in downtown Lancaster as part of a lecture series convened by CHI St. Joseph Children's Health. Two days after the Hannah-Jones event, conservative activist Charlie Kirk will be the featured speaker at Dayspring Christian Academy’s “Remember America” series, to be held at the Lancaster County Convention Center. Hannah-Jones, 46, led The New York Times’s Pulitzer Prize winning 1619 Project, which traced economic and political inequality in the current era to the arrival of enslaved Africans in Virginia 400 years ago. Kirk, 28, is the founder of Turning Point USA, which seeks to educate young conservatives and assist their activism, especially on college campuses. That Hannah-Jones and Kirk are scheduled to speak in the county within days of each other is a scheduling coincidence, yet they are linked to each other by the heated debate and stark divisions regarding race and equal justice. Stephen Medvic, the director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College, said Kirk and Hannah-Jones are “often described as controversial.” But, he said, “the comparison really ends there.” Hannah-Jones, Medvic said, “is a serious journalist and thinker who has won a number of prestigious awards, including a MacArthur ‘genius grant’ and a Pulitzer Prize. Her goals are primarily intellectual.” Kirk, however, “is a provocateur,” Medvic continued. “As a political operative and the founder of an ideological advocacy group, his goals are primarily about the pursuit of political power.” Medvic added, “(T)he changes they want, and their approach to realizing those changes, couldn't be more different.”

LNP: For Earth Day 2022, local groups offer ideas for how Lancaster County residents can support the environment: Eve Bratman, founding member/lead organizer, Lancaster Compost Co-ops
Co-ops’ goal: “Our mission is to make the benefits of composting accessible to all of Lancaster city's residents. Our goal is to produce high quality compost while building community.” What you can do: “We want city residents to know they can start composting with their neighbors to divert waste, and in doing so be kinder to our precious land while having fun building community connections. Membership is free, and all you have to do is attend an orientation and commit to showing up to our occasional work-social events in order to join! For more information and to sign up for a new member orientation, find us at www.LancasterCompost.us, or follow us on Instagram: @LancasterCompost.” (Bratman is also an assistant professor of environmental studies at Franklin &Marshall College.)

Penn Live: Constitutional amendment to sell off liquor stores would pass: poll 
A recent poll suggests a constitutional amendment asking voters if they want the state to get out of the retail wine and spirits business has a strong chance of passing. The poll released on Thursday by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States surveyed 600 voters statewide and found 64% indicated they favored or strongly favored a constitutional amendment that would end government retail sales of wine and spirits. Thirty-one percent opposed it. The poll’s findings show stronger support for moving to a privatized liquor system than one conducted a week earlier by Franklin & Marshall College’s Center for Opinion Research.That survey, with a 6.1 percentage point margin of error, found 52% of voters favored selling the state liquor stores to private companies and 36% opposed. Wojnar said he felt the F&M poll question was worded in a way that “implied this was one-time, one-off sale” that would end up causing the state to lose a huge revenue source by selling off stores. “I think that really drove people to be a little more skeptical about it,” he said, offering his view as to why his organization’s poll findings and that of F&M differed.

Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Investing in the future is not radical environmentalism | Opinion 
Pennsylvanians deserve an honest dialogue about what interests are really driving the climate debate in our state. With the recent rise of oil and gas prices, we have heard a lot about how Pennsylvania should be an energy leader. We can be. We should be. And it should be clean energy – a move that increases job opportunities, economic development, and places us at the forefront of addressing the climate crisis. Report after report illustrates the dire state of our environment. This year’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report made it clear – we must act now to avoid the very worst impacts of climate change. I hear every day that my constituents want action on climate change. And it’s not just my district, in fact, a Franklin and Marshall poll from June 2021 found the majority of Pennsylvania registered voters think the state should work harder to tackle climate change. Pennsylvanians want action, and so do I. But Republicans, who control the voting agenda, are obstructing action.

WGAL: STEM Sisters of North Museum sponsors tour for Earth Day
Friday is Earth Day and a lot of people around the world are finding ways to celebrate and protect the environment, including right here in the Susquehanna Valley. Franklin & Marshall College hosted a 'Rain Garden Tour' for science and technology students in light of Earth Day. 
 

4/11-4/18 

Inside Higher Ed: Making Campus Police More Approachable
Like many law enforcement agencies, campus police forces have become the subject of scrutiny, particularly in the post–George Floyd era, when distrust of uniformed officers is high. Many university police wear militarized uniforms and carry gear more commonly seen in combat zones; through the Pentagon’s military surplus 1033 program, some colleges even equip officers with leftover weapons of war, including grenade launchers, M16 rifles and land mine–resistant tactical vehicles. Protests against police brutality and calls to defund law enforcement are as common on college campuses as they are on city streets. Now some college police departments are deploying a new tactic to try to gain student trust: swapping out their intimidating uniforms and badges for casual clothing that makes them appear more approachable. Beyond that, some college police departments are dropping the black and white paint and flashing lights from their cars, adopting campus colors in an effort to soften their presence. And it isn’t just a look—campus leaders say it’s part of a strategy focused on enhancing community policing. Central Washington University was among the first institutions to change the police force’s image, back in 2017, when officers traded their uniforms for cargo pants and polo shirts. CWU police chief Jason Berthon-Koch said the move emerged from conversations with students. The Franklin & Marshall College police department went through a similar transformation in 2020 to look less militaristic, which a news release described as an effort to be “more approachable in this era of national protests against questionable law enforcement practices.” Officers moved from standard police uniforms to khakis and polo shirts. F&M is also removing the light bars from the roofs of police cars to soften their appearance. The college had already dropped metal badges a decade ago, when police chief William McHale was first hired.  “Officers are well protected, but they don’t look like they just crawled out of a combat zone,” McHale said.

Police 1: Campus police departments rebrand with a ‘softer look
LANCASTER, Pa. — In 2020, after a summer of civil unrest, Franklin & Marshall College announced that its campus police officers would be getting a “softer look.” Administrators hoped that the officers’ new uniforms would improve student relations, school administrators said. “I wanted to soften the look of our DPS officers as a way of looking less militaristic,” William McHale, associate vice president for public safety, said in a press release. “I want our officers to look more approachable, so our community is more at ease when interacting with DPS officers.” Instead of traditional police uniforms, officers now wear khakis and polo shirts. Campus police also removed the light bars from squad cars. Franklin & Marshall isn’t the first institution to have this idea, reported Inside Higher Ed. In 2017, Central Washington University changed its campus police uniforms to cargo pants and polo shirts and replaced metal badges with a sewn-on version. CWU cruisers are currently in the process of being repainted in the school’s colors. 

FOX 43: Economic expert gives insight on Amazon's decision to enact 'fuel and inflation surcharge'
LANCASTER, Pa. — At the end of this month, Amazon will enact a 5% fuel and inflation surcharge for third-party sellers. It's the first time such a fee has been implemented in the company’s history. “It’s not really a surprise," said Yeva Nersisyan, an associate professor of economics at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster. Nersisyan believes, with the current state of inflation and gas prices, it was only a matter of time. “Eventually I think if inflation continued as it has, unfortunately, we were going to see companies trying to pass down these costs," she said. The new fee takes effect April 28th. It applies to all sellers who use Amazon's shipping services. Experts say shoppers should expect the move to translate into higher prices for goods on the website. "[Amazon is] huge, they don’t have a lot of competitors because of the kind of business they have and so that means they can pass down their costs, and their suppliers will most likely pass down their costs to their consumers as well," said Nersisyan.

Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Democrats can win on the issues. But they need to sell them
There’s no way to sugarcoat it. The news for Pennsylvania Democrats is bad. Both Gov. Tom Wolf’s and President Joe Biden’s approval ratings have taken another hit in the most Franklin & Marshall College poll. About in one in three (33 percent) respondents to the poll of 785 registered voters said they believed Biden was doing an “excellent” or “good” job as president.  The 46th president’s approval rating was similar to former President Donald Trump’s and lower than President Barack Obama’s approval ratings among Pennsylvania voters at the same point during their respective terms.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: New Pa. U.S. Senate poll: John Fetterman pulling ahead as Democratic favorite; GOP race still wide open
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman has pulled ahead as the Democratic U.S. Senate frontrunner over U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, while the GOP primary for the country’s most-watched Senate race remains wide open, according to a Franklin & Marshall College Poll released Thursday. Mr. Fetterman now leads the Democratic primary with 41% of registered Democrats saying they’d support him in the upcoming May 17 election and 26% who are still undecided, according to the poll. Approximately 17% of voters said they’d support Mr. Lamb, while only 4% said they’d support state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta. “If you are a candidate, you want to be in Fetterman’s position,” said Berwood Yost, the director of Franklin & Marshall College’s Center for Opinion Research, based in Lancaster. “[Fetterman] seemed to solidify his advantage. It doesn’t seem like Lamb is making any inroads in his name recognition.”

NBC 10 Philadelphia: Progressive Democrat, Far-Right Republican Lead Key Pa. Races, Poll Says
The latest results from the well-known Franklin and Marshall College Poll found that centrist and establishment candidates in both major political parties are struggling to gain a foothold in races for Pennsylvania governor and the U.S. Senate with a month to go before the May 17 primary. Progressive Democrat John Fetterman, Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor, is well ahead in his party’s U.S. Senate primary race, while far-right Republican Doug Mastriano, a state senator from the rural center of the state, is atop a deep field in the Republican primary for governor, according to a new poll from Franklin and Marshall College released Thursday. Those two key races will shape both local and national politics for years to come. The new results provide a snapshot of voter sentiment ahead of the May primary and November general elections.

Reading Eagle: Contentious political issues unite and divide Pennsylvanians, poll finds
A group of Pennsylvania voters recently got a chance to share their thoughts on some contentious political issues. A Franklin & Marshall College poll released today included questions about legislative proposals that have been dominating headlines across the nation, taking a look at debates over topics such as schools teaching about racism, the participation of transgender people in competitive sports and discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms. Berwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research at the Lancaster college, said he thought it was beneficial to test some of the issues that are being discussed at the national level that have picked up traction in the state Legislature. “We felt it was important to get a read on where Pennsylvanians stand on these issues,” he said. “I was very curious to see if all the national conversation about these topics would translate to strong opinions from voters here. This is all new information for us because we just didn’t have that kind of data.”

ABC 27: Nearly half of voters say they will vote for Republican Congress candidate: Franklin & Marshall poll
(WHTM) — The primary election is just around the corner and, to prepare, Franklin & Marshall College conducted a poll to see how Pennsylvania voters feel about the state and economy, discussing sexual orientation in school, repealing property taxes, teaching critical race theory, and the upcoming election. Between March 30 and April 10, a sample of 785 registered voters took a survey asking about this wide range of topics. Overall, the poll found that only about one in four (29%) of the voters believe the state is headed in the right direction. Similar to the March 2022 poll results, voters in the April 2022 poll were mostly frustrated and dissatisfied with President Joe Biden’s performance so far, which could play a role in their voting behaviors. As of mid-April, 44% of the voters surveyed said they would support a Republican candidate for Congress and 39% said they would vote for a Democrat.

LNP: New F&M Poll shows support for Biden, Wolf falling, GOP races competitive
An already-grim picture for Democrats heading into November’s midterm elections has gotten grimmer, according to a Franklin & Marshall College poll of registered voters released today. Broad dissatisfaction with the direction of the state, and a pervasive feeling among voters that they are worse off now than a year ago, dragged down job approval ratings for both President Joe Biden and Gov. Tom Wolf. Democrats already faced headwinds this year — a president’s party typically struggles to win elections two years after capturing the White House — and more voters appear to be moving toward the opposition Republicans. Pennsylvania has emerged as perhaps the key swing state in this year’s battle for control of Congress, and Biden’s approval rating here has sunk to just 33%, according to the poll, which has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4.2 percentage points. “Questions that revolve around the economy are pretty essential to understanding what’s to come,” said Berwood Yost, director of Franklin & Marshall’s Center for Opinion Research. “You can tie that to Joe Biden’s approval. These things are all related, and they paint a pretty bleak picture for the party in power.”

The Citizens’ Voice: Poll: Fetterman dominating Dem U.S. Senate race; Mehmet, McCormick tied for GOP bid
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman has opened up a commanding lead in Pennsylvania’s Democratic U.S. Senate race while the Republican race remains tight with many still undecided, according to a new poll. Fetterman has the support of 41% of Democrats with U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, D-17, Allegheny County, at 17%, according to the Franklin & Marshall College poll. State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, D-181, Philadelphia, was at 4%. Another 9% chose someone else, 2% chose no one and 26% were undecided. On the Republican side, former TV talk-show host Mehmet Oz and former hedge fund manager Dave McCormick were in a virtual tie with Oz at 16% and McCormick at 15%. Author/commentator Kathy Barnette had the support of 7%; businessman Jeff Bartos, 6%; former U.S. ambassador to Denmark Carla Sands, 5%; attorney George Bochetto, 2%; and business and health care attorney Sean Gale, 0%. Another 6% chose someone else, and 43% were undecided. The poll was conducted between March 30 and April 10 and surveyed 317 Republicans and 356 Democrats. The Democratic part of the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 6.2% percentage points, meaning each reported percentage may be that much higher or lower. The Republican margin of error is plus or minus 6.6 percentage points.

LNP: Use slot machine tax dollars for college scholarships, rather than to prop up the Pennsylvania horse racing industry [editorial]
“Gov. Tom Wolf and Democratic state Rep. Jordan Harris of Philadelphia visited Millersville University on Thursday to promote the Nellie Bly Scholarship Program proposal that would pay for Pennsylvania students attending state community colleges or one of the 14 Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education colleges and universities, including Millersville University,” LNP | LancasterOnline’s Ashley Stalnecker reported Friday. “This is a renewed attempt to establish the program after it failed to win support over funding concerns.” It would be a $200 million scholarship program focusing on what the Wolf administration calls “high-workforce needs,” such as health care, education and public service. Student recipients could use the scholarships to pay for tuition or related costs, including supplies. House Bill 2497, which would create the program, has been referred to the state House Education Committee. Harris is the bill's prime sponsor. As PennLive reported in February, state House Appropriations Committee Chairman Stan Saylor, R-York County, said the program was “dead on arrival. ... The General Assembly’s been very clear on that.” But a June 2021 Franklin & Marshall College Poll found that 83% of voters surveyed said the state should use tax revenue generated from slot machines for purposes other than the Race Horse Development Trust Fund. And 82% either strongly favored, or somewhat favored, using some of these tax dollars to fund scholarships for state system students.

LNP: Weight lifting program gives teens outlet, chance to grow into 'something that they want to be'
Teenagers Prem Henriquez and Kai Stewart offer the same blunt assessment of where they’d be if they weren’t involved in a strength-training and mentoring program for at-risk youth. Jail. Henriquez, 18, and Stewart, 17, were referred to Bench Mark Program through Lancaster County’s juvenile probation system, but each said they’re not there because they have to be.  “I feel free to be myself. Like, I don’t try to hide anything. Yeah, I trust them,” said Henriquez, of Millersville. Marijuana possession, among other offenses Henriquez didn’t want to disclose, landed him into the juvenile system. For Stewart, of Landisville, it was fighting and family problems. “I don’t gotta keep my guard up when I'm here,” Stewart said. Founder Will Kiefer said the low-key atmosphere is intentional. If participants are “at a point in their life where they're changing from who they used to be to something that they want to be, … it's nice to have a space where they can kind of escape and try out a new version of themselves,” Kiefer said. Bench Mark was born eight years ago of Kiefer’s desire to give back to the community while he finished his degree at Franklin & Marshall College.
 

4/4-4/11

The Baltimore Sun: Generations of sediment choking Chesapeake Bay | GUEST COMMENTARY
By Dorothy Merritts, Robert Walter and Patrick Fleming
Near the geographic center of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, a narrow creek winds through a small rural Pennsylvania valley. Here, in the early 1700s, settlers built a dam that unwittingly damaged one of nature’s best water pollution filters — valley bottom wetlands — ushering in an era of water quality decline throughout the region. The 20-foot dam powered a grist mill and formed a pond extending more than a mile upstream, large and deep enough (as much as 20 feet) for people to boat, fish, skate or swim. Bucolic, indeed, but the peaceful lake scene described here camouflages an environmental quandary that continues to play out. Damming this and numerous other valleys for milling prevents streams from flowing cleanly into the Chesapeake Bay, and frustrates efforts to improve the bay’s health. The root cause of this problem was not fully known or appreciated until recently.
Dorothy Merritts (dorothy.merritts@fandm.edu) is a professor of geosciences, Robert Walter (robert.walter@fandm.edu) is a professor of geosciences and Patrick Fleming (patrick.fleming@fandm.edu) is an assistant professor of economics and public policy at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

FOX 43: Experts: Americans will spend extra $5,200 this year due to inflation
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Because of inflation, Americans will spend an extra $5,200 this year, local economic experts predict. Bloomberg economists say these numbers come as inflation has risen more than 7%, the highest Americans have seen since 1982. "This is uncharted territory," said Dr. Mike Gumpper, professor of economics for Millersville University. "We're hit with two major shocks to the economic system within a year and a half or two years of each other, the pandemic, and now a war in Europe." Yeva Nersisyan, associate professor of economics at Franklin & Marshall College, says some of the rising costs we're seeing are because the U.S. is dependent on oil and fossil fuels. "We've all seen gas prices go up because oil prices are up, and we've also seen car prices go up because production has not been keeping up with demand because of shortages of certain things like semiconductors and so on," Nersisyan says. The question remains: what can Americans do to save and combat the rise in prices? Nersisyan says it will take negotiating pay, or changing jobs to get a better income.  She adds there has been an imbalance in worker production and pay increases.
 

3/28-4/4

One United Lancaster: Sustaining Liberal Education Amid a Pandemic: A Q&A with Franklin & Marshall College President Barbara Altmann
Barbara Altmann is the 16th president of Lancaster’s Franklin & Marshall College and the first woman to hold that position. Appointed in August 2018, she has been enjoying the college and the Lancaster area for the past four years. Trained as a professor and researcher in Medieval French Literature, she taught in the department of Romance Languages at the University of Oregon for more than 20 years before moving into administration. From there, she became provost at Bucknell University, “which is what brought me to Pennsylvania,” she told One United Lancaster. “And then, when the presidency at Franklin & Marshall opened up, I couldn't resist, and so I threw in my hat.” F&M, an exclusively undergraduate institution, is one of the largest employers in Lancaster, with 600 to 700 staff on payroll. Its on-campus enrollment is about 2,300 students. Recognizing Altmann's pioneering position as F&M's first female leader, One United Lancaster spoke with her for Women's History Month.

AP News: Lamb revives gun incident to attack Fetterman in Senate race
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Conor Lamb is accusing rival John Fetterman in Pennsylvania’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary of skipping candidate forums to avoid talking about a 2013 incident when, shotgun in hand, he confronted a Black man because he suspected the man was involved in gunfire nearby. The accusation more directly inserts issues of race into a campaign that could hinge on which candidate appeals to Black voters. It might also damage Fetterman and his party with a key voting bloc whose support would be important should he become the Democratic candidate in the general election in November. The accusation marks a sharp escalation in tone between candidates vying for the Democratic nomination in Pennsylvania’s May 17 Senate primary election. The contest to replace retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey represents perhaps the Democrats’ best opportunity to pick up a seat in the closely divided Senate. A Franklin & Marshall College poll in February found that Fetterman appeared to have an early lead in the Democratic primary, but many voters are undecided.

Roll Call: More Republicans have died of COVID-19. Does that mean the polls are off?
Doctors and demographers recently noticed another tragic example of how polarization shapes America: The pandemic has killed more people in the nation’s Republican enclaves than its Democratic strongholds. They explain the gap by pointing to Republican resistance to vaccines and the GOP’s more cavalier approach to combating the virus in general. Those findings suggest many more Republicans — tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands — have died of COVID-19 than Democrats, leading some to wonder with some morbidity what the political impact will be. Will Democrats, facing the normal midterm election headwinds plus high inflation, do surprisingly well in 2022 for the simple, sad fact that there are fewer Republicans? “It’s a fair question,” said Berwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin and Marshall College, which polls Pennsylvania regularly. Pennsylvania’s rural, red counties have been losing population for a while now — well before the pandemic — Yost said, while its cities have been growing. “Those smaller rural communities lost sizable population,” Yost said. “But, at the same time, they gained voters.” Even though deep blue Philadelphia and its suburbs have been growing, the registration figures there haven’t moved much. “Folks in these other areas are just more active and engaged,” Yost said. “And their partisanship has shifted toward Republicans.”

Public News Service: 'It's Time to Fix Harrisburg': Campaign Calls for Legislative Reforms in PA
A news conference at the Pennsylvania Capitol Wednesday called for changes to procedural rules in Harrisburg. Good-government groups have launched the Fix Harrisburg campaign, saying a select few leaders block bipartisan bills from ever receiving a vote despite broad support. In an average session, less than 7% of bills introduced in the General Assembly ever get a final vote. Michael Pollack, executive director of March on Harrisburg, said he and other advocates have been trying for years to get a bipartisan law passed banning legislative gifts, but it has been stalled by some leaders in the General Assembly. "We keep coming here for justice because, frankly, we don't know where else to go," Pollack explained. "We're going to keep fighting, and we're going to keep pushing until this is a democracy, until six gatekeepers don't determine every little thing about this building, until lobbyists can't walk in with big checks and buy their way out of trouble." A recent Franklin & Marshall opinion poll found 73% of Pennsylvania voters believe it's more important for their political party to support policies that appeal to a broad segment of voters, even if it requires compromising on some issues.

The Legal Herald: Traveling College Baseball Player Charged With Sex Abuse
Lancaster Online has reported that sexual assault charges have been brought against a baseball player for Franklin & Marshall College located at 637 College Ave, Lancaster, PA 17603. According to the report, 20-year-old Steven Rizzo, a junior at the college in Pennsylvania, was in Winter Haven with the baseball team. During his time here, he has been accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl in the back of a car in a parking garage on March 14, 2022. On March 18, 2022, Rizzo was arrested and charged with sexual battery. The team suspended Rizzo, and he was not present for the recent games. Attorney contributor Michael Haggard recently provided commentary explaining the legal rights of victims involved in sports-related sexual abuse cases. Micheal shared when a college could be held liable for sexual assault. "Colleges and universities have a legal and moral obligation to provide a level of security on the campus and during sports-related outings. Safety measures such as proper supervision and accessible reporting systems can help reduce the risk of abuse at the hands of their players and coaches."

LNP: Many were hanged on Gallows Hill where F&M's Old Main now stands [The Scribbler]
Just wanted to know where Gallows Hill was. Was it at the present site of Franklin & Marshall College or on King Street where Manor Street breaks off? And the correct answer is: F&M. Lancaster County hanged its guiltiest citizens on that hill in the western end of town until 1834 — about two decades before the combined colleges of Franklin and Marshall built Old Main. Gallows Hill received its name, of course, from the gallows the county constructed there. The hill was a popular place on execution day. Negley K. Teeters described one of many public hangings in a 1960 article for the Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society. John Lechler’s execution in October 1822 drew a crowd of between 20,000 and 30,000 people. The population of the entire county was only about 70,000 at that time.
 

3/21-3/28

City & State Pennsylvania: Dr. Oz taunts, parodies David McCormick in new ‘Always Sunny’-themed campaign ad
In a new ad mimicking the comedic style of “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia,” U.S. Senate hopeful Dr. Mehmet Oz levied a number of accusations against his Republican primary opponent Dave McCormick, looking to frame the former hedge fund executive as a “finance bro” who has more ties to Wall Street and China than to Pennsylvania.  A recent poll from Fox News found that 24% of Republican primary voters prefer McCormick, while 15% chose Oz as their top pick in the primary. A poll from Franklin & Marshall College found that 13% of primary voters would vote for McCormick if the primary was held today, while 11% preferred former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark Carla Sands and 10% would vote for Oz. However, more than 30% of respondents in the Fox News poll said they were undecided on who to vote for in the GOP primary and 53% of those surveyed in the Franklin & Marshall poll said they were undecided.

FOX 43: F&M College baseball player charged with sexual battery of minor in Florida
LANCASTER, Pa. — A member of the Franklin & Marshall baseball team has been charged with sexually assaulting a minor in Florida, according to a criminal complaint. Steven Rizzo, 20, a junior at F&M and an outfielder on the baseball team, is charged with one count of sexual battery of a person age 12 to 17 stemming from an alleged incident on March 14 in Polk County, Florida. The legal age of consent in Florida is 18. The criminal complaint filed by police in Winter Haven, Fla. indicates that Rizzo has a Lancaster address. The F&M athletics website states Rizzo is from Remsenburg, N.Y. A spokesperson for the college confirmed Rizzo is a student there, and that he has been suspended from the baseball team.

LNP: Franklin & Marshall baseball player charged with sexual battery of minor in Florida
A Franklin & Marshall baseball player is charged with sexually assaulting a minor in Florida. According to a criminal complaint obtained by LNP, Franklin & Marshall junior Steven Rizzo, 20, was charged with the sexual battery of a 16-year-old on March 14 in Polk County, Florida. His profile on the baseball team's website indicates Rizzo is from Remsenburg, N.Y. The age of consent in Florida is 18. According to the complaint, Rizzo met the girl while the baseball team was on a trip to Winter Haven, Florida. After asking her for her number, the two met up later that evening.

Penn Medicine News: CHOP and Penn Medicine to Lead Philadelphia Regional Center for Children's Environmental Health
PHILADELPHIA – Children in the Greater Philadelphia area face a number of environmental threats to their health, including lead poisoning, asthma from air pollution, and exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals. Now, with funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, researchers from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Penn Medicine have come together to address these hazards and protect children who live in the region’s most vulnerable communities. The Philadelphia Regional Center for Children's Environmental Health (PRCCEH) is a new children's center that will provide the infrastructure to integrate expertise from the two institutions, along with colleagues from Drexel University, Temple University, Thomas Jefferson University, Lehigh University, Franklin & Marshall College, Villanova University and University of Delaware. This is the first time that the region has been awarded funding for a Center for Children’s Environmental Health.
 

3/14-3/21

LNP: Glenn Robinson to be honored by coaching peers at Final Four
Glenn Robinson has been to the NCAA Final Four dozens of times. He’s even seen several Final Fours in New Orleans, this year’s venue. This year’s trip will be special, and not just because Robinson is receiving the Golden Anniversary Award from the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Robinson retired, after a half-century in coaching at Franklin & Marshall, in 2019, as the world was changing and small-college basketball was, to varying degrees, shutting down. Maybe this trip, and the award, will offer some closure to a career that included 967 wins (the most ever in Division Three), 28 20-win seasons, five Final Fours, 10 Elite Eights and 17 Sweet 16s. “I think it’s as big a deal as any award I’ve received,’’ Robinson said last week. “If you look at the other people who’ve won it, you’d have to say that.’’ The award, for coaches with 50 years in basketball, has been won by John Wooden, Hank Iba, Frank McGuire, Clarence “Big House’’ Gaines, Don Haskins, Rollie Massimino and Lute Olsen, among others.

LNP: Reflecting on books penned by women over the ages [column]
[written by Kabi Hartman, senior teaching professor of English and director of the academic advising program at Franklin & Marshall College.]
Long before Congress designated March as Women’s History Month in 1987, I was a young girl who imagined someday living a life exciting enough to write about. My favorite books featured curious girls who didn’t abide by every rule. Louise Fitzhugh’s 1964 novel “Harriet the Spy” was my favorite. Like Harriet, I kept a journal of commentary on my friends and family. Harriet’s attire of jeans, sneakers and sweatshirt was my regular couture; her aspiration to be a writer matched my own. Highlighting a brash and unconventional girl heroine, the novel excited not just me but also a Xenia, Ohio, school board, which narrowly voted to keep the book in libraries after it had been challenged as dangerous reading in 1983. Now an English professor, I often remind myself and my students that it is only in the last 60 years or so that women like me have been teaching women’s literature to young women at college. Until recently, only women who were wealthy and privileged were given any sort of education, and then it usually consisted of a smattering of reading, accompanied by embroidery, piano and French. Education for women, as for men through most of history, was the province of the upper classes and those associated with them.

City & State PA: With midterms nearing, Republicans look to keep Pennsylvania in the GOP’s hands
With Pennsylvania’s races for governor and U.S. Senate taking up much of the oxygen in this year’s midterm election cycle, a national organization dedicated to electing Republicans in down-ballot races is making sure Pennsylvania’s state legislative races remain a top priority for the GOP in 2022. The Republican State Leadership Committee unveiled a list of states it’s targeting this year as the Republican Party looks to defend its majorities in state legislatures across the country. The RSLC identified nine states – including Pennsylvania – where it will work to maintain the Republican Party’s control of state legislative chambers. According to a recent poll from Franklin & Marshall College, more voters in the state self-identify as Republicans than Democrats, with 50% identifying themselves as Republicans and 39% saying they think of themselves as Democrats. The Franklin & Marshall College survey also suggested that voter dissatisfaction with President Joe Biden’s administration could prove troubling for Democrats in 2022. 
 

3/7-3/14

The Hill: No, the Fed cannot engineer a soft landing, but can wreak havoc trying
[co-written by F&M Professor Yeva Nersisyan, associate professor of economics]
Many economists and pundits have been calling on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates to fight inflation. While the Fed resisted earlier calls to hike rates, arguing that inflation was transitory, a consensus seems to have emerged that the time is nigh. A rate hike in March seems certain, yet raising rates is more likely to raise unemployment and slow growth than have any impact on our current inflation problem. Those advocating for a rate hike see the current inflation as a problem of too much demand. They argue that the fiscal stimulus was too big, increasing incomes and demand too much. But what we are dealing with is not demand-driven inflation in an overheating economy. The COVID crisis started as a supply-side crisis that severely disrupted production, causing massive layoffs and furloughs. Income and demand crashed. Relief checks partially restored income but the supply side is still shaky—with continuing supply chain disruptions, bottlenecks, and price-gouging. The war in Ukraine will intensify and prolong such problems. 

Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Biden to visit Philadelphia on Friday as Dems gather to plot midterm strategy
President Joe Biden will visit Philadelphia on Friday, where he’s slated to address U.S. House Democrats during an issues retreat, the White House has said. The visit comes during the same week that Biden announced a U.S. ban on Russian oil, warning Americans of pain at the pump, even as gas prices have soared past $4-a-gallon. With control of Congress on the line, Democrats are expected to spend their two-day confab in Philadelphia plotting out a policy agenda that will resonate with voters heading into the thick of the 2022 campaign season, Politico reported. The visit to a key battleground state comes at a precipitous time for both Biden and Democrats. As has been the case across the rest of the nation, Biden has seen his numbers sag in a state that sent him to the White House in 2020. About three in 10 registered voter respondents to this month’s Franklin & Marshall poll said Biden was doing either an “excellent” or “good” job as president, which is a slide from his 44 percent rating in June, and 41 percent rating in August. Biden’s current approvals matches those of former President Donald Trump, but are lower than Biden’s old boss, President  Barack Obama,  at the same in their respective administrations.

CBS Philly: Pennsylvania Republicans Pushing To Dissolve State-Run Liquor System
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Pennsylvania state stores could soon become history. State Republicans are pushing to dissolve the state-run liquor system by letting voters decide. On Tuesday, State Senator Anthony Williams held a news conference in Grays Ferry. He opposes the referendum. Williams says privatizing state liquor and wine sales would just hurt poor neighborhoods. “There’s nothing, nothing in this ballot question that says, ‘Restrictions, regulations, controls.’ Nothing,” Williams said. “It just says, ‘Have at it, prey upon the poor, and drive for profits.’ That’s what this is.” The latest Franklin and Marshall College poll finds voters are nearly split on whether Pennsylvania should get out of the liquor business.

LNP: Lancaster County to host Mock Trial National Championship in April
Lancaster County will host 48 college mock trial teams from across the nation for the 2022 Mock Trial National Championship. From April 8 to 10, college mock trial teams of six to 10 members will participate in an imitation court trial at the Lancaster County Courthouse. The county has been a long-time supporter of The American Mock Trial Association through hosting regional and opening round championship competitions, but this will be the first time Lancaster hosts at the national level. “Obviously there will be an economic benefit to the county,” said Grant Keener, chair of the National Championship Tournament Planning Committee and president of the Hempfield School Board. “Total economic benefit to the county at this tournament will approach a quarter million dollars when you think about hotel rooms, incidental services, venue costs, all sorts of things.” Elizabethtown College will serve as the hosting institution but the college’s mock trial team will not be part of the national championships. Franklin and Marshall College qualified for the opening round championship competitions at George Washington University March this Friday through Sunday.

WGAL: Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz campaigns in Carlisle
CARLISLE, Pa. —Dr. Mehmet Oz, who is running for Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate seat, is campaigning in the Susquehanna Valley on Thursday night. Oz is expected to speak at the Elk's Lodge in Carlisle. His team said it's an opportunity for residents to speak to him about the issues most important to them. Over the last month, Oz has hosted a number of town hall meetings around Pennsylvania. The most recent Franklin & Marshall College poll, released last week, found there is no clear frontrunner for the Republican Senate nomination: 53% of those polled said they are undecided.

WCCS Radio: POLL: “DO NOT KNOW” LEADS BOTH DEMOCRAT, REPUBLICAN U.S. SENATE FIELDS
A poll released last week by Franklin & Marshall College shows tight races in both the Democrat and Republican races for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, but still lots of voters waiting for a candidate to impress them. On the Democrat side of the ballot, Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman leads Congressman Connor Lamb, 28 percent to 15 percent.  No other named candidate gets more than two percent, but 44 percent of Democrats say they do not know who they would vote for if the Primary election were held today. When asked whether they identify as “progressive” or “Centrist”, there was no significant difference in which candidate Democrats prefer.  Of note is that Lamb has closed the gap from 22 percent in October to 13 percent now. In the Republican race, businessman and former Bush Administration official David McCormick leads with 13 percent of the vote, with businesswoman and former Trump Administration Ambassador to Denmark Carla Sands at 11 percent, and Dr. Mehmet Oz at 10 percent.  No other candidate is in double figures, and “do not know” is at 53 percent.

WHTM: Pa. Senate Race: Fetterman leads Democrats, Republicans knotted in latest poll
(WHTM) – A new poll conducted by Franklin & Marshall College shows Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman ahead in the Democratic race for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat, while Republicans are widely undecided with a large number of candidates still in the race. The poll found Fetterman with support from 28 percent of Pennsylvania Democrats, followed by Congressman Connor Lamb at 15 percent. Two percent of respondents said they supported State Representative Malcolm Kenyatta, while seven percent supported another candidate.Forty-four percent of Democrats remain undecided in the race and did not have a single issue that was “driving their preference in the primary.”

LNP: Former F&M trustee, grad who served as Reagan's chief of staff dies at 77
Ken Duberstein, a Franklin & Marshall College graduate and former White House chief of staff who helped revive Ronald Reagan’s presidency, died last week in Washington. He was 77. The New York Times reported that Duberstein's family confirmed his death last Wednesday, saying it had come after a long unspecified illness. Duberstein, who graduated from F&M in 1965, served as Reagan’s chief of staff during his final presidential year. He spent time with Reagan at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains. “We would talk about everything but the presidency and politics," Duberstein recalled in an interview with the Lancaster New Era, a predecessor to LNP, in 2004. “We would talk about life." Duberstein served as a college trustee from 1994 to 2010. He is the founder of a public service internship endowment that supports F&M students serve unpaid or minimally paid internships in the executive and legislative branches of the federal government in Washington, D.C. "We are saddened to learn this news about alumnus Ken Duberstein ’65, who remained an active supporter of F&M throughout his life, including as a trustee and by endowing a fund for public service interns," F&M said in a written statement.

The New York Times: Ken Duberstein, a Former Reagan Chief of Staff, Dies at 77
WASHINGTON — Ken Duberstein, a former White House chief of staff who helped resuscitate Ronald Reagan’s presidency and went on to become a successful lobbyist whose counsel was sought by leaders of both parties, died on Wednesday in Washington. He was 77. Mr. Duberstein was a consummate Washington insider and institutionalist, a big man with an easy smile and a generous laugh who could be hard-nosed, loved gossiping with reporters, believed in bipartisanship and offered his advice to anyone who asked — especially those who succeeded him in the chief of staff job, which he often described as being a “reality therapist” for the president. After high school, at the private Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn, he attended Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., graduating in 1965. He obtained a master’s degree in political science at American University in Washington the following year. There, he had his first taste of Capitol politics — as an intern for Senator Jacob Javits, Republican of New York.

Defense One: The US Must Prepare for War Against Russia Over Ukraine
[written by Dr. Evelyn N. Farkas ’89 – Jan. 11, 2022]
President Vladimir Putin is more likely than not to invade Ukraine again in the coming weeks. As someone who helped President Barack Obama manage the U.S. and international response to Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014, and our effort to keep Moscow from occupying the whole country into 2015, I am distressingly convinced of it.  Why? I see the scale and type of force arrayed by the Russian military, the ultimatums issued by Putin and his officials, the warlike rhetoric that has until recently saturated Russian airwaves, and the impatience with talks expressed by his foreign minister. Add to that the likely anxiety produced in Putin by the demonstrations last week in Kazakhstan—and Moscow’s success in tamping them down. But the basic reason I think talks with Russia will fail is that the United States and its allies have nothing they can immediately offer Moscow in exchange for a de-escalation. The United States must do more than issue ultimatums about sanctions and economic penalties. U.S. leaders should be marshalling an international coalition of the willing, readying military forces to deter Putin and, if necessary, prepare for war. 

The League of American Bicyclists: 33 SCHOOLS RECOGNIZED WITH A BICYCLE FRIENDLY UNIVERSITY AWARD
Since the pandemic began, colleges and universities across the nation have met the challenge of keeping campus life thriving with innovation and resilience. Today, the League is proud to recognize that dedication by honoring 33 institutions with a Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) award and three institutions with an Honorable Mention. With this announcement, there are now 222 Bicycle Friendly Universities in 47 states and the District of Columbia. Franklin & Marshall College, in Lancaster, PA, is one of the smallest BFUs in the program with a student population of 2,203, proving that schools don’t have to be large in size to have a large bike presence on campus. Through a designated bike budget, Franklin & Marshall has made improvements in the last few years that have grown the bike commuter population, including a free bike loan program allowing students to rent bikes for up to 4 weeks. Thanks to these investments the college moved up from a Bronze-level award earned in 2017 to a Silver-level award in this latest round.
 

2/28-3/7

Foreign Policy in Focus: Putin's February Revolution?
Franklin & Marshall History Professor Abby Schrader’s essay: Like the last tsar, Putin’s delusions of grandeur bely his military missteps, economic mismanagement, and imperial blind spots. Things are not going as planned for President Vladimir Putin. In addition to facing world outrage and mounting resistance in Ukraine, he is confronting daily protests across Russian cities and over a million signatures on a Russian-authored petition against the war. Putin, fearful of his destiny spinning out of control, may have images running through his mind of cornered dictators like Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Libya’s Muamar Gaddafi being dragged out of their hiding places, en route to ignoble execution. He may also be contemplating the final days of Soviet leaders Nikita Khrushchev and Mikhail Gorbachev, who were both vacationing in Crimea when they got word that Communist Party members in Moscow were conspiring to remove them from power. But while Putin is likely focused on the more recent past, a more appropriate analogy may be the February Revolution of 1917.

FOX 43: A breakdown of how inflation works, what causes it, and when we can expect prices to go back down
PENNSYLVANIA, USA — Inflation is high, and has been for months. From Dec. 2020 to Dec. 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports consumer prices rose 7.5%. That's the largest percent change during a calendar year in more than four decades. That price increase is taking a toll on consumer confidence and could potentially eat into your hard-earned paycheck. But what causes prices to increase so sharply? It's simple economics: supply and demand. Let’s start by getting a concrete definition of what inflation actually is. “Inflation is a persistent increase in the overall price level, or the aggregate price level," Associate Professor of Economics at Franklin & Marshall College Dr. Yeva Nersisyan said. "So, it's not the change in the price of the overall product, it's when prices overall are going up.” Here's where the basic lesson in economics starts. COVID-19 cases have been on the decline recently and the economy is starting to recover from the pandemic-induced recession. Households are consuming more and spending more, whether it's due to money saved during the pandemic or a recent wage increase. “At a certain point, we may push up against the economy's ability to produce and so prices might go up," Dr. Nersisyan said. "We can’t produce more, so prices go up.” Dr. Nersisyan says the economy isn’t currently able to keep up with increasing consumer demand and manufacturers are struggling to reach pre-pandemic levels of production. Simply put: supply can’t keep up with demand. That means suppliers can increase the price of their goods with relatively high assurances that people will still purchase them.

CNBC: Pivotal Senate GOP race pits billionaire Ray Dalio’s former CEO against his friend Dr. Oz
Billionaire hedge fund founder Ray Dalio finds himself inadvertently in the middle of a key congressional race that could determine the balance of power in the Senate in November’s midterm elections. Dalio, who is co-chair of Bridgewater Associates, is personal friends with both Republican candidates vying for Pennsylvania’s Senate seat: Dr. Mehmet Oz and former Bridgewater CEO David McCormick. Dalio called McCormick and Oz “two good friends of mine and two great men who have lived and personify the American Dream in different ways,” in a LinkedIn post he published in January about the Pennsylvania Senate race. A recent Franklin & Marshall College poll shows the race is wide open, with McCormick holding a small lead in the GOP primary.

Penn Live: Pa. voters overwhelmingly oppose dropping concealed-carry gun license rule: poll
Seven out of 10 Pennsylvania voters oppose eliminating the state licensing requirement to carry a concealed weapon, according to the latest Franklin & Marshall College poll. Among them are 65-year-old Lawrence County resident Coleen Myers who doesn’t like that anyone can carry a concealed weapon, and 36-year-old Joseph McCall of Philadelphia who sees it as a safety check. “I just think there should be a level of oversight and assurance by the state that people that have that privilege can prove they can exercise the minimum safety requirements and responsibility to safely do that,” said McCall, who was among the 490 registered voters who participated in the F&M survey that touched on a multitude of topics. The poll results on concealed-carry permits runs counter the views of a majority of Pennsylvania state lawmakers. In November, the General Assembly put a bill on Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk to lift the requirement that individuals must obtain a special permit every five years to carry a gun concealed on one’s person or in a car.

WITF: Poll shows Pa. voters not optimistic on economy, direction of state and nation
The Franklin and Marshall College Poll provides a good snapshot of what registered Pennsylvania voters are thinking every few months. The March 2022 F&M poll finds that those surveyed aren’t very optimistic about the economy and the future direction of the U.S. and Pennsylvania. According to the poll, just 21% said the nation is headed in the right direction while 32% say the state is head down the right path. The majority of those polled don’t believe President Joe Biden or Gov. Tom Wolf are doing a good job either. Berwood A. Yost, Director of the Floyd Institute for Public Policy and Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College is on Monday’s Smart Talk with analysis of the poll results. Other topics the poll addressed are gun laws, including concealed carry laws and abortion.

LNP: New F&M poll shows Pennsylvanians are most concerned about their finances since 2010; Biden's approval drops to new low
Pennsylvanians say they are worse off now than they were a year ago and believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, according to the results of a Franklin & Marshall College poll released Thursday. Those views helped knock President Joe Biden’s approval rating to a new low in the poll and signals problems for Democrats as the 2022 midterm election approaches. More than one-in-three Pennsylvania voters (35%) said they are “worse off” financially than they were a year ago, the poll found, and 30% of respondents said they expect to be “worse off” financially a year from now. Voters’ outlook on their personal finances hasn’t been this low since 2010, right before Democrats lost control of Congress in that year’s midterm elections, said Berwood Yost, the executive director of the Franklin & Marshall College Poll.

Olean Times Herald: ADL report: Antisemitic, white supremacist propaganda surges across Pa., nation
HARRISBURG (TNS) — A newly formed white nationalist group in December plastered white supremacist and antisemitic stickers in Millersville University and Franklin & Marshall College. The Keystone Nationalist Active Club spread its propaganda dozens of times in central Pennsylvania, particularly York and Lancaster, including the posting of stickers claiming Jews control society and white people are under attack from Blacks. These are among the 473 incidents of hate propaganda tracked in Pennsylvania last year by the Anti-Defamation League, which on Thursday released a report showing sustained historic levels of racist and antisemitic propaganda by white supremacist groups across the country. According to the ADL annual report, white supremacy groups last year continued to ratchet up their distribution of hateful propaganda distributing racist, antisemitic and hate-filled fliers, stickers, posters and banners at historic levels with 4,851 cases. Pennsylvania ranked the highest saturation of propaganda in 2021, with 473 incidents of this type reported to the ADL. That represents a doubling of cases from the previous year and the highest total in the nation. In 2019, there were 81 incidents reported in Pennsylvania.

Penn Live: Poll shows tight race for Pa. GOP Senate nomination; Fetterman leads Lamb in early Democrat response
As candidates work to secure slots on the Pennsylvania primary ballot this month, a new Franklin & Marshall College Poll shows the hotly-contested race for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate remains anybody’s race. On the Democratic side of the ledger, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman continues to sit as the frontrunner, though the his lead over top rival U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb is a bit less than it used to be. While the results provide a decent snapshot on where the races stand now, poll director Berwood Yost said his main takeaway is that with large numbers of undecided voters in both parties, many campaigns still having yet to unleash their main broadcast appeals at the time of the survey and some potential endorsements still pending, the races are “a long way from over.”

Reading Eagle: Biden approval hits new low as economic challenges rise, poll finds
The COVID-19 pandemic may be easing, but that doesn’t mean Pennsylvanians don’t have things to worry about. In particular, the economy. The pandemic has left many across the state financially reeling, having led to shutdowns and layoffs. And now inflation has dug its claws into the state. And people across the Keystone State are becoming increasingly worried, both about their current situation and their prospects for the future, according to a new poll. A Franklin & Marshall College poll released today finds that economic concerns are increasing among registered voters, which is leaving them deeply frustrated and mostly dissatisfied with the performance of President Joe Biden. The survey found that more than 1 in 3 respondents say they are worse off financially than a year ago — representing the largest proportion in the last five years.

Penn Live: Voters split over selling off Pennsylvania’s state-run liquor stores: poll
About half of Pennsylvania voters surveyed said they support removing the state from the liquor business, according to a new Franklin & Marshall College poll. But the poll released on Thursday also found that if voters had the opportunity to decide on liquor privatization through a constitutional ballot referendum, they were slightly less inclined to support that manner of accomplishing it. Rep. Natalie Mihalek, R-Allegheny County, who has sponsored a constitutional amendment to privatize the liquor system, said the poll’s findings reflect the feedback she has received about her idea. “There’s a general sentiment that ‘yeah, it doesn’t make sense for the state to sell liquor’ but then on the how to get rid of it, I know people are sometimes reluctant to change the constitution,” she said. The survey found 52% of voters – including 65% Republican and 55% of independents polled – favored removing the state from the liquor business, a percentage that hasn’t changed much in the last 20 years when that question was polled. Thirty-six percent opposed selling off the liquor stores and 13% were undecided.

The Chronicle of Higher Education: Top Producers of Fulbright U.S. Scholars and Students, 2021-22
The Fulbright U.S. Scholar and Fulbright U.S. Student Programs are sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to support academic exchanges between the United States and over 150 countries around the world. The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program offers teaching and research grants for college faculty and administrators, as well as for professionals, artists, journalists, scientists, lawyers, independent scholars, and others. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program provides grants to college graduates, graduate students, and early-career professionals for individually designed study or research programs and English teaching assistantships abroad. Almost 600 U.S. colleges actively participate in the Fulbright Program. Top Producers of Fulbright U.S. Students – Baccalaureate institutions – Franklin and Marshall College [#9]: 64 applicants; 7 awards offered.

LNP: March First Friday 2022: 18 things to do in Lancaster County, from exhibit openings to a poker night
Franklin & Marshall College will host a photography exhibit at the Winter Visual Arts Center. The exhibit features an intimate look at barbershops and beauty salons amid the COVID-19 pandemic from photographer Shelby Wormley. “Barbershops and beauty salons serve as cornerstones for communication and connectivity in Black and brown communities,” Wormley says in a press release. “They offer more than just a fresh cut. Our hair care is a culture that is preserved through the craftsmanship of our barbers and stylist.” Wormley will be at the exhibit on First Friday for an artist's reception. The exhibit runs through Saturday, March 26.
 

2/21-2/28 

11 Alive: Ukraine invasion spotlights the delicate state of democracy
The secretary-general of the United Nations opened the most recent annual meeting of Earth’s leaders with a bleak assessment of the planet’s state of affairs. Humanity, he said, faced “a moment of truth.” “Peace. Human rights. Dignity for all. Equality. Justice. Solidarity. Like never before, core values are in the crosshairs,” Antonio Guterres said. “A sense of impunity is taking hold.” Guterres’ message to the U.N. General Assembly takes on even more relevance with the Russian military’s invasion of Ukraine. Those things he outlined? They are bedrock principles of democracy — a once-on-the-upswing method of human governance that in recent years has been taking body blows across the world. So when Putin orders the invasion of Ukraine in a manner that tacitly invokes democratic principles even as he circumvents them, he offers up a face of democracy as viewed through a glass, darkly. Experts say this is designed to give him cover as a democratic leader at home while allowing him to do pretty much what he wants elsewhere. “The space he holds on the democratic scale, he is not a full-blown authoritarian leader. He doesn’t have the same means available to oppress his people. He still has democratic elements, even though they’re vanishing,” says Stefanie Kasparek, an assistant professor of government at Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania who studies international political institutions.

FOX 43: The thousand-year-old religious origins of the Ukraine war
HARRISBURG, Pa. — From one Vladimir to another, the Ukraine war is steeped in one thousand years of history and religion. In 988, Vladimir the Great brought Christianity to Kyiv, Ukraine's capital city, by inviting the whole town to the Dnieper River to be baptized. Orthodox Christianity spread from there through Eastern Europe and Russia. Now, Vladimir Putin wants to claim that history as part of modern Russia’s. “This has been the origin story that Putin has relied on,” said Jon Stone, professor of Russian and Russian studies at Franklin & Marshall College. The Russian Orthodox Church has long claimed the entire region as their canonical territory. However, Ukrainian Christians chafed at the Church’s increasingly political approach, which backs Putin and often preaches his ideals. “You can’t workably separate the Russian Orthodox Church from Putin’s government,” Stone said. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church declared independence in 2019, a move still not recognized by the Russian Orthodox Church.

FOX 43: Lancaster professors' project in limbo as Ukraine crisis puts landmine research on pause
LANCASTER, Pa. — Eastern Ukraine is scattered with landmines. According to the United Nations, the area is one of the most contaminated in the world for makeshift mines and the explosive remnants poses a threat to nearly two million residents. Since 2015, Franklin and Marshall College professors Dr. Fronefield Crawford and Dr. Tim Bechtel, have been working with a team of researchers from around the world; like in Italy, Jordan and Ukraine, to find ways to disable landmines using robotic sensors. "I thought this is great opportunity for me to jump in and deploy some of my skills as a physicist to a humanitarian project that can help people," said Crawford. As tensions escalate between Ukraine and Russia, the future of the NATO sponsored project is uncertain. "The fact that we can't use this in Ukraine is disappointment. But if we develop the technology, it could be deployed elsewhere," Crawford added. On the team, there are at least six Ukrainian researchers. Crawford, who said he has not heard from them in days, is worried for their safety. "Yeah, it's distressing not knowing the status of your friends in the middle of this warzone. You really want to hear that they're okay and their families are okay," said Crawford.

LNP: F&M professors' research on Ukraine landmine removal faces uncertain future
Researchers at Franklin & Marshall College who have been disabling landmines around Ukraine are facing uncertainty about their work as the country becomes a war zone. Since 2015, a team of researchers led by Franklin & Marshall professors Tim Bechtel and Fronefield Crawford have been working to “demine” parts of eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists have tried to separate themselves and declare independence from Ukraine. The Franklin & Marshall professors have been conducting this work alongside researchers in Ukraine, Italy and Jordan, with funding through NATO’s Science for Peace and Security program. Eastern Ukraine is one of the world’s “most contaminated” areas by landmines, with more than two million people each year exposed to the deadly explosives. Approximately 70% of families in this part of Ukraine are “struggling to go about their daily lives to avoid them, whether it be going to get food, school, home, hospital or crossing the ‘contact line,’” according to a report published in April 2021 from the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The so-called “contact line” is the area that separates the Ukrainian-controlled areas and the non-governmental areas led by separatists, where many landmines still exist today, Bechtel said.

FOX 43: Are more U.S. sanctions enough to stop Russia?
Speaking from the White House on Thursday, President Joe Biden has announced new sanctions against Russia, vowing to unleash the full might of NATO for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions package will limit international trade and target four Russian banks that hold more than $1 trillion in assets. Sanctions will also penalize Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. Analysts say U.S. sanctions against Russia could lead to retaliation and the impacts could be felt suddenly as Russia is one of the world's largest producers of oil and gas. When it comes to the long term effects of these U.S. sanctions, Jon Stone, Associate professor of Russia & Russian studies at Franklin and Marshall doesn’t think they'll be enough. “Honestly – no. I don't think so. I think short of any kind of direct military intervention, I think...the Russian government and Putin are already fairly well underway for their next steps," Stone said. Those next steps by Putin, Stone says, are a matter of shifting speculation – but the economic implications will be widespread.

CBS 21: A look at Russian/Ukrainian history to understand current Russian invasion
Dauphin County, PA — To really grasp what’s going on at the border of Russia and Ukraine – it helps to know some history. CBS 21 spoke with college history professors to provide some insight on the complicated relationship between the two countries. Russia and Ukraine, two countries sharing a rich history. Stefanie Kasparek, a professor at Franklin and Marshall college says Russia is trying to keep Ukraine in check. “There has been this constant struggle for Russia to make sure that the Ukraine is not wandering off,” Kasparek said. Kasparek explains watching Ukraine forge a closer relationship with the West infuriated Putin. “If Ukraine becomes too successful and too buddy-buddy with the west, and wants to be an established democracy, who then in long run can join NATO, that’s right in the backyard of Putin and the last thing he wants,”said Kasparek.

The Academic Minute: Stephanie McNulty, Franklin & Marshall College – COVID-19 and its Effects on Undocumented Immigrants
On Franklin and Marshall College Week:  COVID-19 has hit vulnerable populations the hardest. Stephanie McNulty, professor of government and Latin American and latinx studies, explores its effects on one such group. How did undocumented immigrants and people with temporary immigrant visas experience the nation’s deadliest pandemic in history? To explore this issue we interviewed twenty-five immigrants with precarious legal status in Lancaster County during the Summer of 2021. We emerged with three findings. First, every person we interviewed spoke about financial difficulties during the shutdown and much of 2020. First, every person we interviewed spoke about financial difficulties during the shutdown and much of 2020. Finally, undocumented immigrants had strong opinions about two policies that would have made their lives safer and healthier during the worst days of the pandemic: comprehensive immigration reform and emergency assistance contingent on a tax not a social security number.

The Academic Minute: Jessica Cox, Franklin & Marshall College – Online English Classes for Adults During and Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic
Previous research shows that higher proficiency in the dominant language of an area, like English in the United States, is related to better healthcare and employment outcomes. Also, while many activities increasingly happen online, the internet is less accessible to under-resourced groups, like people with lower incomes. Because of the potential effects of this disparity during the COVID-19 pandemic, we asked multilingual adults their preferences for, and potential barriers to, participating in online English classes. Translators and interpreters made our survey available in 11 languages in addition to English. Sixty-one adults in Lancaster County who reported 16 different first languages and English proficiency ranging from “functionally none” to “intermediate” took the survey between September 2020 and June 2021.
Jessica Cox, associate professor of Spanish and linguistics, discusses the barriers some have to logging in virtually. Jessica Cox researches relationships between language and cognition in multilinguals, including older adult language learners, aptitude for learning new languages, and how bilingual experiences affect other areas of cognition.

The Academic Minute: Wei-Teng Yen, Franklin & Marshall College – Does Economic Insecurity Increase People’s Support for More Social Transfers
The COVID pandemic has created economic shocks and caused millions of families to lose income and financial stability. In our survey conducted in Lancaster Pennsylvania in late 2020, we wanted to find out whether this economic shock reshuffled Americans’ public opinions to become more in favor of financial support from the government, such as universal basic income. However, the term Universal Basic Income has been highly politicized, especially during the 2020 presidential election. In order to figure out whether economic insecurity changed people’s attitudes on social transfers while taking into account the partisan effects, we took an experimental approach.
Wei-Teng Yen, assistant professor of government, explains why support can hinge on the words used to describe the program. Wei-Ting Yen is currently Assistant Professor of Government Department at Franklin and Marshall College. She holds her Ph.D. in Political Science from The Ohio State University. She studies political economy issues and social policy development in the developing world.

The Academic Minute: Harriet Okatch, Franklin & Marshall College – Factors Associated With Perceived Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Because the disruptions caused by the pandemic have been widespread and far reaching, and because pandemics are generally described as stressful, we were interested in evaluating factors associated with elevated stress levels. We assessed stress using the abbreviated Perceived Stress Scale, a scale that aims to ascertain to what extent individuals perceived events in the last month as stressful.  We also collected information on demographic characteristics and asked questions about six COVID-19 themes; knowledge, seriousness, illness severity, job loss, observing preventive measures and having a loved one diagnosed with, or dying from COVID-19.
Harriet Okatch, assistant professor in the department of biology, examines our stress levels. Harriet Okatch is an Assistant Professor of Public Health at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA. With a PhD in Analytical Chemistry and a Masters in Public Health, her research focuses on environmental health especially lead poisoning prevention and the identification of optimal conditions for iron fortification to address pediatric anemia.

The Academic Minute: Emily Marshall, Franklin & Marshall College – Parents’ Worry About School Health Risks During COVID-19
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, parents have worked to balance the health and safety of their children with the benefits of school and the demands of their own jobs. School policies for COVID-19 prevention have been politically charged in many American communities. Parents’ worries about health risks in school also provide important context for understanding their views on vaccinating their children. Our research team conducted a survey in a politically and economically diverse county to understand social and economic effects of the pandemic. We asked parents of children aged 12 and younger how worried they are about health risks from school or childcare during the pandemic, and analyzed factors related to parents’ worry.
Emily Marshall, assistant professor in the department of sociology, discusses which parents worry the most. Emily A. Marshall is a sociologist and demographer who studies how social and cultural contexts affect understandings of childbearing.

FOX 43: Three of the top Pa. Republican candidates running for U.S. Senate skip GOP primary debate
HARRISBURG, Pa. — With the race to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate starting to heat up, Monday night’s debate was supposed to showcase how the top seven GOP candidates stack up. Debates are often more important in a primary race than in general elections, since candidates within the same party usually have similar stances on many issues. Debates can help them demarcate their positions from the other candidates’. “In the primaries they can really make a difference in terms of differentiating candidates among the voters,” said Stephen Medvic, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College. However, after television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz’s campaign said he had a scheduling conflict, two more candidates—hedge fund executive David McCormick and former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark Carla Sands—pulled out from the debate at the 11th hour. The three candidates are leading the polls among likely 2022 GOP primary voters, according to a Trafalgar Group poll. Oz leads with 27.4% of likely votes, followed by McCormick at 15.9% and Sands at 14.8%. That lead is likely the reason all three are skipping the debate, according to political analysts. Having the most support early in the race means they have the most to lose from a potential blunder.

Federal News Network: Managing risk at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: A conversation with Marianne Roth
How is the Consumer Financial Protection Board using Enterprise Risk Management? What is CFPB doing to embed risk-based decision making into its culture? How is CFPB tackling its most mission critical risks? Join host Michael Keegan as he explores these questions and more with Marianne Roth, Chief Risk Officer, at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Marianne Roth is the Chief Risk Officer at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Since January 2017, she has been responsible for creating an ERM program and managing an agency-wide approach to risk management. Marianne holds a MA in Political Science from the University of Connecticut and a BA in Government from Franklin and Marshall College.

All Access Music: Le Sonic Takes The Top At Smooth Jazz With 'Any Moment'
Congratulations to our friends GARY LEFKOWITH [F&M Class of 1973] and MIKE ROGERS - aka the music production duo LE SONIC. The two veteran producers and songwriters have had extensive careers. ROGERS has been 'behind the boards' for artists including ERASURE and SINEAD O'CONNOR to DEEE-LITE (he produced their smash, "Groove Is In The Heart"). LEFKOWITH, a recent finalist in the USA SONG WRITING CONTEST, is also a veteran radio promoter, who has secured airplay for a wide range of artists, including MICK JAGGER, DONNA SUMMER, FLEETWOOD MAC, ACE OF BASE, PRINCE and LEANN RIMES.
 

2/14-2/21

FOX 43: Franklin & Marshall hosts girls in sports day | Sunday Frenzy
LANCASTER, Pa. — This year, 2022, marks the 50th Anniversary of the inception of Title XI through Educational Amendments of 1972. To celebrate, Franklin and Marshall college hosts a National Women and Girls sports day. They hope to help to grow the knowledge of youth sports by introducing girls to sports they may not have access to. “It’s really one of the great things. That everyone in society can take advantage off, no matter of your age, gender, race, social economic status. There’s just so much to love about what sports can do for you, across your life. Not just as a youth, not just as a competitive collegiate athlete but from K through 12 and beyond. The power of sport is transformational," said Lauren Packer Webster, F&M Athletic Director. From beginners to advanced, it’s all about sharing a passion for a team or individual athletic program.

LNP: Explaining Putin’s push to take control of Ukraine [opinion]
Abby Schrader is a professor of history at Franklin & Marshall College, where she regularly teaches a course called “Making Sense of Putin’s Russia.” She has extensive experience studying and conducting research in the Soviet Union and Russia, where she witnessed Putin’s rise to and consolidation of power.
Russia’s amassing of troops on Ukraine’s border jeopardizes the viability of democratic Europe — and is essential to President Vladimir Putin’s dream of making Russia great again. According to this vision, a Russia imperialized again will not only dominate the bordering states once ruled by the Soviet Union. It will also fill the political void left by a vastly diminished West whose democratic tradition Putin will have convinced the world is a sham. This is not a future any of us should want: It will undo liberal democracy, elevate autocracy and further endanger our ecosystem. Unfortunately, this process is already well underway. Putin’s efforts at reimperalization date to 2008, when Russia invaded Georgia to protect its compatriots — ethnic Russians and and Russian-speaking people of Russian heritage. But it is rooted in the breakup of “historical Russia” following the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, which Putin, who then occupied a minor KGB posting in Dresden, deemed “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.”

FOX 43: Franklin & Marshall hires Tom Blumenauer as new head football coach
LANCASTER, Pa. — Franklin & Marshall College's football team has a new head coach. Director of Athletics & Recreation Lauren Packer Webster announced this week that Tom Blumenauer has been named the 40th head coach of the Diplomats' football program. Blumenauer comes F&M after spending six years as an assistant head coach at Williams College, which competes in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). He most recently held the position of Offensive Coordinator/Quarterback Coach prior to taking over at Franklin & Marshall." As head coach, Tom Blumenauer will lead Diplomat football to meet aspirational goals on and off the field," said President Barbara Altmann. "His level of experience and dedication to the sport fully align with F&M's commitment to an exceptional student-athlete experience, cultivating our players' unique talents and character development so they become exemplary leaders in every aspect of their lives."

The Berkshire Eagle: Williams offensive coordinator Tom Blumenauer is named head football coach at Franklin & Marshall
When football teams have a lot of success, assistant coaches get opportunities. That success story just hit Williams College. Tom Blumenauer, who has been part of Mark Raymond’s staff at Williams since Day 1, was named the new football coach at Division III Franklin & Marshall on Wednesday. Blumenauer will replace John Troxell, who left Franklin & Marshall after 15 seasons to take over as head coach at Division I-FCS Lafayette. Troxell was the No. 2 winningest coach at the Lancaster, Pa., college, and was a two-time Centennial Conference coach of the year. “I am thrilled to be named the new head football coach at Franklin & Marshall College,” Blumenauer said in a statement from Franklin & Marshall. “I would like to thank President Altmann, Director of Athletics & Recreation Lauren Packer Webster, and the search committee for this incredible opportunity. Throughout the process it became clear to me that F&M is a special place that cares deeply for each student. It is an honor to be joining an institution known for its academic excellence and rich athletic traditions. I am excited to meet the team and begin our preparation for the 2022 season.”

PennLive: The World Cup and other mega-events contribute to the earth’s environmental degradation | Opinion
I own a reusable water bottle, I support sustainable businesses when I can, and I unplug my electronics when not in use, but these practices are almost meaningless in the grand scheme of sustainability. Our planet’s ozone is under threat, the climate is changing exponentially, and pollution is poisoning our water, air, and soil.
Alexa Klepper is a first-year student at Franklin & Marshall College

Pittsburgh City Paper: Pennsylvania holds first-ever hearing on legalizing recreational weed
Last week, on Mon., Feb. 7, the Pennsylvania Senate Law & Justice Committee held the first public hearing on the legalization of adult-use cannabis in the commonwealth. As Penn-Live reported, committee members heard from lawmakers, law enforcement officials, and medical marijuana industry representatives in a hearing Committee Chairman Mike Regan (R-Cumberland/York) said was intended “to help lawmakers get a better understanding of the marijuana trade in Pennsylvania and how laws surrounding it are being enforced.” According to City & State Pennsylvania, legislators’ questions focused on concerns about unsafe products and practices in the current black market, including people smoking joints dipped in embalming fluid (PCP), more than possible impacts of legalization. We are still a long way off from legalizing recreational cannabis in Pennsylvania. But while the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports “the bill remains something of a long shot — house GOP leaders still oppose legalization," a GOP Caucus spokesperson said on Feb. 7 that some say these hearings are indicative of growing Republican support for legalizing adult-use weed. 59% of Pennsylvanians support the legalization of recreational cannabis, according to a 2017 Franklin & Marshall poll.
 

2/7-2/14

PsyPost: Republicans and Democrats feel “grossed out” and “nauseated” by each other
Democrats perceive faces labeled as Republicans as physically disgusting and vice versa, according to new research published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. The findings indicate that political outgroup members can induce feelings of both disgust and anger among partisans. Disgust is believed to be part of the behavioral immune system, which protects people from infectious disease by creating an aversion to potential pathogens. The emotional state has also been connected with discriminatory behaviors. “Most of my research is about how people make judgments about morality,” said study author Justin F. Landy, an assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Nova Southeastern University. “So, questions like this have been bouncing around in my head for a while. This particular project began when I spent a year as a visiting faculty member at Franklin & Marshall College. My friends and colleagues Josh Rottman, Carlota Batres, and Kristi Leimgruber and I were talking about the role of disgust in evaluations of people, and it occurred to us that no one had really looked at whether other people can make us feel disgusted, in a physical, bodily sense, just by being members of some outgroup. So, that’s what we wanted to test.”

The New York Times: A Muslim Dating App Powered Their Connection
When Jafreen Momtaj Uddin and Shakil Sarfaroz Rabbi matched on Salams, a Muslim dating app, in June 2021, they immediately began a two-hour online conversation that Ms. Uddin described as “extremely comfortable.” “I was visiting an aunt in Philadelphia that day,” said Ms. Uddin, 36. While one of her parents drove, she exchanged messages with Dr. Rabbi, also 36, “for the duration of the ride.” “It was a very easy and very enjoyable conversation,” said Ms. Uddin, the executive director of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop in New York. A graduate of Columbia University, she holds a master’s degree in global history from N.Y.U. Dr. Rabbi, an assistant professor of English at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., found the exchange equally pleasant. “We just kept talking and talking, it was one subject after another,” said Dr. Rabbi, who graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., and received two master’s degrees, one in English literature from the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh, and the other in English, rhetoric and composition from Penn State, where he later earned a Ph.D.

Glasstire: “The Art of Bill Hutson,” a Citywide Exhibition in San Marcos
Bill Hutson has led a cosmopolitan life in the truest sense of the word. Working as a visual artist, Hutson has traveled to more than twenty-six countries, and lived in New York City, France, Holland, Italy, Senegal and Nigeria. Through his extensive career, Hutson has established himself as an internationally renowned painter, best known for his distinct style of abstraction, and has exhibited in over 20 solo shows and in more than 50 group shows. Hutson has served as an Associate Art Professor Emeritus of Art and Art History at Franklin and Marshall College for over 20 years, and is also the school’s Jennie Brown Cook and Betsy Hess Cook Distinguished Artist in Residence. However, before his international success and recognition as an artist, curator, and educator, Hutson was born (in 1936) and raised in San Marcos, Texas. Hutson’s homecoming is celebrated in The Art of Bill Hutson, which includes over 60 pieces of his artwork courtesy of The Phillips Museum of Art, across five spaces in San Marcos: the Calaboose African American History Museum, the San Marcos Art Center, Texas State Galleries, and the Walker’s Gallery at the San Marcos Public Library.

WFMZ News: Law enforcement officers, criminal justice organizations testify at Pa. hearing on recreational marijuana
The path toward legalizing recreational marijuana in Pennsylvania took a step forward with the first committee hearing ever on the topic, with testimony from members of law enforcement and criminal justice organizations. "The last thing we want are more people on the roads that are impaired causing death or serious bodily injury to our loved ones," said York County District Attorney Dave Sunday. The testimony centered on new standards concerning marijuana-related DUI's, how to keep it away from children, and the impact on workplace safety. Groups like the Pennsylvania Family Institute claim that legalizing marijuana will lead to more cases of impaired driving. An October survey from Franklin & Marshall College found that 60% of Pennsylvania voters back adult-use legalization in the state.

LNP: Franklin & Marshall wins 4 of last 5 bouts to nab Rupp Cup wrestling victory over Millersville
Call it a retention bonus. Scoring bonus points in five of its seven victories, Franklin & Marshall retained the Rupp Cup in the renewal of its wrestling rivalry with Millersville on Friday night in Pucillo Gymnasium. The 29-10 victory was the Diplomats’ 10th in the last 11 meetings, the first after a COVID-19 hiatus interrupted the series in 2021. Despite the loss, Millersville still holds a 17-13 lead in the series, named for Dr. Ted Rupp, who coached both teams during his storied career, simultaneously for two seasons in the early 1950s.

LNP: A local 'Jeopardy!' champ in 1972 and a new orchestra in 1947 [Lancaster That Was]
In February 1947, a new symphony orchestra was in its formative stages, and was founded in an effort to bring musicians from local colleges and the community together. More than 90 musicians turned out for the first rehearsal of the Lancaster College-Community Symphony, held in Hensel Hall at Franklin & Marshall College. The turnout was much larger than expected, and there wasn't room for all of the musicians on stage. According to conductor Louis Vyner, nearly everyone who showed up had some degree of orchestral experience, whether in high school, college or "Lancaster's symphonies of bygone days." The new orchestra's first rehearsal piece was Schubert's "Unfinished Symphony." Vyner said that over the next few weeks, the numbers would be pared down based on ability, presumably resulting in a final orchestra in which all of the members could take the stage simultaneously.
 

1/31-2/7

WHYY/Radio Times: Pa. politics: mail-in voting, maps and crowded races
[audio recording]
Last week, a Pennsylvania court struck down the two-year-old law that allows no-excuse, mail-in voting in the state. Governor Wolf said his administration will appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court, but this Republican challenge to voting demonstrates the strategies and ferocity of the battles that will be fought out ahead of midterms. In addition, Wolf has rejected the redistricting map from Republican lawmakers and fighting continues around a fair redrawing of the legislative lines. Turning to the crowded Senate race, the Democratic State Committee failed to endorse a candidate, but leaned toward U.S. Representative Connor Lamb in a straw poll. From the Republican side, former hedge fund executive David McCormick appears to be rising to the top. This hour, we talk Pennsylvania politics with three political junkies. Jonathan Tamari, national political reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer @jonathantamari; Katie Meyer WHYY’s political reporter @katieemeyer4; Stephen Medvic, Director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College and the author of Gerrymandering: The Politics of Redistricting in the United States @stephenmedvic 

WSWS: Pennsylvania Governor Wolf raises minimum wage for state employees, calls for a $15 statewide minimum
On Wednesday, two-term Democratic Governor Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania announced an executive order raising the minimum wage for state employees to $15 per hour, two years earlier than expected. The wage increase would apply only to a small share of the state’s workforce. According to data from the Pennsylvania Office of Administration’s statistics for 2021, it may affect 5,616 hourly workers out of a total state workforce of 77,417 workers, about 14 percent. An estimated 1.5 million workers in the state’s private sector currently make below $15. With a current minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, Pennsylvania has a lower minimum wage than its neighboring states. It has not moved in 15 years, including the last seven in which Wolf has been governor. A Franklin & Marshall College poll says 67 percent of eligible voters throughout the country support raising the minimum wage.

FOX 43: Dealing with inflation and ways to save | Money Smart
PENNSYLVANIA, USA — If you've been to the grocery store lately, you've definitely noticed how expensive things have become. And as prices increase, wages are staying the same, meaning that families are having to budget more and more in order to make ends meet. In today's Money Smart, FOX43 spoke with Dr. Yeva Nersisyan, associate professor of economics at Franklin & Marshall College about inflation's impact on food prices. As noted by Dr. Nersisyan, the pandemic is having a continued major impact on the economy. She referenced supply chain shortages, worker shortages, and people being afraid to leave the house due to the pandemic and the rise of the Omicron variant most recently. "All of these issues are related to the pandemic, so it's difficult to say how quickly they're going to be resolved," she said. 

Politics PA: Who is Dave White and Why Is He Doing So Well?
He has won four of five caucus straw polls. He has more than $2.5 million on hand entering 2022. He has momentum. His message has resonated with the party faithful, as he has won the regional caucus straw polls in the Central, Northeast Central, Southeast and Southwest GOP regions. But will that early success ultimately lead to success with rank-and-file voters? “I don’t think [the caucus straw polls] translate to an endorsement at the state committee meeting, but he is liable to do pretty well,” said Stephen Medvic, Director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College. “I suspect he is working hard to meet local party activists.” As one political consultant said, “Regional caucuses make for interesting cocktail chatter, but not much else. I think many campaigns are anxious to get past the state committee phase of the race and onto the next phase.”

NBC 11: City of Grand Junction releases random survey for proposed Community Recreation Center
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - The City of Grand Junction mailed a letter to a random selection of Grand Junction registered voters at the beginning of February, inviting them to participate in a survey regarding a potential Community Recreation Center in Grand Junction. The city urged those selected to participate in a survey either over the phone or online. The randomly selected residents who didn’t complete the survey will receive a phone call from a (717) area code to complete the survey over the phone. The City of Grand Junction partnered with Colorado Mesa University and their research partner, The Center for Opinion Research at Franklin and Marshall College, to design the survey.

FOX 43: Faith leaders pray for peace in Ukraine
LANCASTER, Pa. — Arguments over Ukrainian sovereignty have been ongoing for decades. “The Russian government has seen the Ukraine as its little brother,” said Stephanie Kasparek, professor of government at F&M College. The Ukrainian government, as an independent country under international law, disagrees. The most recent skirmish with Russia happened in 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea, a largely Russian-speaking area of Ukraine, in a move denounced by a UN General Assembly resolution. Pro- and anti-Russian sentiment amid the annexation caused a years-long civil war. Through the conflict and years of war, many Ukrainians turned to prayer.

1/24-1/31

WITF: Pa. Republicans gaining in voter registrations and partisan identification
More Pennsylvanians identified as Republicans than Democrats in 2021. That’s according to the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster. F&M polls last year found 47% of the state’s registered voters identifying as Republicans compared 42% as Democrats. In 2020, 47% identified as Democrats and 44% as Republicans. Nine percent said they were independents in 2021 compared to 7% in 2020. According to the Center, the greatest gap occurred in August of last year and coincided with the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, increased concerns about inflation and a COVID resurgence. Berwood Yost, the Director of the F&M Center for Opinion Research is on Monday’s Smart Talk to provide analysis.

New York Post: Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman changes plans, stays for Biden Pittsburgh speech
Pennsylvania’s Democratic lieutenant governor, John Fetterman, opted to attend President Biden’s Pittsburgh speech Friday despite initially not being scheduled to do so. Fetterman, who is running for the Senate seat held by retiring Republican Pat Toomey, watched Biden’s remarks from a seat next to his Democratic primary rival, Pittsburgh-area US Rep. Conor Lamb. The scheduled absence of Fetterman and state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the party’s likely gubernatorial nominee, raised eyebrows as a potential indicator that the Keystone State’s top two Democrats up for election this year were giving the struggling president a wide berth. In October, a survey done by Franklin and Marshall College found that only 32 percent of Keystone State voters thought Biden was doing an “excellent” or “good” job as president — a 14 percentage-point drop from June. The poll also found that Pennsylvania Democrats were losing faith in the president as well, with their approval of Biden dropping from 78 percent to 62 percent. 

Washington Examiner: Swing-state Democrats are distancing themselves from Biden's electoral toxicity
President Joe Biden has become so toxic to voters that swing-state Democrats don’t want to be seen with him in public. It's yet another sign of just how badly the 2022 midterm elections are shaping up for the Democratic Party. Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who is running to replace retiring GOP Sen. Pat Toomey, and Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the presumptive Democratic nominee for governor, will both skip Biden’s event in their state on Friday. Both of them just happen to have scheduling conflicts and therefore cannot meet with the national leader of their party, who won their state just last year. It's no surprise. Biden is far more unpopular now than he was when he took 50% of the vote in Pennsylvania. Nationally, his approval rating has hit its lowest point in both the RealClearPolitics and FiveThirtyEight polling averages. In Pennsylvania, Biden went from 44% approval in a June poll from Franklin & Marshall College to an alarming 32% in October.

FOX 43: F&M College will allow fans back at home events beginning Friday
LANCASTER, Pa. — Franklin & Marshall College announced this week that spectators will be allowed to attend its home events beginning Friday. There will be COVID-19 safety guidelines and procedures in place, the college said in a press release. "The bulleted operating procedures below were established with the health and safety [for] the entire Franklin & Marshall community in mind and will be strictly enforced during all athletic competitions that take place on Franklin & Marshall's campus," the college said.

·       Fans will be welcome to attend athletic events, but will need to remained masked and physically distant whenever possible.

·       Coaches, event staff, and medical personnel will also be following the indoor masking guidelines, even during athletic competition.

·       No food or beverages will be allowed at the indoor facilities. This policy applies to all spectators and students on campus. Students engaged in competition can eat or drink for their competition but everybody else should consume their snacks/meals prior to their arrival at the event as it will not be allowed in the venue.

·       Any individual who is feeling unwell should not attend any athletic event.
 

1/17-1/24

LNP: F&M professors using a $1.25M grant to restore Lancaster County's eroded streambanks; here's why [photos, video]
On a chilly morning in mid-December, Dorothy Merritts stood near the edge of a small cliff in rural Manor Township — a near-vertical wall of silty dirt towering more than 10 feet tall. Gesturing with her right arm, she pointed beyond the edge, drawing attention to a shallow stretch of the West Branch of the Little Conestoga Creek that flowed below. The ground beneath her feet wasn’t a natural cliff at all, explained Merritts, a geosciences professor at Franklin & Marshall College. It was a streambank created over three centuries by sediment that washed into the area, covering what once were gentle wetland slopes. After the dam was removed, the creek began eating away at that sediment, carrying it downstream and leaving the severe, vertical banks that now exist — a telltale sign of an impaired waterway. It’s this and similar Lancaster County waterways that a trio of professors at Franklin & Marshall are targeting with a new initiative to locate and aid in the restoration of the region’s most severely eroded streambanks.

ABC 27: What would it take to change or get rid of the filibuster?
(WHTM) — President Joe Biden recently called for changes to the filibuster as Democrats try to pass voting rights legislation. The filibuster has been around since at least the mid-1800s when the tactic was given its name, and it has been causing headaches — and, during “talking” filibusters, foot aches — for politicians ever since. The filibuster enables members of the minority party in the Senate to delay a vote on legislation and check the power of the majority party. Franklin & Marshall College professor of government Stephen Medvic described the tactic as “endless debate” in a previous interview with abc27. As it works today, a senator can filibuster most legislation that reaches the Senate, and then at least 60 senators have to vote in favor of ending the filibuster, thus invoking cloture and moving the legislation to a vote. Medvic explained that one way to end the filibuster would require a 2/3 majority vote in the Senate to change the 60-vote threshold required for cloture, which is almost impossible to achieve, especially right now with a polarized 50-50 Senate.

ABC 27: Spring semester changes coming to Lancaster County’s universities
LANCASTER, Pa. (WHTM) — With the recent uptick in COVID cases, some colleges and universities in Lancaster County are making spring semester changes to try and keep omicron at bay. “We thought doing the first two weeks online would be helpful and return in-person regular classes on Monday, January 31st,” said Alan Caniglia, Franklin and Marshall College’s vice president for Strategic Initiatives. Today was the first day back for Franklin & Marshall students – back to virtual learning, and very little foot traffic on campus. Officials say this shift is only temporary. “We’re committed to the model of residential education, in-person learning, close working relationships between students and faculty, and the general residential college experience,” Caniglia said. F&M is not alone. Elizabethtown college pushed back its spring semester by a week. Thaddeus Stevens is moving general education classes online, similar to what it did last semester, as an additional precaution. While students understand the decision, they don’t all love it.

LNP: Martin Luther King Jr. Day packages brought to Church World Service [photos]
Two Franklin & Marshall administrators visited Church World Service in Lancaster city Tuesday to drop off toiletry kits students at the college put together Monday as part of a service project to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. As part of their project, the students learned how CWS helps resettle refugees. Beth Proffitt, assistant dean of student affairs and Bonchek College House dean, and Jennifer Nell, assistant director for the Ware Institute for Civic Engagement, joined Rachel Helwig, development and communications manager at CWS, in unloading the kits at the refugee resettlement’s East King Street office.

San Marcos Corridor News: The Art of Bill Hutson: Works in 3D featured at Price Center
SAN MARCOS, TX – The Art of Bill Hutson is a unique city-wide exhibition celebrating the work of artist and San Marcos native Bill Hutson. As part of the show, the Price Center is featuring a six-piece installation of 3D works by Hutson, the centerpiece of which is Oba’s Room and two studies for the piece. A second 3D work, titled Tactile Series, Study #9 and two studies for it, complete the exhibit. The six works will hang in the Price Center’s Main Parlor Jan. 15 – Feb. 26. The works on display at the Center are indicative of Hutson’s unique vision and style — combining form, texture, and color in abstract presentations to create deceivingly simple-looking works that examine complex themes and ideas. Acrylic paints, inks, wood, paper, and canvas all factor into his finished works. Artwork courtesy of the Phillips Museum of Art at Franklin & Marshall College.

Main Line Today: Ambler Vegan Company Makes Plant-Based Eating a Delicious Prospect
For Ambler Vegan Company’s Richard Rogers, it’s a family thing. The Blue Bell native grew up in a home where fresh fruits and vegetables were a necessity. About nine years ago, Rogers decided to take what, for him, was the logical next step: eliminating all meat from his own diet. Rogers is adamant about inclusiveness and access to plant-based food that tastes good. “Even those who aren’t completely vegan can benefit from eating a wholesome meal a few times a week,” says Rogers, who recently received a Bridgett Medal for outstanding achievements as a person of African descent from his Franklin & Marshall College alma mater.
 

 12/20-1/10

WESA-Pittsburgh NPR: Pennsylvania voters, candidates and policy are still influenced by what happened on Jan. 6
The forces that inspired an attack on the U.S. Capitol a year ago Thursday are still influencing some voters and policy goals at the Pennsylvania Capitol – and are starting to make their mark on the upcoming primary. In Pennsylvania, election results were verified by a state-mandated audit of a percentage of ballots from every county before the Electoral College met to certify the vote. A few months later, an audit of 45,000 ballots from across the state found “strong evidence of an accurate count.” Despite the repetition of those facts by election experts and members of both political parties in the year since Jan. 6, a national poll of more than 2,600 voters this month found 45 percent percent still believe President Biden was not legitimately elected. That’s a slight increase from a year ago, when 42 percent believed that was the case. But the same survey shows nearly 60 percent are worried that a Jan. 6-style attack could happen again. Franklin & Marshall College Center for Opinion Research Director Berwood Yost said his group found in October that 85 percent of Pennsylvanians say that would be bad for democracy. “Consensus among voters is really clear. Most voters do not want to see that happen again,” Yost said.

CBS21: Has the pandemic put an end to standardized testing in schools?
Dauphin County, PA — Has the pandemic put an end to standardized testing in schools? “It disrupts teaching, stresses out the students, stresses out the teachers and parents,” Canvas Director of Government Affairs Tracy Weeks tells CBS 21 News’ Samantha York. The exams likely won’t go away altogether, but some recommend rethinking the process – proposing small, regular digital tests throughout the school year rather than heavily weighed assessments at the end of it. The goal with this is to allow teachers to improve instruction and benefit students in real-time. Franklin & Marshall College has been test-optional for 30 years. “We’ve always viewed students as more than their test scores,” Franklin & Marshall College Vice President of Enrollment Management Jimmie Foster Jr. explains. “The data here at F&M shows if you’ve been a good student in high school, you’re likely going to be a good student in college.” The college says moving away from test scores makes institutions rely more heavily on long-standing personal performances. “We’re seeing changes in higher education,” Foster states. “Not just how students are learning, but how we review them in terms of what makes them eligible.”

LNP: Elizabethtown, Franklin & Marshall colleges push back in-person instruction due to COVID-19 surge
Elizabethtown and Franklin & Marshall colleges are delaying the start of in-person instruction for the spring semester as COVID-19 cases surge in Lancaster County. In response to the increase in positive cases, Elizabethtown College pushed back the start of its spring semester by a week to Jan. 18, while F&M delayed its spring semester start date to Jan. 31 following two weeks of virtual instruction. “The college has been monitoring the increasing infection rate of the highly contagious omicron variant, the significant rise in cases in Lancaster County, and the supply shortage in COVID tests nationwide,” F&M college administrators wrote in a statement. F&M is operating under a “very high” alert level, which allows only essential employees on campus. Only the approximately 300 students who were unable to return home during winter break may remain on campus at this time, said Alan Caniglia, the college’s vice president for strategic initiatives and professor of economics. “We look at a variety of indicators,” Caniglia said. “The main one that led us to go to the very high alert status a few days ago was the local conditions in Lancaster County.” Students are required to be vaccinated and must receive booster shots within 30 days of eligibility, unless they are approved for an exemption.

Fox43: Elizabethtown and Franklin & Marshall colleges postpone the return of students to campus due to COVID surge
Both Elizabethtown College and Franklin & Marshall College have announced that the spring semester will be postponed for students due to a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, according to statements from both schools. 

LNP: COVID-19 alert at F&M not all bad news for L-L League swim teams [notebook]
While the news was unfortunate, two Lancaster-Lebanon League swim teams avoided what could have been a downright awful situation this week when Franklin & Marshall College announced a “Very High Alert” regarding the COVID-19 pandemic on its campus. Both McCaskey and Lancaster Catholic use F&M’s Kunkel Aquatic Center for home swim meets and the Crusaders hold practices there as well. So, when the college announced its alert, it understandably gave coaches flashbacks to 2020-21 when they had no place to call home. At least, that is not the case. Both Catholic and McCaskey will be able to continue using the Diplomats’ facility for meets and practices. However, there will be no spectators allowed.

CBS21: Remote learning at Franklin & Marshall for first 2 weeks of spring semester
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — Franklin & Marshall College has announced a change to remote learning for the first two weeks of its spring semester, as well as a postponement for campus move-in due to COVID-19. F&M cited the highly transmissible omicron variant, a rise in case numbers in Lancaster County and a short supply of COVID tests as factors for moving the college's COVID-19 alert level to "Very High." "It greatly reduced the density of students on campus, there are still some students here," Franklin & Marshall College Vice President for Strategic Initiatives Alan Caniglia tells CBS 21 News' Samantha York. "It minimizes those sorts of gatherings where there are classes or any other sort of programmatic gatherings where people are inside, relatively close together, and where you have the highest risk for the virus to spread rapidly."

LNP: Willingness to consider conspiracies, right-wing media explain why some still think election 'stolen'
How could so many people believe that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, that fraud was rampant, that a sitting president was denied re-election by a vast conspiracy? And why do so many people still believe that, with nearly a year’s worth of facts validated by the news media and by government investigators? Overwhelmingly, federal and state judges rejected former President Donald Trump’s legal challenges. Only infinitesimal voting irregularities have been found — fewer than 475, according to a recent Associated Press investigation of six key states. Stephen Medvic, a Franklin & Marshall College government professor and director of the school’s Center for Politics and Public Affairs, said there’s “a willingness to at least toy with conspiracy theories.” Pre-election polling in 2020 found that about 45% of both registered Democrats and Republicans were willing to believe that if their candidate lost, voter fraud could have something to do with it, he said. “That suggests an openness to say, ‘If things don’t go the way I expect, then it’s got to be a conspiracy,’” Medvic said. In a typical election year, Medvic said, the percentage of voters willing to blame fraud for their candidate’s loss is between 25-30%. “It’s just a convenient explanation,” he said.

Fortune: The 3 biggest higher education controversies of 2021
Higher education isn’t a stranger to scandals and controversies, and 2021 was no exception. While some scandals from previous years approached their inevitable conclusions, the COVID-19 pandemic—or ongoing pandemic, as we enter its third year—fueled a swath of lawsuits at colleges around the country. What’s more, students also took to the picket lines at some universities, demanding better treatment (and bigger paychecks). “Money and connections are at the center of the Varsity Blues Scandal. What made this scheme different was that Rick Singer used the athletics department to be the primary vehicle of deception rather than the college’s development, alumni, or admissions office directly,” says Sara Harberson, a college admissions expert, former dean of admissions at Franklin & Marshall College, and the founder of Application Nation, a private, subscription-based Facebook group designed to help parents navigate the admissions process. “Interestingly, the parents paid Singer only a fraction of what would be expected from a college to get a weaker student admitted.” 

ABC27: Franklin & Marshall limiting sports spectators to faculty, students, and staff through January
LANCASTER, Pa. (WHTM) — Franklin & Marshall is limiting attendance for all winter sporting events for the month of Jan. The university announced on Monday that due to COVID concerns, only current faculty, staff, and students who “are compliant with vaccination and testing policies” can attend. No other spectators are allowed into the athletic facilities. Masks will continue to be required for everyone in attendance and social distancing will be in effect.

FOX43: Despite a stagnant minimum wage in Pa., a tight labor market is forcing employee wages up
LANCASTER, Pa. — Gov. Tom Wolf is calling on lawmakers to raise the state’s minimum wage, which has been sitting at $7.25 an hour for more than a decade. The federal government last increased the minimum wage in 2009. Opposition from state Republicans has gridlocked proposed legislation to raise the minimum wage to $12 an hour with a pathway to $15 an hour, even as 26 U.S. states plan to raise their minimum wage in the new year. Raising the minimum wage is supported by 67 percent of registered voters, according to a Franklin and Marshall College poll.

The Morning Call: A Pennsylvania university appears to have been targeted by the white supremacist group ‘Hundred-Handers,’ but why?
The stickers posted across Millersville University last month encouraging white students to “never apologise” for their race raised two perplexing questions: Who did this, and why? The Lancaster County university now says it can answer the first question. The messages appear to be associated with an anonymous group of online white supremacist activists called the “Hundred-Handers.” Their name is derived from a trio of giants in Greek Mythology, according to the group’s own explanation. The stickers did not name the group specifically, but they matched stickers posted by the group at other locations in the U.S. and Canada, said Janet Kacskos, the school’s Director of Communications. Millersville was not the only school to find the racist stickers on its campus. Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster city found stickers that stated “diversity doesn’t work” — another common Hundred-Handers theme — in recent weeks, said spokesperson Peter Durantine. The stickers had been placed on signs reminding people of the campus mask policy.

Florida News Times: The soil of the primeval forest can store more carbon than the soil at your feet.
New research reveals how previously undervalued primeval forests have recycled and stored carbon. Forest canopy branches can hold a cache of soil that can store significantly more carbon than the soil beneath it. Scientists are just beginning to understand how much carbon canopy soil can be stored on all continents except Antarctica. A new study on these unique soils, presented at AGU Autumn Conference 2021 at 5 pm CST on Wednesday, December 15, represents the first attempt to quantify carbon capture from canopy soils. The work emphasizes another way Native forest It is a rich and complex ecosystem that cannot be immediately replaced by reforestation. Researchers found that activated carbon, a short-term storage pool of organic carbon, was three times higher in canopy soil than in foot soil. “We knew these would be really organic-rich soils, but we didn’t expect them to be extremely carbon-rich compared to inorganic soils,” said Hannah Konak, an undergraduate researcher at Franklin and Marshall College, stated.

San Marcos Corridor News: Galleries collaborate to honor lifetime achievements of renowned San Marcos born artist Bill Hutson
SAN MARCOS – The Art of Bill Hutson is a unique city-wide exhibition celebrating the work of artist and San Marcos native Bill Hutson. Five separate and overlapping gallery shows will serve as a homecoming of sorts for Hutson, born in 1936 and raised in the Dunbar neighborhood of San Marcos, Texas, who later became one of the most innovative artists of his generation. “In spite of being internationally renowned, Bill Hutson remains a virtual unknown in his hometown, and we want to change that,” said Linda Kelsey-Jones, co-creator of the show and curator for two of the individual gallery displays. The art on view is on temporary loan from the artist’s studio and from the Phillips Museum at Franklin Marshall College, where Hutson is Professor Emeritus. Hutson, now 86 years old, currently lives and works in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

FOX43: Lancaster County Central Park offers Christmas tree mulching to county residents
LANCASTER, Pa. — Lancaster County Central Park announced this week will have mulching services available for Christmas trees from December 26 through January 31. The program, which is open to county residents, is for Christmas trees only -- no other yard waste will be accepted. It is available at the park's mulching site between dawn and dusk, park officials said. Donations go towards the operation of the Dr. John Moss Native Tree Nursery in Central Park. Trees from the nursery are utilized throughout the County Park System, officials said. Moss, a former Professor at Franklin and Marshall College and a founding member of the Lancaster Environmental Action Federation, worked to promote the conservation of natural resources for the improvement of the environment of Lancaster County’s public parks and open spaces.