Wows and Scowls
Scowl: One of the goals of education is to produce the next generations of prepared citizens. It seems our colleges might be failing at this task. A nationwide survey, by the Center for Survey Research and Analysis at the University of Connecticut, found that one out of four college students couldn’t name any of the freedoms protected by the First Amendment. Worse, 11 percent of campus administrators from presidents on down to assistant deans couldn’t cite one either. No wonder some colleges adopt such bizarre practices as free-speech zones, if none of these wizards know that they can talk freely, even criticize, anywhere they wish. We could understand the dearth of knowledge on the part of students and deans if they were asked to quickly name the never-invoked Third Amendment. (That’s the one that says the government can’t take turn your house into barracks for soldiers.) The First Amendment governs citizens every day, all day. Just in case students, or anyone else, care to know their First Amendment rights, here they are: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. —
Scowl: Clarksville borough in Greene County let its workers compensation policy expire in June, and didn’t discover the error until recently. This left the borough’s firefighters and ambulance workers unprotected, and prompted the first-responders to notify the county’s emergency management agency that they temporarily couldn’t respond to calls. The borough is attempting to purchase a replacement policy, but it should never have gotten into this bind. The money was there to pay the premium, but no one bothered to cut a check and take care of fundamental business. Clarksville residents must be wondering what else has an inattentive borough council neglected.
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Wow: Construction of a new Route 40 bridge crossing the Youghiogheny River is under way. Many bridges throughout Pennsylvania are in need of major rehabilitation or replacement, a thought that rarely flits through the minds of drivers as they forge crossings. The Yough bridge carries an increasing load of tourists traveling the route between Somerset and Fayette counties. Those who worked to secure the $25 million needed to replace the bridge deserve a round of applause.
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Wow: Legislation that would work to turn abandoned mines into recreation trails, primarily for ATV use, makes sense. This could solve two problems: recycling scarred landscape that holds little value and finding a place for ATV users to ride without violating laws, trespassing on private property or annoying users of state parks. West Virginia has found success in converting about 425 acres for such use. Pennsylvania should explore doing the same.
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Scowl: We can certainly understand the frustration of California Borough officials who encounter “victims” who fail to follow through on cases by testifying once police investigate and file charges. But an ordinance adopted by borough council that could ultimately lead to police seeking reimbursement for their time might be going too far. The ordinance states that “if in bad faith a person brought charges against a person and then withdraws” they could face charges and fees. We can foresee several problems with this. First, police will tie up even more time in court trying to collect these fees, and secondly, since invoking the ordinance is up to the discretion of the police chief it will be too easy to fall into selective enforcement. Either everyone who backs out of a case is charged or no one is. Picking cases should fail to withstand judicial scrutiny.