Letters: Saving Kepler Barn would be a win-win; Thompson’s farm bill hurts the food-insecure
Saving Kepler Barn would be a win-win
I am writing about the slated demolition of the historic Kepler Barn now owned by the university.
While our family appreciates the 30 day “pause” that the university has granted, I fear it is only public relations ploy. Thirty days will come and go quickly with no time for long-term solutions. The Kepler Barn is one of the oldest (over 200 years) and largest bank barns (over 20,000 square feet) and also the largest potato farm in Pennsylvania. Those merits alone should warrant its preservation. Add the connection of it being a possible stop on the Underground Railroad, I do not see how Penn State could consider its destruction. Both my brother and I have memories of playing and hiding in secret passageways in the barn and home along with stories that were passed down in about it being a stop.
We have photographs of the hidden trap doors leading to a hidden room and entrances to caves on the property where we believe the slaves were hidden.
Penn State was founded in 1855 as the first land grant agricultural institution in the state, years before the Civil War. The original Kepler Farm which included my father (Don’s) and my Aunt Millie’s had been in operation for decades before then. Penn State’s motto at the time was “Making Life Better.”
On its seal were the words: ”Virtue, Liberty, and Independence.” Saving this historic structure would certainly incorporate these sentiments. This could be a win-win for both Penn State and the region if the demolition was placed on hold until the Pennsylvania State Historical Society could gather more evidence.
Victoria Kepler Didato, Wooster, Ohio (on behalf of the Kepler family)
Thompson’s farm bill hurts the food-insecure
Glenn Thompson, our Representative in the U.S. House, chairs the agriculture committee. It is responsible for the $1.5 trillion farm bill. Daniel Alters and Dorothy Blair’s May 30 letter in this paper appropriately criticized the bill for its dismissal of climate change and its cuts to protections for farmers in his own district. The bill is also a gut punch to the many food-insecure people who live in his district.
The bill includes a $30 billion cut in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) over the next 10 years. According to Ty Jones Cox, Vice President for Food Assistance at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, “Every SNAP participant would receive less to buy groceries in the future years, putting a healthy diet out of reach for millions of individuals and families with low incomes.’‘
Thompson’s bill lets states outsource the SNAP process to private corporations. Previous efforts in this direction delivered no promised efficiencies, but instead resulted in benefit delays, increased costs, and worsened error rates. In other words, this privatization is one of those bad zombie ideas that refuses to be killed by evidence.
What is remarkable is that Thompson’s district includes some of the food insecure counties in Pennsylvania. The goal of SNAP benefits is to give access to healthy diet for Americans who cannot afford it. Glenn Thompson’s farm bill runs away from this goal and hurts his constituents.
Jesse L. Barlow, State College
Delightful last day of school
Monday morning, June 3, was such a delight at State College Tudek Park with 100 children from Radio Park School walking up from the school, sitting on benches and sidewalks, playing games, happily enjoying their last day of school. Awesome!
So much praise and appreciation to the kids and their teachers and everyone who keeps the park beautifully.
Caroline De Jong, State College
Unfit for office
Even before his felony conviction, Donald Trump’s feckless, destructive and corrupt one-term presidency provided abundant proof that he is unfit for office on many levels.
Each Memorial Day we are reminded of his complete disdain for our men and women in uniform, particularly for those who have paid the ultimate price in protecting our freedom.
Trump has referred to our fallen heroes as “suckers” and “losers,” even sharing that opinion with his then Chief of Staff, decorated General John Kelly, whose own son was killed in action in Afghanistan.
General Kelly accurately stated that Trump “has no understanding of what this country is all about.” Clearly, virtues of honor, duty, courage, sacrifice, and loyalty are completely incomprehensible to him.
Trump, who dodged military service during the Vietnam War with a timely letter from his podiatrist citing bone spurs, disparaged John McCain saying that he “liked people who weren’t captured.” McCain spent five years in captivity enduring torture as a POW in Vietnam. When offered early release, McCain courageously and selflessly refused to leave his comrades behind.
Trump reportedly canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France because the rain would mess his hair and kept disabled veterans out of parades because “that would not be a good look for him.”
This rebuke of Joseph McCarthy comes to mind – “Have you no sense of decency?” A convicted felon with zero respect for our fallen heroes, active military, and democratic heritage is without decency and totally unfit for office.
George Polycranos, Port Matilda
