For far too long in history, women have been perceived as chattel, disposable and expendable. This past year we witnessed uprisings in the Middle East during their Arab Spring. Women often fought along side men to oust oppressive regimes. In Bahrain, however, women are still at risk of torture and rape. Yemen women played activists roles in toppling President Saleh, yet still fight vigorously to keep demands for their rights. Libyan women face a multitude of challenges in the face of change so that they may have access to education …

William Butler Yeats wrote, “The innocent and the beautiful have no enemy but time.” Sadly, this is not the case for our youth today, nor it seems, has it been the case for our children for far too many years. Many of our children have not been allotted “time” to be innocent. The revelations and allegations about former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky have made us aware once again that children are far too often victims of prey. And this is certainly not limited to Penn State, or other college …

As a resident of Pennsylvania, I always wanted to attend Penn State. My first foray there was to compete in a forensics tournament. I stayed at the Nittany Lion Inn and was completely awestruck by the beauty of the campus. Even then the name of Joe Paterno, JoePa, was synonymous with Penn State. I did my undergrad work at another university, but did some grad work at Penn State until I started my family.  Still, I called it a home in my heart and have watched many Penn State games …