Brady W. Wassom

State College

Among most U.S. historians, many agree that Pennsylvania’s own James Buchanan is at the top of the “Worst President of the United States” list. Notwithstanding some of the less than ideal Presidents of this century, it’s really hard to argue with this widely held opinion. Buchanan, among other things, was at best a lackadaisical puppet whose indecisiveness led to our worst public tragedy, the Civil War. Two percent of the U.S. population died as a result of that debacle. Think about that — if 2% of the present U.S. population died from a civil war today, it would mean that 6.8 million of our neighbors, family members and friends would perish. And while this isn’t a piece to lower the temperature of the foolish and insane rhetoric about our “divided nation” or “beginnings of another Civil War,” maybe you’re responsible for some of that rhetoric and will thoughtfully reflect on it before reading on.

But President Buchanan was also actively foolish. While the Civil War was bad enough, it took President Lincoln to see the error of Buchanan’s ways and sign the Morrill Act into law in 1862. In 1859, Buchanan vetoed the law, which was passed by Congress. The Morrill Act created Land Grant Universities. So, to summarize, our Commonwealth’s own James Buchanan vetoed a law that ultimately created The Pennsylvania State University, a public good in this county, Commonwealth and throughout the world that is difficult to match in its positive reach and influence. What a terrible legacy.

Fast forward to today — that public good’s own Board of Trustees voted to “wind down” WPSU, the institution’s radio station which has been in existence in some form or fashion for more than 72 years. Having never donated to WPSU during one of their myriad membership drives nor attending PSU as anything other than a conference attendee, I may seem like an unlikely opponent of the board’s vote. But I, unlike many in our Commonwealth and country, have always been a supporter of public broadcasting and am more than comfortable with the pittance that these public goods receive from my tax dollars. Is their bias in public broadcasting? Of course! But there’s also a diversity of programming, opinions and thought that can be gleaned from its airwaves, which aside from the cost of a radio, are free to anyone that will listen. And if you don’t believe me, just ask Alex Jones!

I recognize that there are difficult financial realities that require thoughtful balancing of costs and benefits. But WPSU, like PSU, is a public good and the Board of Trustees is hurting almost half a million listeners in our area because it seems like they are losing sight of what President Lincoln knew was right. What a terrible legacy.