Bruce Plopper News Today

Concerning the potential closing of Arkansas State Universitys multimedia journalism program, this turn of events might best be characterized by the grammatically incorrect phrase made recognizable through its use in "Network," the 1976 motion picture written by the late playwright, screenwriter and novelist Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky: "Woe is us."

"Away from goodness in the current data base." Thats how Morton Thiokol staff engineer Roger Boisjoly, in a hearing investigating the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, said he described the possibility that the O-rings in Challengers booster rockets would fail.

ST. LOUIS -- A group of ladies, probably in their early 80s, were laughing and moving through the crowd at Busch Stadium.

On his 1960 debut record album titled "The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart," the standup comedian included a short bit called "Nobody will ever play baseball." It was an imagined conversation of a game production companys representative rejecting (and making fun of) Abner Doubledays pitch to sell baseball to the company.

As a graduate of Michigan State Universitys psychology program who also holds an M.A. degree in psychology from Southern Illinois University, my interest in the recent mass shooting on the MSU campus once again piqued my curiosity as to some circumstances surrounding mass shootings.

A fairly new adage, currently available on T-shirts, bumper stickers and refrigerator magnets, reads, "I may be getting old, but I did get to see all the cool bands." While simply written, the adages meaning varies according to ones definitions of "getting old" and "cool."

The 2022 midterm election losers and their supporters may wish to condemn the United States with this infamous Bette Davis quote from her 1949 movie "Beyond the Forest." In that film, Davis was referring to the fictional dwelling she and co-star Joseph Cotten shared, but many real-life humans may feel the same way about their surroundings now that at least most of the votes have been counted.

On Nov. 8, referred Issue 3, known as "A Constitutional Amendment to Create the Arkansas Religious Freedom Amendment," will allow voters to consider religious freedom protection in Arkansas. The proposed amendment, however, entails more than meets the eye.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the strongest civil libertarian to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court since Thurgood Marshall retired in 1991, believed the most famous reproductive freedom case of all time was decided correctly, but for the wrong reason.

Bruce Plopper's recent letter to the editor generated considerable response from valued readers after I asked if other Arkansans also had to pay $3 late fees after their annual license renewal notice arrived past the due date.