TO NEW ERA EDITORS:

I thought the New Era side of the editorial pages was supposed to be Republican, but it's plain to see you should be sticking John Baer over on the Intell side.

Apart from the way he, as a presumed Democrat (from Philadelphia, surprise, surprise), referenced the "Know Nothing Party" and tore into Gov. Corbett, not to mention Rick Santorum, I was decidedly unimpressed at his revelation of the fact that Pennsylvania is "dead last" in the percentage of college grads among the Middle Atlantic states.

Big deal! Third of three? New York and New Jersey are completely different from Pennsylvania (not to mention Delaware, which is sometimes included), and simply do not have, among other considerations, a large Amish population, which tends to skew the results regarding college students. Consider, too, how high the graduation rate is for athletes at Penn State, compared with other colleges. Pennsylvania has nothing to be ashamed of.

Regarding Santorum, Mr. Baer overlooks the fact that Santorum was intelligent enough to recognize the way the liberals had taken over most of our colleges and universities and was able to resist the "siren call" they put forth as they, yes, shamelessly indoctrinate their students. Only strong conservatives, it appears, are able to resist.

Conservative parents, make sure your college students realize this. For that matter, even the elementary and high schools, I am told, are having liberal indoctrination problems. It is insidious and rampant. The nanny state lives!

A few years ago, I saw on TV where someone asked a professor at Duke University why there were so few conservatives among the teachers there. "Conservatives," he archly replied, "aren't smart enough to teach at Duke."

Need I say more?

Mildred K. Henderson

East Hempfield Township