Cheer You don’t hear the word “dodransbicentennial” very often. Maybe once in 175 years. But they’re having one this coming week in Zelienople.Dodransbicentennial is the word for a 175th anniversary celebration, and the good denizens of Zelie have planned a week of activities to celebrate theirs.The village was incorporated as a Pennsylvania borough in 1840. Its colorful founding dates back to 1803 and a genuine member of the German aristocracy, Baron Frederick William Dettmar Basse, who named it after his daughter Zelie.The week’s events include a donkey basketball game at 5 p.m. Tuesday in the community park; band concerts Wednesday and Thursday; a community dinner on Friday at St. Gregory Catholic Church; a parade at 11 a.m. Saturday and fireworks at sundown Saturday in the community park.The borough has a dramatic past and a bright future. The word dodransbicentennial translated literally, means “bicentennial minus 25.” It hints that future anniversaries will only get bigger and better.

Jeer Labor unions like to imbue us with a one-big-happy-family vibe. So the public takes notice when Mary Ann Dailey. an associate professor of nursing at Slippery Rock University, filed a complaint against the union that represents faculty and coaches in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.According to Dailey’s complaint, the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties — APSCUF — overcharges its members’ dues, then makes the members jump through hoops to claim a rebate.If they fail to respond, APSCUF keeps the money for its political action committee. And if a member decides one year to contribute the rebate back to APSCUF, the union assumes it gets to keep the money in subsequent years.That’s organizational bullying. APSCUF is taking advantage of its union members, confiscating their money and keeping it unless the members specifically demand its return.Never mind that the union exists to protect and advance the interests of its members, or that the members have a contractual obligation to support APSCUF or lose their job.The union should seek a voluntary settlement with Professor Dailey. It should stop the practice of overcharging dues and return the money to its membership. Furthermore, APSCUF officials should solicit PAC contributions like everybody else: by presenting their view of issues and persuading membership support.In the dues collection game, persuasion involves more work than confiscation. But it’s honest work.

Cheer The presidency wasn’t always a big-money venture, but it is today, especially for past presidents. Speaking engagements, lucrative book deals and foundation work have made all our living former presidents wealthy.Of the four living former president, Bill Clinton’s net worth exceeds $55 million, according to data compiled in 2010. George W. Bush has $20 million at his disposal; George H.W. Bush has $25 million; Jimmy Carter is worth $7 million.Despite the Oval Office retirees’ personal largess, American taxpayers still pay for many of their expenses. We’re currently paying $3.5 million in annual pensions and benefits to the four living former presidents, including $1.3 million for George W. Bush and $950,000 for Clinton, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service. Most of that money was for sprawling office space in Dallas and New York, respectively.That could change soon. Last week, the House Oversight Committee backed a measure to limit taxpayer dollars for expenses, including travel, incurred by ex-presidents whose earnings exceed $400,000 a year.The oversight committee acted just days after Hillary Rodham Clinton reported that she and her husband earned more than $30 million combined in speaking fees and book royalties since January 2014. The earnings put the couple in the top 1/10th of 1 percent of all Americans.The House bill would set presidential pensions at $200,000 a year, nearly the same as the current amount, with an additional $200,000 set aside for office space and other expenses. The bill would reduce expense payments by $1 for every dollar above $400,000 earned by a former president.That seems fair, even patriotic. And the ex-presidents are so busy making money in the private sector, they might not even miss it.— T.A.H.