Keri Marable, Staff

As it gets closer to November, campaigns and election talks ramp up. One conversation that comes up during election season is the representation of women. The disparity between the total population of women compared to how many get elected or appointed has grown smaller in recent years, but when looking at the history of the number of women representatives in the swing state of Pennsylvania, the lack of representation of women in Pennsylvania has been and still is prominent. That could change this election season, with a record number of women running for state office. 

The Pennsylvania Center for Women & Politics at Chatham University cites statistics that show despite making up 50.6% of the population in Pennsylvania (US Census Bureau, 2021), women only make up 29.2% of the Pennsylvania General Assembly (PCWP, 2022). Of the 74 women in the General Assembly, 60 are members of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, making up 29.5% of the House. The State Senate has 50 members in total, 14 of which are women, putting the percentage of women in the State Senate at 28%. The percentage of women in the General Assembly has grown from 4% to about 30% in the last 100 years since 1923 (PCWP, 2022).

The Center also notes that of the 13 elective executive office positions in Pennsylvania, just five of these positions have been held by only 11 women since the first woman was elected to a Pennsylvania Executive Office position in 1955 (PCWP, 2022). The first woman elected to an executive office in 1955 held the Secretary of Internal Affairs position and has been the only woman ever to do so. Four women have held the position of State Treasurer since 1961. Two women have held the position of Auditor General since 1965. Only one woman has been elected Lt. Governor before, in 2003. Two women have held the position of Attorney General, the first one elected in 2011 and the second appointed in 2013.

Pennsylvania has never had a female Governor (unless one counts the wife of state founder William Penn, who governed the colony for 14 years, though many discounts her despite her vast contributions), a Chief of Staff to the Governor, Commissioner of Insurance, Public Utility Commission, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Conservation and Resources, Secretary of Education, Labor or State (PCWP, 2022).

The first-time women were appointed to the Governor’s Executive Staff was in 2015. In the 19 Governor’s Executive Staff positions, 12 are currently women. There has only ever been a total of 18 women who have worked in positions of the Governor’s Executive Staff. Only 12 women have ever held a cabinet position, with the first one appointed in 2015. Women currently hold seven of the 22 cabinet positions (PCWP, 2022). 

These numbers go to show that in recent years the representation of women has grown in the Pennsylvania state government, but a representation of women in the state government, in general, didn’t exist until just before the 1950s and some positions have not been held by a woman until just a few years ago. Even now, despite making up half the state population, women only get less than a third of representation in the General Assembly. 

While there are many factors that go into a lack of representation of women in the state government, the first step in getting more women in office is to recognize the women who are running for elected positions. Over 130 women are running for a Pennsylvania state government electoral position this 2022 election season: one woman is running for Lt. Governor; nine women are running for PA representatives in the United States Congress; 20 women are running for Pennsylvania State Senate, and over 100 women are running for a position in the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives.

The Pennsylvania Center for Women & Politics at Chatham University details all  the women running and their platforms on their website. The center’s mission, according to its website, is “to increase women’s influence and leadership in public life in Pennsylvania and improve the quality of women’s lives by providing them with educational and training opportunities in politics and public policy” (PCWP, 2022). They accomplish this through their different programs, including NEWLeadership, a leadership program for women in college, as well as the ReadytoRun Pennsylvania Campaign Training for women looking to run for election. Some of the women running for office in PA now have gone through the ReadytoRun training at Chatham University. Learn more about  those women and all the other women running for election this electoral season in PA at https://www.chatham.edu/pcwp/research/election/

Claire Ortiz and Luke Szyszkiewicz, Staff Writers

This week, we took a little trip over the bridge (the Betsy, my favorite bridge) to New Jersey, the Garden State. Waking up at 7 AM on a Saturday is never easy, but the reward of bagels always makes it so much easier. Originally, we had planned to embark on a trip into Philly to review a place in the city, but Claire convinced me to drive to my home state for the bagels of my childhood. Always a good call. 

Bagelati is a relatively new place, opening a few years ago. However, it does have the same owner as my bagel place as a child, so the taste is largely nostalgic for me. Although we said we were changing up our review style and getting one sandwich and one with cream cheese, neither of us could resist the draw that a bagel sandwich just seems to have. Naturally, Claire ordered a sausage, egg, and cheese on a poppy bagel, while I ordered a bacon, egg, and cheese on an everything bagel. These bagels and the respective sandwiches were “scrum-diddly-umptious,” so said Claire. 

The bagels themselves were perfectly sized, warm, crispy but airy; an almost perfect bagel. The only things we would change would be to add some more filling on the sandwich, as well as seed the bagels just a tad more. Overall, we would rate this place a 4.25/5, our BEST rating yet. 

Catch us next week when we’re back in Pennsylvania at Fill A Bagel in Jenkintown. Go Phils!

Luke Szyszkiewicz and Claire Ortiz, Staff Writers

Welcome back to Bagel Reviews with Luke and Claire! Today, we’ll be reviewing Paulines! But actually, only Claire will be reviewing Pauline’s, as she got a bagel, I did not. 

As always, she ordered a sausage egg and cheese on a plain bagel. They don’t have poppy bagels, a strike against them. She really enjoyed it! We always enjoy Pauline’s. Although I didn’t order a bagel, and therefore my review doesn’t matter for this place, the Breakfast Crunchwrap was incredible. My personal favorite on the menu, and what I would recommend to anyone. 

Although this is a shorter review, that does not mean we hated it. We love Pauline’s, everyone does. Overall, a rating of 3/5 Gritty’s would be the verdict, and its locality to La Salle makes it the most popular spot for student’s to get their breakfast sandwich fix on Saturday mornings.

Luke Szyszkiewicz and Claire Ortiz, Staff Writers

Welcome back to Bagel Reviews with Claire and Luke. This week, we took a trip just outside of city limits to the ‘burbs. Our bagel quest took us to Horsham. Just wanna give a quick shoutout to Joanna, weekly reader, and  my sister, for treating us to the bagels. 

This new spot, Bagels and Bread House, was a quaint little spot with such a cool vibe. We really enjoyed it. The everything bagel in particular was quite nice, and a little different than usual. Most everything bagels don’t include salt, this one did. I liked that a lot. I wish they had seasoned the bagels a bit more though. I, of course, got a bacon egg and cheese on an everything bagel. Claire got a sausage egg and cheese on a poppy bagel, as usual. The filling of the sandwich was quite nice compared to others we’ve reviewed, but the bagel itself could have been just a little bit more seeded. Overall, we’re gonna give it a 3.75/5 Gritty’s. Comparing it to Trops, we enjoyed the filling here more, as well as the choices of bagels. Our best review yet! 

Tune in next week for our review of La Salle’s local breakfast place and fan favorite, Pauline’s Deli.

Luke Szyszkiewicz and Claire Ortiz, Staff Writers

This week, Claire and I got bagels at the place closest to home: the Dining Hall. During Breakfast for Dinner Week, we were blessed with a night of build-your-own breakfast sandwiches, and we couldn’t turn it down.  It was practically BEGGING us to review. It derailed our original plans for the upcoming weekend, a trip to Pauline’s which will be reviewed soon!

Now, keep in mind we only rate things in terms of Gritty’s, the wackiest Philadelphia mascot. Our choices were bacon AND sausage (big points from Claire), eggs, and a few different cheeses that I don’t remember the name of. Anyway, I chose a bacon, egg, and cheese, OBVIOUSLY. They only had plain bagels though. SO sad. Claire got a sausage, egg, and cheese, and she loved it. We both added some maple syrup to the bagel, which is an homage to her favorite bagel place, which sadly is outside of the Greater Philadelphia Area, and won’t be reviewed (yet!). An honest review, from Luke, a 2 out of 5. The bagel itself was nothing to write about, but the filling was honestly delish, better than I expected. Claire gave it a 2.5! out of 5. She was ecstatic about the addition of sausage to the menu, and that bumped up the score for her. Overall, we’d rate it a 2.25/5 Gritties. Tune in next week for our review on Bagel and Bread House in Horsham, PA.

Luke Szyszkiewicz and Claire Ortiz, Staff Writers

In a new series for the Collegian, Claire and I look to peruse and rank the BEST bagel places in the Greater Philadelphia Area. Why bagels do you ask? I just really enjoy bagels. Top tier breakfast food. 

Today, we visited Philly Style Bagels in Fishtown. A measly 45-minute train commute to Fishtown brought us to this small hole in the wall bagel place. Now, keep in mind I only rate things in terms of Gritties, the wackiest Philadelphia mascot. Back to bagels. As always, I ordered a bacon, egg, and cheese on a toasted everything bagel. Simply my favorite. Claire, begrudgingly, also ordered a bacon, egg, and cheese, due to it being the only type of breakfast sandwich on the menu. MAJOR red flag. 

The first thing we noticed about these bagels was the size of them, and not in a good way. These had to be the smallest bagels in the history of bagels. They were nice and doughy though, with a nice crust. Props for that. The next issue that arose was the filling of the breakfast sandwich. An exact quote describing it:

“You know the square scrambled eggs you would get at a high school cafeteria?”-Claire

Lots of issues with this bagel place. Not much to rank positively in this list, but it did just enough to avoid the bottom of the barrel ranking. We would give it 2/5 Gritties.