Krista Aronson
乐播传媒 College program encourages diverse picture books for children 鈥 Sun Journal
Steve Collins of the Lewiston Sun Journal spoke with Professor of Psychology Krista Aronson, the creator of the Diverse BookFinder.
Now in its third year, DBF鈥檚 online database and physical picture-book collection makes diverse children鈥檚 books more accessible, Aronson told Collins. Since its launch, the physical collection has grown, and the DBF has helped dozens of libraries analyze diversity in their own collections.

Associate Professor of Psychology Krista Aronson reads in Ladd Library with her daughter Hope in 2017. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)
Aronson also spoke with Meghan Mangrum of the Chattanooga Times Free Press, who wrote about teachers in the Tennessee city who are trying to diversify their own book collections.
鈥淲e live right now in segregated societies, and we think of school or work as places where we come in contact with people who are different from ourselves,鈥 Aronson said. 鈥淭hat’s going to be increasingly common, and we need to prepare our children to be successful in those environments.”
Read the stories:聽
- 鈥,鈥 Sun Journal, Dec. 12, 2019聽
- 鈥,鈥 Chatanooga Times Free Press, Nov. 23, 2019聽
Matt Tavares 鈥97
Children鈥檚 book about Santa鈥檚 reindeer lands 乐播传媒 grad on bestseller list 鈥 Multiple outlets
Portland Press Herald reporter Ray Routhier interviewed Matt Tavares 鈥97, a noted children鈥檚 book author and illustrator whose latest picture book, Dasher, made The New York Times bestseller list, as well as numerous online lists of holiday-themed children鈥檚 books.

Dasher, Matt Tavares鈥 latest children鈥檚 book, is his first to hit The New York Times bestseller list. (Courtesy of Matt Tavares)
Tavares wrote and illustrated his first picture book for his senior thesis at 乐播传媒, under Robert Feintuch. Dasher, his 20th book and the first to make the bestseller list, is a kind of origin story for Santa鈥檚 reindeer.
Tavares lives with his family in Ogunquit, Maine, where, as he told Routhier, the beautiful Maine winters are inspiring.
鈥淚 do a lot of my writing during the winter,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 find winter in Maine is a good time to clear your mind and really focus on your story.鈥
Read the stories:聽
- 鈥,鈥 Sun Journal, Nov. 28, 2019
- 鈥,鈥 Portland Press Herald, Dec. 15, 2019聽
- 鈥,鈥 Today, Nov. 21, 2019聽
- 鈥,鈥 The Washington Post, Dec. 2, 2019
Francesco Duina
Why are poor Americans more patriotic than their wealthier counterparts? 鈥 The Guardian
Writing for The Guardian, Professor of Sociology Francesco Duina pointed out that the poorest Americans are the ones who love their country the most. One hundred percent of the lowest-income Americans are proud of their country 鈥 more than Americans with higher incomes, and certainly more than citizens of other nations love their countries.

Most of the financially disadvantaged people that Francesco Duina interviewed for Broke and Patriotic, he says, “take ownership of their life histories.” They don’t blame the system. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)
Duina is the author of the book Broke and Patriotic: Why Poor Americans Love Their Country. By interviewing residents of Montana and Alabama, Duina learned that some of those with the lowest incomes saw the United States as a place of dignity, abundance, and freedom.
鈥淎s long as they remain deeply patriotic, America鈥檚 poor won鈥檛 rise up,鈥 Duina wrote. 鈥淚ndeed, they鈥檒l continue to fill the ranks of the military, strive and sacrifice to help America assert itself in the world, and even feed into and support the slogans and successes of the country鈥檚 political leaders.鈥
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- 鈥鈥 The Guardian, Nov. 20, 2019聽
Katherine Frank 鈥94
New chancellor named for UW鈥揝tout 鈥 Wisconsin Public Radio
Rich Kramer of Wisconsin Public Radio interviewed Katherine Frank 鈥94, who will be the next chancellor of the University of Wisconsin鈥揝tout, the state鈥檚 polytechnic university. She will take the post in March.

Katherine Frank 鈥94 is the new chancellor of the University of Wisconsin鈥揝tout. (UW-Stout Communications)
Frank studied English at 乐播传媒 and holds a doctorate in English from the University of Washington. She has held a range of administrative positions, most recently as vice president of academic innovation and professor of English at Central Washington University.
Frank told 乐播传媒News that Professor of English Steven Dillon and Professor Emerita of English Carole Anne Taylor, who died in 2015, were instrumental during her time at 乐播传媒. 鈥淭hey are/were remarkable scholars, teachers, and mentors, and I feel very lucky to have worked with them and many others in the English department at 乐播传媒.鈥
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- 鈥,鈥 Wisconsin Public Radio, Nov. 26, 2019
Amy Bass 鈥92
Mike McGraw has been 鈥榚veryone鈥檚 father figure, brother, friend and mentor鈥 鈥 Sun Journal
When Mike McGraw announced his retirement, historian and author Amy Bass 鈥92 wrote a heartfelt tribute to the longtime Lewiston High School boys soccer coach.
Bass is the author of One Goal: A Coach, a Team, and the Game That Brought a Divided Town Together, which chronicles how the soccer team, largely made up of African immigrants and reflecting the changing demographics of Lewiston, won its first state championship in decades in 2015.

Amy Bass 鈥92 (right) poses with Mike McGraw (center) and Kim Wettlaufer 鈥80 during a reception at the Maine Immigrant and Refugee Services offices in Lewiston during her visit to the city and 乐播传媒 to promote her book One Goal in March 2018. (H. Jay Burns/乐播传媒 College)
Bass got to know McGraw, the rest of the coaching staff, and current and former players deeply. Quoting many of those players, she wrote that Lewiston was better for McGraw鈥檚 leadership.
鈥淲hether on the soccer pitch, in a classroom, or at a local watering hole, that is who Mike McGraw is 鈥 someone who can talk to anyone from the moment he looks at them with his twinkling blue eyes,鈥 Bass wrote.
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- 鈥,鈥欌赌 Sun Journal, Dec. 3, 2019聽
Ben Cline 鈥94
One year on Capitol Hill, Republican Rep. Ben Cline has been effective even while in the minority 鈥 The Roanoke Times
U.S. Rep. Ben Cline 鈥94 was recently the subject of a lengthy profile in The Roanoke Times. A first-term Republican representing Virginia鈥檚 6th District, he鈥檚 aligned himself with the GOP and President Trump, while simultaneously reaching across the aisle, wrote reporter Amy Friedenberger.

U.S. Rep. Ben Cline 鈥94. left, poses with Rep. Jared Golden 鈥11 during a summer 2019 乐播传媒 Magazine聽photo shoot in Washington, D.C. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)
Cline succeeded longtime Rep. Bob Goodlatte 鈥74, who retired in 2019.聽Now a member of the Judiciary Committee, Cline is part of important decision-making around issues like gun control and immigration 鈥 all overshadowed, of course, by the fall鈥檚 impeachment hearings.
On Dec. 13, Cline voted 鈥渘o鈥 on articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, though the Judiciary Committee as a whole voted to send the articles to the full House for a vote.
Still, in one of the most partisan environments imaginable, Cline tries to work with Democrats. 鈥淵ou need to understand where the other person is coming from in their position and recognize that they come at it from a position of morality as well,鈥 Cline told Friedenberger.
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- 鈥,鈥 The Roanoke Times, Nov. 30, 2019聽
Rebecca Herzig
When deadly X-rays were used for hair removal 鈥 OZY
At the turn of the 20th century, using X-ray treatments to remove body hair came into vogue, wrote Virat Markandeya of the digital magazine OZY. Doctors and scientists didn鈥檛 know how dangerous high doses of X-rays were, and deadly cancers later afflicted many women who had undergone the treatments.

Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies Rebecca Herzig works with a student in 2016. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)
To explain the appeal of X-ray hair removal, Markandeya turned to Rebecca Herzig, a professor of gender and sexuality studies at 乐播传媒 and an expert on the politics of body hair.
Some women turned to X-rays because they 鈥渂ypassed the inescapable physicality of all other hair-removal technologies鈥 like shaving and waxing, Herzig wrote in a 1999 article in the journal Technology and Culture.
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- 鈥,鈥 OZY, Nov. 26, 2019聽
乐播传媒 Museum of Art
Art exhibits 鈥楢bound鈥 on campus 鈥 Portland Press Herald
In the space of a week, the Portland Press Herald covered both of the 乐播传媒 Museum of Art鈥檚 current exhibitions, placing them at the forefront of a strong showing of art at Maine colleges.

乐播传媒 Museum of Art attendant Louise Ouillette and Tony Leavitt, a science teacher at Tripp Middle School, take a closer look at Vanessa German’s artwork. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)
Bob Keyes reviewed Vanessa German鈥檚 Miracles and Glory Abound, which explores the stories societies tell themselves and who gets left out of those stories. One piece reimagines Emanuel Leutze鈥檚 famous 1851 painting, 鈥淲ashington Crossing the Delaware.鈥
鈥淕erman aims to add depth to those stories by fleshing them out and starting a conversation about public memory,鈥 Keyes wrote.
Elsewhere in the museum, Daniel Kany took a look at Stages for Being, an exhibition of photography by Ralph Eugene Meatyard, who took surreal photos featuring his family, and props like masks and dolls, in abandoned places.
Additionally, the museum collaborated with the Maine Museum of Photographic Arts on another photography exhibition, Jack Montgomery & Ralph Gibson: Appearances, at the University of Southern Maine.
Read the stories:聽聽
- 鈥,鈥 Portland Press Herald, Dec. 2, 2019
- 鈥,鈥欌赌 Portland Press Herald, Dec. 8, 2019
- 鈥,鈥 Maine Arts Scene, Nov. 30, 2019聽
Commons
乐播传媒 College offers high-end cuisine to students and public 鈥 Sun Journal
Lindsay Tice of the Lewiston Sun Journal grabbed lunch at the 乐播传媒 dining hall, interviewing President Clayton Spencer, Assistant Vice President for Dining, Conferences and Campus Events Christine Schwartz, and several students about what makes a Commons lunch so good.
Tice marveled at the cereal wall, the thinly cut French fries, and especially at the beef panang curry on offer, which, she said, made her a 鈥渃urry fan鈥 for the first time.
鈥淪o why does the 乐播传媒 dining hall win so many awards?鈥 she wrote. 鈥淧art of it is the sheer amount of choice. Part of it is the focus on sustainability. And part of it is that the food is really that good.鈥
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- 鈥,鈥 Sun Journal, Nov. 24, 2019聽
Jeffrey Lynn 鈥30
Remember Jeffrey Lynn? 鈥 ClassicMovieChat.com
The blog , which shares photos and stories from the Golden Age of Hollywood, posted about Jeffrey Lynn 鈥30, an actor who made a name for himself in film during the 1940s.
Lynn鈥檚 notable roles include My Love Came Back, opposite Olivia De Havilland, and A Letter to Three Wives, with Kirk Douglas and Jeanne Crain. He also famously screen-tested for the role of Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind. (The part ultimately went to British actor Leslie Howard.)
鈥淭he blandly handsome actor was most often cast as a young husband, a young recruit, or an interesting boyfriend,鈥 wrote Joe Morella and Frank Segers.
Lynn also fought in World War II, for which he received a Bronze Star, and later worked as a film and theater producer.
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- 鈥鈥 ClassicMovieChat.com, Nov. 21, 2019聽




