乐播传媒

A selection of recent mentions of 乐播传媒 and 乐播传媒 people in the news media.

Bonney Science Center

A cover story by Mainebiz about the new Bonney Science Center explains how the cutting-edge facility fits within the college’s $75 million, equity-driven drive to improve STEM facilities and education.

Mainebiz reporter Laurie Schreiber writes that “Bonney鈥檚 design approach 鈥� with versatile spaces that promote interaction and teamwork 鈥� reflects a 21st-century pedagogy that leaves behind the conventional lecture-followed-by-lab model and instead encourages hands-on student engagement, innovation, inclusivity and transparency.”

Schreiber reports that the Bonney Center is part of a sweeping effort to revamp and modernize the college’s STEM spaces, including Carnegie Science Hall and Dana Chemistry Hall, that “touches nearly 174,000 square feet” of 乐播传媒 STEM space, with a keen focus on building and sustaining a sense of community and mutual support among faculty and students.

In terms of achieving greater equity in STEM teaching, the Bonney building is “a leveler,” explains 乐播传媒 President Clayton Spencer. “Bonney will allow us to optimize excellence as it鈥檚 understood now, which is to be inclusive with a wide range of interests and backgrounds, and to give students early experience” in science research.

Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs Malcolm Hill tells Schreiber that “you can鈥檛 overlook the fact that facilities like this are a clear signal about our serious commitment to doing intellectual scholarly work at a high level.

鈥淥ur scientists on the faculty, who are nationally recognized scholars in their own right, have a new facility that they can do their work in. That fosters a sense that this is the place you want to be, and helps us as we think about recruiting the next generation of faculty to the campus.鈥� 

In his editor’s note, Peter Van Allen puts the investment into the context of recent Lewiston economic development.

“Lewiston is seeing a surge of investment. Maine鈥檚 second-largest city has historic buildings, raw space and ample room for growth. The ingredients have been in place, but now the city is cooking up something special,” he writes. “乐播传媒 College is investing millions of dollars in STEM education, led by President Clayton Spencer.”

Read the story: “,” Mainebiz, June 14, 2021

Katie Burke 鈥�03

The Boston Globe checks in with Katie Burke 鈥�03, chief people officer at HubSpot, for a story about the look and feel of post-pandemic in-person work spaces. For one, meetings will likely be a lot shorter, with people less willing to sit together in rooms for long periods.

More broadly, Burke says that businesses must think both about 鈥渢he workspace we want to go back to鈥� and 鈥渢he workforce we want to create,鈥� versus 鈥渞eacting to the things that have changed overnight because of COVID-19.鈥�

• Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� The Boston Globe, April 22, 2021

Stephen Engel, Politics faculty

Professor of Politics and Faculty Fellow in Student Affairs Stephen Engel was a guest on WOSU Public Media鈥檚 All Sides with Ann Fisher, tackling an array of LGBTQ+ related topics as Pride Month celebrations returned with gusto after a quiet 2020 due to the pandemic. 

Engel, who is coauthor of a new book, Disrupting Dignity: Rethinking Power and Progress in LGBTQ Lives (NYU Press, 2021), spoke about using the return of Pride as an opportunity to embrace it with fresh perspective, welcoming the concept of 鈥渓iving extra.鈥� Engel鈥檚 coauthor is Timothy Lyle, an assistant professor of English at Iona College who taught at 乐播传媒 in 2014鈥�15.

Within Engel鈥檚 field of constitutional law, the concept of dignity has become a cornerstone of gay rights, but it鈥檚 important to remain 鈥渁 little bit skeptical鈥� of what the word implies and even dictates.

鈥淒ignity often connotes a kind of strength, a quietness,鈥� he said, but the LGBTQ+ community shouldn鈥檛 shy away from living loudly. 鈥淚n our search for rights recognition we have often been compelled to silence,鈥� he said. 鈥淭o kind of treat our equality as sameness to the norm as opposed to embracing our full humanity.鈥� 

• Listen to the story: 鈥�,鈥� WOSU Public Media, June 8, 2021
• Engel and Lyle on , June 24, 2021 
• Engel on the June 15, 2021

Jim Athearn 鈥�70

The Vineyard Gazette profiles Jim Athearn 鈥�70 and his family, owners of Morning Glory Farm, 鈥渁 community fixture鈥� on Martha’s Vineyard, writes Maia Coleman.

The farm, Coleman says, 鈥渋s responsible for a good percentage of the island鈥檚 local food resources, and preserving large swaths of land from development 鈥� all governed by basic principles of farming and a guiding philosophy of fairness.鈥�

Athearn and his wife, Debbie, are now turning farm operations over to their children. And while farm operations adapt and change, the family piece of the puzzle stays the same.

鈥淭he community has been telling us every year they want this to be happening,鈥� Debbie said. 鈥淭he customers wanting us to do it is the positive reinforcement that we get. It鈥檚 the driving force.鈥�

• Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� Vineyard Gazette, May 27, 2021

Andrew Baker, History faculty

鈥淪tunning,鈥� is how Book Trib reviewer Claudia Keenan describes a new book by Assistant Professor of History Andrew Baker that 鈥渓ays bare [the] legacy鈥� of an infamous mass assault on a Black neighborhood in New Orleans in 1900.

To Poison a Nation: The Murder of Robert Charles and the Rise of Jim Crow Policing chronicles how Charles resisted arrest on a July night in 1900, wounding a police officer in the process, which prompted a three-day manhunt and white mob-led siege of Charles鈥� neighborhood. 

Charles killed seven white men before his own death in a bloody shootout, and the violence of his acts was then used for justification for continued attacks against the Black community. 鈥淎s Baker leads the reader across a century, from the 1870s to the 1970s, he demonstrates how Jim Crow transformed itself in the modern era but never went extinct,鈥� Keenan writes.

Meanwhile Kirkus also weighed in on To Poison a Nation in June, describing its 鈥渋ntricate narrative鈥� and calling it 鈥渁 nuanced history of a Black man unable to improve his status in a racist world who was ultimately no longer willing to cower to white hostility.鈥�

• Read the BookTrib review: 鈥溾�� BookTrib, June 15, 2021
• Read the Kirkus review: , May 15, 2021

Lisa Genova 鈥�92

Adrian Gomez of the Albuquerque Journal talks to best-selling author Lisa Genova ’92, who appears in a new PBS documentary, Build a Better Memory Through Science.

Gomez notes that Genova has 鈥渃aptured a special place in contemporary fiction, writing stories that are equally inspired by neuroscience and the human spirit,鈥� through books like Still Alice, Left Neglected, Love Anthony, Inside the O鈥橞riens, and Every Note Played.

Her first nonfiction book, Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting, was published in March.

For the vast majority of people worried about their memory, Genova has this advice: You can鈥檛 recall a memory that you don鈥檛 have. 鈥淲hat it boils down to for 99% of people is that we don鈥檛 pay attention.鈥� We need to be more mindful and present. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 form a memory if it never enters the memory.鈥�

• Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� Albuquerque Journal, June 4, 2021

Myronn Hardy, English faculty

The Portland Press Herald鈥檚 poetry column featured “Bluebells” by Lecturer in English Myronn Hardy.

Introducing the poem, Megan Grambling notes that the 鈥渂eautiful lyric poem鈥� reminds us that 鈥渟pringtime is not all ease and release: The transition away from winter and dark can sometimes have its difficult or bittersweet moments.鈥�

• Read the poem: 鈥�,鈥� Portland Press Herald, May 23, 2021

Brennen Malone 鈥�17

The New York Times praises Brennen Malone 鈥�17 in his role as Juicy, the Hamlet character in an update of Shakespeare that’s set at a Southern barbecue.

Reviewer Jesse Green says that Juicy is 鈥渁s unusual a hero as Hamlet was, but less for what he might become than for what he already is. Asthmatic and 鈥榯hicc,鈥� he variously calls himself weird, an empath, and 鈥榓 big 鈥檕le sissy鈥�…. If he is thus a misfit in a world of over-armored men, he is also, in Malone鈥檚 lovely, unpushy performance, sexy and sympathetic. 

鈥淢alone delivers Hamlet鈥檚 鈥榳hat a piece of work is man鈥� speech nearly verbatim but in such a conversational tone that you hear its ambivalence (鈥淢an delights not me: no, nor woman neither鈥�) as if for the first time.鈥�

In this Southern, Black setting, 鈥渢he larger social problem of violence against Black men need hardly be spoken,鈥� Green writes. 鈥淛uicy just assumes that stories like his family鈥檚 must always end in death. 鈥楥ause this a tragedy,鈥� he says. 鈥榃e tragic.鈥欌��

• Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� The New York Times, April 29, 2021

Ther铆 Pickens, English faculty

A Salon story, originally published on Undark, about the impact of COVID-19 on disabled Americans quotes Professor of English Ther铆 Pickens.

Reporter Izz Scott Lamagdeleine writes that obstacles and oversights faced by disabled people, 鈥渁re more pronounced for members of marginalized communities.鈥� For example, disabled people of color are reported to child welfare systems at a higher rate because they are experiencing both racism and ableism.

Pickens, who is the author of Black Madness :: Mad Blackness, a study of the relationship between Blackness and disability, says members of the Black community may be cautious to identify themselves as disabled because 鈥淏lackness in its inception in the U.S. has often been linked with disability as deficiency, so Blackness as disability.鈥�

Pickens also notes that disabled parents, along with Black and Brown communities at-large, haven鈥檛 been prioritized for vaccines because of a cultural narrative surrounding the expectation of disability. 

For 鈥減eople like us who have a disability but are below the ages of 65 or 70,鈥� she said, 鈥渄isability is not expected of us. It is assumed the elderly take precedence because we expect the elderly to be disabled, and that鈥檚 a narrative that we understand.鈥�

• Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� Salon, May 16, 2021

Emily Kane, Sociology faculty

Clothing retailers are moving away from gendered clothing for very young children, but most still have a pink=girls and boys=blue approach, writes Jennifer Barton in InStyle. 

鈥淎t a time when fashion (and everything else) is making strides toward inclusivity, acceptance, and a richness of expression to match the many ways humans express their identities, this progress is rare to find in the kids鈥� section鈥� of most clothing retailers, writes Barton.

For clarity, Barton turns to Professor of Sociology Emily Kane, author of The Gender Trap: Parents and the Pitfalls of Raising Boys and Girls.

Yes, it鈥檚 troubling, Kane says, that many children 鈥渘ever get a chance to find out what interests or tendencies they might have if we start color-coding, sorting, and categorizing them before they even have any chance to tell us anything themselves.鈥� 

Research by Kane and others, Barton writes, 鈥減oints to everything from occupational segregation to wage gaps down the line as issues that are inadvertently reinforced by concepts like hyper-gendered clothing and toys.

“It鈥檚 not too far-reaching to see how T-shirts branding girls as 鈥楥ute鈥� and boys as 鈥楤oss鈥� show the different values we place on women and men in our society.鈥�

• Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� InStyle, June 7, 2021

Patricia Buck, Education faculty

During 2020鈥�21, a group of 乐播传媒 students mentored Lewiston Middle School students with a focus on racial equality, with an initial goal to introduce the concept of implicit bias into the school鈥檚 curriculum.

鈥淐onversations quickly turned to how Black students in middle school were more frequently called out for wearing hats and hoods in school than white students,鈥� writes Lewiston Sun Journal reporter Bonnie Washuk.

The group ultimately tackled the school dress code, building a case to eliminate a rule that prohibits hats and hoods in school. (Lewiston schools will consider a change this summer.) The 乐播传媒 students helped the middle-schoolers make their case, but it was most rewarding to watch youngsters 鈥渢ake ownership and take over鈥� the effort, says Associate Professor of Education Patricia Buck.

• Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� Lewiston Sun Journal, June 6, 2021

乐播传媒 student volunteers

Nearly 60 乐播传媒 students volunteered to tutor Lewiston High School students during 2020鈥�21, a boon to the local school in a pandemic year that saw high school students struggle with remote instruction. 

The tutoring was organized by the high school鈥檚 Aspirations Program, named the 2021 Community Partner of the Year by the Maine Campus Compact. The compact is a coalition of 17 college campuses 鈥� including 乐播传媒 鈥� whose purpose is to 鈥渞einvigorate the civic mission of higher education.鈥�

• Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� Lewiston Sun Journal, May 1, 2021

James Hughes, Economics faculty

A Wallet Hub story about car insurance turns to Thomas Sowell Professor Emeritus of Economics James W. Hughes to explain the question of fairness in car insurance rates.

For example, is it fair that companies charge such high rates to insure a teenage male driver? 

鈥淚 believe most people, when they stop and think about it, think that it is 鈥榝air鈥� for people to pay premiums commensurate with their risk of loss,鈥� Hughes says. 

鈥淭hus, teen boys pay more for insurance than a father of three. Is it perfect to group all teen boys as higher risks? No, as there are very safe teen drivers. But the errors there are thought to be fewer than charging one price for everyone.鈥�

• Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� Wallet Hub, June 4, 2021

Erin Reed 鈥�08

The Lewiston Sun Journal turns to Erin Reed 鈥�08, executive director of Trinity Jubilee Center, for a story about the mettle shown by new Mainers in their quest to find jobs, and the support services they now find.

Immigrants represent about 16 percent of the city鈥檚 population, says reporter Kathryn Skelton. In their job searches, they get support from a number of agencies, including Trinity Jubilee Center, which helps about 400 people annually with work searches. Most come from the African nations of Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, and Somalia.

鈥淚t鈥檚 harder to get a job without connections, like someone saying, 鈥極h, my cousin is a manager there, I鈥檒l put in a good word for you,鈥欌�� said Reed. 鈥淏ut honestly with some of these immigrants, their work ethic is stronger than whatever barriers they鈥檙e facing.鈥�

• Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� Lewiston Sun Journal, April 25, 2021

Hannah Sessions 鈥�99

Twenty-one years ago, Hannah Sessions ’99 and Greg Bernhardt ’99, both artists, founded Blue Ledge Farm in Salisbury, Vt., and began raising goats. Today, they care for some 200 animals, sell cheese across the Northeast, and 鈥渁lso both still make art,鈥� says Seven Days reporter Margaret Grayson, noting Sessions鈥� . (They’re also parents of a 乐播传媒 sophomore.)

Sessions says that farming and creating art can complement one another, but 鈥渋t鈥檚 never easy鈥� to do both. 鈥淚 originally had my studio in the upstairs of one of our barns,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd it was way too distracting. I heard the goats all the time.鈥� Now, she can’t even see the goat barn from her studio, which works better.

鈥淢y actual time with a paintbrush in my hand is pretty small,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut I鈥檓 thinking about it all the time. And I鈥檓 seeing things. I鈥檓 thinking, 鈥楬ow would I paint that?鈥� And so, generally, when I do sit down to paint, it鈥檚 just almost immediately a flow state.鈥�

• Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� Seven Days, May 19, 2021

Elaine C. Hubbard 鈥�50

In the Globe Magazine鈥檚 Connection column, writer Samanthan Shanley talks about her long relationship with her favorite aunt, Elaine Hubbard 鈥�50, who now has dementia and lives in a nursing home, and how Shanley now keeps in touch through regular phone calls. When they talk, 鈥渨e meet wherever she is in time, reliving lush memories of the life she lived.鈥�

• Read the essay: 鈥�,鈥� Globe Magazine, June 4, 2021

Erik Leibovitz 鈥�13

The New York Times鈥� Mini Vows column describes how Erik Leibovitz 鈥�13, after meeting Dara Silverman online, asked her to not go out on a date with anyone else before they had the chance to meet in person.

Leibovitz鈥檚 question, says Times reporter Vincent M. Mallozzi, is the kind 鈥渢hat could have made him yesterday鈥檚 news.鈥� He needn鈥檛 have worried. 鈥淢s. Silverman said that she had fewer social options than Mr. Leibovitz could have ever possibly imagined,鈥� said Mallozi.

Silverman had just moved to D.C. 鈥淢y furniture truck had not even arrived yet,鈥� she added. 鈥淚 knew like one new person in my new neighborhood, the cashier at the CVS.鈥�

They were married on April 24 in Jupiter, Fla.

• Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� The New York Times, April 30, 2021

Adrienne Shibles 鈥�91

Adrienne Shibles ’91 has become head coach of women鈥檚 basketball at Dartmouth after 13 years at Bowdoin.

鈥淭he biggest reason I love coaching is to watch the improvement of the student-athletes day in and day out, not just as athletes but as leaders, as tacticians, as people,鈥� Shibles told The Dartmouth. 鈥淪o I鈥檓 looking forward to really getting to know them, working with them and seeing that growth.鈥�

• Read the story: 鈥� May 25, 2021