By Freddie Wright —
Published on November 18, 2022

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

Ralph Sylvester ’50

Lewiston and Auburn mark Veterans Day 鈥� Lewiston Sun Journal

The Lewiston Sun Journal led its Veterans Day coverage with the story of World War II Army veteran Ralph Sylvester ’50, now 98 years old.

As staff writer Steve Sherlock wrote, “Perhaps no one among the hundreds who attended Friday鈥檚 solemn ceremony at Veterans Memorial Park has observed more Veterans Day services than Ralph Sylvester of Auburn.”

Shortly after the Bobcat Dens' 8 a.m. reopening on Aug. 17, Ralph Sylvester '50 arrives for breakfast, a routine restarted after being disrupted by the closure of the Den in March 2020 due to the pandemic. (H. Jay Burns/乐播传媒 College)
A Bobcat Den regular, Ralph Sylvester ’50 arrives for breakfast on Aug. 17, 2021, a routine restarted after being disrupted by the closure of the Den in March 2020 due to the pandemic. (H. Jay Burns/乐播传媒 College)

Sylvester fought on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day and in the Battle of the Bulge. A private in the 295th Combat Engineers, “he built bridges over the Elbe River that enabled the American and British armies from the west and Soviet Union forces in the east to first link up near the end of the war in 1945.“

The 98-year-old veteran of World War II was on Omaha Beach on D-Day, fought in the Battle of the Bulge and built bridges over the Elbe River that enabled the American and British armies from the west and Soviet Union forces in the east to first link up near the end of the war in 1945.

鈥淭oday brings back a lot of memories of all the others that were killed,鈥� Sylvester told the paper. 鈥淎bout 20 percent of our company got killed during the Battle of the Bulge where 3,500 anti-tank mines were unbeknownst to us.鈥�

  • Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� Lewiston Sun Journal, Nov. 11, 2022

Edmund Muskie ’36

Pollution still flows through Clean Water Act loophole 鈥� E&E News

Among the many stories noting the 50th anniversary of the enactment of the Clean Water Act, on Oct. 18, 1972, E&E News took a deep look at the difficult decisions that Sen. Ed Muskie 鈥�36 and fellow lawmakers had to make as they crafted the landmark legislation.

One decision was not to try to address what is known as 鈥渘onpoint source pollution,鈥� which refers to pollutants like pesticides, oil, and fertilizers that flow into waterways from land.

In crafting the legislation in the early 1970s, lawmakers just couldn鈥檛 find the right 鈥渧ehicle鈥� to tackle nonpoint source pollution, still mostly unregulated today.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an area where there鈥檚 still conceptual problems as well as sort of drafting problems and just generally regulatory problems,鈥� recalled Tom Jorling, then counsel to the Republican minority of the Senate Public Works Committee.

鈥淚 still haven鈥檛 seen anybody recommend something that would work,” he added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not so much that it wasn鈥檛 done in 鈥�72; it鈥檚 being honest and saying it hasn鈥檛 been able to be done correctly in 2022.鈥�

  • Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� E&E News, Oct. 18, 2022

Mana Abdi, OIE staff

Lewiston woman makes history as one of the first two Somali Americans elected for Maine Legislature 鈥�

Mana Abdi, the program coordinator in the Office of Intercultural Education at 乐播传媒,  is one of two Somali Americans elected to the Maine Legislature this year, the first ever in the state鈥檚 history. 

News Center Maine

Her win is a sign that the Legislature is becoming more representative of the people it serves, Abdi tells the Lewiston Sun Journal, and it brings Maine 鈥渙ne step closer鈥� to a brighter future for everyone.

鈥淟ewiston deserves safe, affordable, available housing and good jobs,鈥� Abdi said. 鈥淚 will be a strong and relentless voice for our community in Augusta.鈥�

Read the stories:

  • 鈥�,鈥� The Lewiston Sun Journal, Nov. 8, 2022
  • 鈥�,鈥� NEWS CENTER Maine, Nov. 9, 2022

Daniel Hoffman ’85

My late wife Kim taught me how to honor our loved ones by focusing on something that will outlast us 鈥� Fox News

In an opinion piece for Fox News, Daniel Hoffman 鈥�85, a former CIA station chief and a Fox News contributor, writes about the legacy of his late wife, Kim Hoffman, who died in 2021 of cancer. Their son, Jerron Hoffman, has .

Daniel Hoffman '85 and his son, Jerron, stuffing "Joy Jars" for the Jessie Rees Foundation. Photo courtesy of Daniel Hoffman
Daniel Hoffman ’85 and his son, Jerron, stuffing “Joy Jars” during a fundraiser for the Jessie Rees Foundation, a pediatric cancer nonprofit organization. (Photo courtesy of Daniel Hoffman)

鈥淚 realized that families in the fight against cancer or grieving for their lost loved ones cancer stole from them had so much in common,” Hoffman writes. “Cancer forges the common ground among us, from which we derive strength from one another.鈥� 

  • Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� Fox News, Oct. 7, 2022

Beverly Johnson, earth and climate sciences faculty

Study shows Gulf of Maine cooling for 900 years, then quickly warming since late 1800s 鈥� ScienMag

The water off the Gulf of Maine is warming rapidly.  New research co-authored by Beverly Johnson, a professor of earth and climate sciences, demonstrates that the recent warming reverses 900 years of cooling and is accompanied by shifts in ocean currents.

The findings were and reported in ScienMag.

Arctica islandica clams, like these ones collected by Nina Whitney, a research assistant professor in the Marine and Coastal Science program at Western Washington University and lead author of the study, are one of the types of clams collected by the team while researching the Gulf of Maine. Photo courtesy of Nina Whitney
Arctica islandica clams, like these ones collected by Nina Whitney, a research assistant professor in the Marine and Coastal Science program at Western Washington University and lead author of the study, are one of the types of clams collected by the team while researching the Gulf of Maine. (Photo courtesy of Nina Whitney)

The findings? During the late 1800鈥檚, coinciding with the emerging industrial revolution, the Gulf of Maine began to warm and to receive more water from the Gulf Stream, with a main driving factor being greenhouse gas emissions. At the current rate, the water in the Gulf of Maine could increase by 4 degrees Celsius, every 100 years.

  • Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� ScienMag, Aug. 15, 2022

Jonathan Adler 鈥�00 

Psychology in the theater with PSPR editor Jonathan Adler 鈥� Society for Personality and Social Psychology

In 2019, Jonathan Adler 鈥�00, a professor of psychology at Olin College of Engineering, was seeking a way to tell lesser-known stories from the AIDS pandemic in the U.S. 

Jonathan Adler '00, center, stands with the cast of his play, "Reverse Transcription". Photo courtesy of Jonathan Adler.
Jonathan Adler ’00, center in dark blue shirt, stands with the cast of his play, Reverse Transcription. (Stan Barough Photography)

Part of a team at Olin that received a Mellon Foundation grant aimed at integrating arts and STEM, he teamed up with Jim Petosa of Boston University to write a play, , which juxtaposes the stories of gay men during the AIDS and the COVID pandemics in the U.S. It premiered off-Broadway last summer at The Atlantic Theater Co.鈥檚 Stage 2, produced by PTP/NYC.

鈥淔or me there is no separating psychological issues and theater,鈥� he told the newsletter of the  Society for Personality and Social Psychology. (Adler edits the SPSP’s journal.) 鈥淟ike all stories, all plays feature characters trying to do something, so there are always psychological topics to explore.鈥�

Adler believes that 鈥渙ne of the biggest tragedies鈥� of COVID is that society didn鈥檛 embrace the psychological lessons learned during the AIDS pandemic. 鈥淭he gay community came together in the 鈥�80s and 鈥�90s,鈥� but during COVID, the pandemic 鈥渦ltimately became a force for polarization, not interdependence.鈥�

  • Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Sept. 2, 2022

Whitney Blanchard Soule 鈥�90

Meet Whitney Soule, leader of the team who decides whether you get into Penn 鈥� The Philadelphia Inquirer
Whitney Soule '90. Photo courtesy of Whitney Soule
Whitney Soule ’90, the vice-provost and dean of admissions for the University of Pennsylvania. (Photo courtesy of Whitney Soule)

University of Pennsylvania Vice Provost and Dean of Admissions spoke with The Philadelphia Inquirer about her career in college admission, which started at 乐播传媒.

She had been a tour guide at 乐播传媒, and right after graduation the office had an unexpected opening and 鈥渘eeded someone right away. I was hired into a nine-month position, and 30 years later, here I am, still working in admissions! I love it because the work is human-centered, mission-driven, and complex.鈥�

  • Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� The Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct. 1, 2022

Noah Petro 鈥�01

What the Moon can tell us about Earth 鈥� Axios
Noah Petro '01. Photo courtesy of Noah Petro
Noah Petro ’01, a project scientist for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission. (Photo courtesy of Noah Petro)

A project scientist for the mission, currently orbiting the Moon, Noah Petro 鈥�01 told Axios that he thinks of the Moon as 鈥渢he eighth continent of the Earth.鈥�

The Nov. 16 launch of Artemis 1, the first in a series of  missions to build a long-term human presence at the Moon, takes a step towards understanding the history of our own home planet a little more, he says.

The Apollo missions sent humans 鈥渢o these really wonderful locations,” Petro said. “All of the six landing sites are really amazing. But we never went back.”

“Part of the area where the Artemis missions will be exploring is on the rim of this enormous basin,” Petro said. “We don’t know how old it is. So for me, understanding the age of that crater becomes a very important point in the history of the Earth and the Moon’s history in its formation.鈥�

  • Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� Axios, Sept. 6, 2022
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