EVANSVILLE, IN (10/28/2019) Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Eli Saslow will speak at the University of Evansville on November 7, at 7:00 p.m., in Eykamp Hall, Ridgway Center. Saslow will discuss his book Rising Out of Hatred, the story of how former white nationalist leader Derek Black changed his heart, mind, and political viewpoints.

The event is free and open to the public and sponsored by the University of Evansville Honors Program, Student Government Association, and the Office of Academic Affairs. The book, Rising Out of Hatred, was the common read for UE’s Honors Program freshmen this year. No RSVP is required for this event.

Derek Black might be termed white nationalist royalty. His father, Don Black, launched Stormfront, the first major white supremacist website; his mother was once married to former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke, who was Derek’s godfather and mentor from birth. Derek was an elected politician at 19, with his own daily radio show on which he urged white nationalists to “infiltrate” the American political system to prevent what he termed “white genocide.” But when Derek chose to attend a tiny liberal arts college,
his ideological foundations began to crack.

A testament to the power of education to broaden minds and spark conversations, Rising Out of Hatred immerses us in Derek’s world-as challenging, even uncomfortable, as we might find that-and creates, in the words of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, “a relationship between reader and story.” At once political and intensely personal, Rising explains how our nation arrived at this polarizing moment and suggests that outspoken communication and active listening have the power to change lives. Yale law professor Amy Chua called Rising Out of Hatred “a must-read for anyone interested in understanding and overcoming hate.”

Salslow is a longtime staff writer for The Washington Post, where he was initially a sportswriter. He has reported for 42 states and six countries. He covered the 2008 presidential campaign as well as President Obama’s life in the White House. Four of his stories have been anthologized in Best American Sports Writing and he is an occasional contributor to ESPN The Magazine.

Saslow won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting for a series of stories about food stamps and food insecurity in the United States. Collected into the book American Hunger, his stories were praised as “unsettling and nuanced…forcing readers to grapple with issues of poverty and dependency.” Saslow was also named one of three finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing in 2013, 2016 and 2017. His stories in The Washington Post have been recognized with George Pol Award, a PEN Literary Award, a James Beard Award, and other honors.

View Online: http://evansville.meritpages.com/news/Eli-Saslow-to-Speak-About-his-Book-Rising-Out-of-Hatred-at-UE-on-November-7/12181

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Students in 1^st and 2^nd grades will enthusiastically help launch the 2019 Don’s Claytons Coat-A-Kid campaign on October 29^that 8:15 a.m. at Delaware Elementary School in Evansville, Indiana. And making his debut at the event will be the newly revamped Ace Purple, official mascot for the University of Evansville. In past years, kick-off locations for Coat-A-Kid have included Fairlawn, Glenwood Leadership Academy, Caze, Harwood, Lincoln, Culver, and many other schools. At each Coat-A-Kid kickoff, 95-110 students have received winter coats.

Since its implementation at the local level, the Coat-A-Kid initiative has distributed over 150,000 coats throughout the community. Bryan Schmitt, President of Don’s Claytons DCI Fine DryCleaning, is committed to annually providing a winter coat for every child who needs one. Each year, from October through December, community members are invited to bring gently used and new coats to any Don’s Claytons location. The coats are cleaned, if needed, and distributed to area infants, children, and teens via the Salvation Army, Evansville Christian Life Center, and in Boonville, at Hope Central.

Bryan Schmitt notes nearly 5000 coats were donated to the 2018 Coat-A-Kid campaign.

Renowned physicist Melba Phillips, alumnae of Oakland City College, will be honored Friday, Nov. 1, with a historical marker on the campus of Oakland City University.     

 Dr. Phillips had established her credentials as a master teacher and scientist. She helped organize the founding of the Federation of American Scientists in 1945. She was the first woman to be president of the American Association of Physics Teachers in 1966. Last year, the American Physical Society gave her its Joseph Burton Forum Award for her education work and for being “a model of a principled scientist.”

  She was one of the first doctoral students of J. Robert Oppenheimer, who led the effort to build the first atomic bomb. In 1935, they published an explanation for the unexpected behavior of accelerated nuclei of “heavy hydrogen” atoms, which became known as the Oppenheimer-Phillips effect. 

  Jobs were scarce for academics during the Depression and scarcer for women working in science, so Dr. Phillips held a series of temporary jobs before she landed her first permanent position at Brooklyn College in 1938. 

During the McCarthy era, Dr. Phillips was teaching at Brooklyn College in 1952, with a part-time position at the Columbia University Radiation Laboratory. The Senate Judiciary Committee’s internal security subcommittee, which was investigating some of her friends and colleagues, summoned her to testify. She appeared but refused to answer the subcommittee’s questions.

 After her 1952 firing and five years of unemployment, she wrote two textbooks, “Principles of Physical Science” (1957), with Francis Bonner, and “Classical Electricity and Magnetism” (1955), with W.K.H. Panofsky, which is still used in undergraduate and graduate physics classes. She also edited books on the history of physics. she became associate director of a teacher-training institute at Washington University in St. Louis. She joined the University of Chicago faculty in 1962 and worked there until her retirement 10 years later. Under her influence, the university began teaching physical science courses to non-science majors. 

 

The open-enrollment period for Medicare coverage in 2020 is Oct. 15, 2019, to Dec. 7, 2019. Attorney General Curtis Hill is warning Hoosiers to take precautions in order to avoid becoming victims of Medicare-related scams.

Here are a few tips to avoid scams this open-enrollment season:

• Government agencies will rarely, if ever, call you. If they do, it will be after they send you a letter – or to return a call you made to them.
• Anyone who tries to sell you Medicare insurance while claiming to be an “official Medicare agent” is a scammer. There are no Medicare sales representatives.
• Be vigilant for mailers that appear to be government communications but are actually advertisements for private companies. These documents sometimes will have a disclaimer, but the disclaimer will be in tiny font. Read carefully!
• The Medicare prescription drug plan (also known as Part D) is voluntary. Ignore anyone who calls saying you must join their prescription plan or you will lose your Medicare coverage.
• Never give anyone who unexpectedly calls or approaches you information such as your Medicare, bank account, credit card or Social Security number. Scammers can use your information, steal your identity, get credit in your name, and take your money. Anyone who tells you that you must provide personal information to keep your coverage is a scammer.
• Don’t trust caller ID. Scammers use technology to hide their real numbers and instead show numbers that seem legitimate. So if the caller ID shows a 202 area code or says “government” or “Washington DC,” don’t take that at face value. It could be anyone calling from anywhere.