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Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Four Maine college presidents sign national letter decrying Trump education 'overreach'
Apr. 22—Four Maine higher education leaders have signed on to a letter accusing the Trump administration of "unprecedented government overreach and political interference." Safa Zaki of Bowdoin College, Garry Jenkins of Bates College, David Greene of Colby College and James Herbert of the University of New England all added their names to the letter, published Tuesday by the American Association of Colleges and Universities. More than 230 presidents of colleges, universities and scholarly societies throughout the country have signed so far. "We are open to constructive reform and do not oppose legitimate government oversight," the letter reads. "However, we must oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live and work on our campuses. We will always seek effective and fair financial practices, but we must reject the coercive use of public research funding." Though the letter primarily represents private institutions, leaders from a handful of state colleges and universities signed on, including University of Massachusetts Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes and Eastern Connecticut State University President Karim Ismaili. A spokesperson for the University of Maine system declined to comment. In recent months, the Trump administration has pulled or threatened to pull federal funding from higher education institutions that don't comply with his agenda on student protesters, admissions practices and transgender athlete policies. The administration has also revoked the visas of hundreds of international students. On Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine filed a class-action lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies behind the visa revocations, asking that a judge restore the visas of any New England students who have had them wrongfully removed, and protecting future students from the same actions. In Tuesday's letter, the colleges argue they should be places of open inquiry where faculty, staff and students can exchange ideas and share different viewpoints, "without fear of retribution, censorship or deportation." The letter ends with a call for an end to the current federal interference. "The price of abridging the defining freedoms of American higher education will be paid by our students and our society," it reads. "On behalf of our current and future students, and all who work at and benefit from our institutions, we call for constructive engagement that improves our institutions and serves our republic." Greene, president of Colby, said that although national attention has focused on a handful of high-profile institutions targeted by the administration, the threat of sanctions carries massive consequences for nearly all the country's colleges and universities. "Great harm could come to colleges and universities small and large, urban and rural, in red states and blue, if the government moves away from being a vital partner in supporting access to higher education and the groundbreaking research that fuels America's innovation economy," Greene said in a written statement. "Like Democracy itself, America's universities are imperfect, yet no system of higher education in the world comes close to matching the intellectual richness and contributions of the one which we enjoy in this country." In an email Tuesday afternoon, Doug Cook, Bowdoin's director of communications, said, "President Zaki is going to let the letter speak for itself." A UNE spokesperson said Herbert also "believes the letter speaks for itself, and he has nothing further to add at this time." A Bates spokesperson referred questions to a statement on the college's website, which acknowledged Jenkins signing on but did not provide additional details. The letter comes as the Trump administration has targeted the funding of a number of colleges and universities, demanding policy changes to bring campuses in line with the federal government's agenda. Harvard University on Monday sued the Trump administration for attempting to withhold more than $2 billion in grants after the school refused to agree to changes proposed in a letter the administration sent April 11. Those demands included suspending certain student organizations and sweeping changes to admissions policies. Weeks earlier, Columbia University faced sharp criticism for acquiescing to policy changes that included adopting a new definition of antisemitism and pursuing with the administration calls "intellectual diversity" on campus. Both Harvard and Columbia's presidents signed the letter Tuesday. New signatures were continuously added to the letter throughout Tuesday evening. Other signatories represent colleges from California to Kalamazoo, including all but one member of the Ivy League as of 6 p.m. This story will be updated. Copy the Story Link
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The Atlantic Hires Jenna Johnson and Dan Zak as Senior Editors, and Tyler Austin Harper as Staff Writer
Today The Atlantic is announcing three new staff members: Tyler Austin Harper, who was previously a contributing writer, will become a staff writer, and Jenna Johnson and Dan Zak will both be senior editors. Tyler has written for The Atlantic since 2023; before joining the magazine on staff, he was an associate professor at Bates College. Jenna and Dan both come to The Atlantic from The Washington Post, where they have worked for almost two decades. Below is the announcement about these hires from The Atlantic's editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg: First, Tyler. As a contributing writer for us, he has published an impressive number of articles on an even more impressive range of topics: extreme fishing off Montauk, gun ownership in America, ChatGPT on college campuses, and many, many others. I speak for so many of us when I say that the more Tyler we have, the better. He'll be joining us from Bates College, where he has been an assistant professor of environmental studies. Now, Dan. Dan Zak is a gifted journalist with a talent for teasing out clear, compelling narratives, and for bringing complicated profiles to life. He brings to us a deep love for magazines and the craft of writing. (Don't get him started on the Caitlin Flanagan lede. Or, actually, do.) At The Post, he wrote for the Style section for nearly twenty years before becoming an editor in 2023. Dan is also the author of Almighty, a book about anti-nuclear activists, and he was nominated for a National Magazine Award this year in the feature writing category. From Jeffrey, announcing Jenna's hire last week: I'm very happy to report to you that Jenna Johnson is joining The Atlantic as a senior editor. Jenna is a supremely talented journalist with deep expertise in all things Trump. She comes to us after 18 years at The Washington Post, where she most recently served as immigration editor. Before that role, she served as the deputy editor for democracy coverage. Jenna is beloved by her reporters, who tell us she guided them to the best work of their careers. She's creative, bold, and unfailingly prepared for whatever the news may bring. She also leads with empathy and is generous with advice for the dozens of young journalists she has mentored over the course of her career. Before becoming an editor, Jenna was best known for her distinctive coverage of Donald Trump and his MAGA movement. She was The Post's lead reporter on his 2016 presidential campaign and, through interviews with his supporters, produced memorable dispatches from rallies across the country. Jenna examined the types of communities where Trump held his events and documented how he made suspicion of Muslims, immigrants and other groups a centerpiece of his pitch to voters. As a White House reporter during his first administration, she documented America's deepening divisions. The Atlantic has announced a number of new hires since the start of the year, including managing editor Griff Witte; staff writers Isaac Stanley-Becker, Nick Miroff, Ashley Parker, Michael Scherer, and Caity Weaver; and contributing writers Jonathan Lemire and Alex Reisner. Please reach out with any questions or requests. Press Contact: Sammi Sontag, The Atlantic | press@ Article originally published at The Atlantic
Atlantic
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Atlantic
Hires Jenna Johnson and Dan Zak as Senior Editors, and Tyler Austin Harper as Staff Writer
Today The Atlantic is announcing three new staff members: Tyler Austin Harper, who was previously a contributing writer, will become a staff writer, and Jenna Johnson and Dan Zak will both be senior editors. Tyler has written for The Atlantic since 2023; before joining the magazine on staff, he was an associate professor at Bates College. Jenna and Dan both come to The Atlantic from The Washington Post, where they have worked for almost two decades. Below is the announcement about these hires from The Atlantic 's editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg: First, Tyler. As a contributing writer for us, he has published an impressive number of articles on an even more impressive range of topics: extreme fishing off Montauk, gun ownership in America, ChatGPT on college campuses, and many, many others. I speak for so many of us when I say that the more Tyler we have, the better. He'll be joining us from Bates College, where he has been an assistant professor of environmental studies. Now, Dan. Dan Zak is a gifted journalist with a talent for teasing out clear, compelling narratives, and for bringing complicated profiles to life. He brings to us a deep love for magazines and the craft of writing. (Don't get him started on the Caitlin Flanagan lede. Or, actually, do.) At The Post, he wrote for the Style section for nearly twenty years before becoming an editor in 2023. Dan is also the author of Almighty, a book about anti-nuclear activists, and he was nominated for a National Magazine Award this year in the feature writing category. From Jeffrey, announcing Jenna's hire last week: I'm very happy to report to you that Jenna Johnson is joining The Atlantic as a senior editor. Jenna is a supremely talented journalist with deep expertise in all things Trump. She comes to us after 18 years at The Washington Post, where she most recently served as immigration editor. Before that role, she served as the deputy editor for democracy coverage. Jenna is beloved by her reporters, who tell us she guided them to the best work of their careers. She's creative, bold, and unfailingly prepared for whatever the news may bring. She also leads with empathy and is generous with advice for the dozens of young journalists she has mentored over the course of her career. Before becoming an editor, Jenna was best known for her distinctive coverage of Donald Trump and his MAGA movement. She was The Post 's lead reporter on his 2016 presidential campaign and, through interviews with his supporters, produced memorable dispatches from rallies across the country. Jenna examined the types of communities where Trump held his events and documented how he made suspicion of Muslims, immigrants and other groups a centerpiece of his pitch to voters. As a White House reporter during his first administration, she documented America's deepening divisions. The Atlantic has announced a number of new hires since the start of the year, including managing editor Griff Witte; staff writers Isaac Stanley-Becker, Nick Miroff, Ashley Parker, Michael Scherer, and Caity Weaver; and contributing writers Jonathan Lemire and Alex Reisner. Please reach out with any questions or requests.
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Waterville 'Tesla Takedown' protest targets Elon Musk, Trump
Mar. 29—WATERVILLE — They held signs that read "Cut Waste, Cut Fraud, Cut Musk," "Musk Must Go!" and "Deport Musk, Fire Dastardly Oligarchs Grifting Everything." More than 60 men and women from around central Maine stood Saturday in 30-degree temperatures and about 3 inches of snow that had fallen overnight at the Tesla charging station off Main Street. They greeted motorists at the busy intersection who honked horns and gave the protesters a thumbs up. At least one man, driving a pickup truck, gave them the finger and yelled. The demonstration was one of hundreds held worldwide Saturday as part of "Tesla Takedown," a planned, peaceful event organizers say is intended to highlight President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk's gutting of democracy. The protesters criticized Musk's firing of thousands of federal workers, decimating departments, eliminating agencies and his public demonstration of what he called a fascist salute. "I feel like I can't sit around at home and watch it all happening," said Richard Smith, 77, of Belgrade Lakes. "You have to do something, and this is something." Standing next to Smith on Saturday was Waterville native Eric Hooglund, 81, now a resident of Belgrade Lakes. He held a sign that said, "Swasticar, The Facist Thing on Four Wheels," which depicted a red Tesla pickup truck with a swastika on the door. "This feels a lot like 1933 Germany because that's when Hitler came to power," Hooglund said. A former U.S. foreign policy and Middle East politics instructor at Bates College in Lewiston, Hooglund said he is in shock about what is happening. "It's illegal to just abolish government and fire people," he said. Hooglund said his son-in-law works for the U.S. State Department and got a letter saying he and others were being let go. They were removed from their positions, but learned after a few days that they could return. They live with the uncertainty that it could happen again. Hooglund himself works with the senior college at the University of Maine at Farmington, and was going to organize a trip in June to Frances Perkins' home, a national monument in Newcastle, but was told he couldn't do so because of federal cuts. "This is happening all over the country," he said. The site of Saturday's protest, the Tesla charging station, was where the first known Tesla-related protest was held Feb. 5. Elizabeth Leonard, author, historian and professor emeritus of history at Colby College in Waterville, organized that event, which went viral on both social media and in the news after the Morning Sentinel published a story about it. After the protest, demonstrations were held at Tesla dealerships all over the country and world and Leonard was interviewed by several news organizations. Leonard also helped with Saturday's event, which was hosted by Mid Maine Indivisible, a group organized by former Waterville Mayor Karen Heck. Mid Maine officials said they believe the Waterville protest was the only one held in Maine that was connected with the worldwide Tesla event. "This is a good turnout and it shows to me that the revulsion is building and building and building all over the country, even in little towns like Waterville, Maine," Leonard, 68, said. "You don't have to go to the big cities to see how upset people are about this unelected, super-rich person tearing down the government, when he was not elected to do so." Leonard said Tesla is the underpinning of Musk's wealth and reputation and a huge part of why he has money to buy a presidency. "It also represents the illusion of his great business sense," she said. "If he was to run the country like a business, beware, because he's running his business into the ground." Heck held a sign bearing a likeness of Musk that said, "I am Stealing from You." "I think it's important for those of us who love the U.S. to stand up and say so and not let the bullies destroy our democracy," Heck said, when asked why she was there Saturday. Waving a small American flag, Heck, 72, said millions of people in the U.S need the government services that are being cut, and they will understand that when it is all gone. "I'm so full of anger and frustration and fear," she said. "I don't see our Maine delegation, other than Rep. Chellie Pingree, conducting town halls. I've asked Sen. Angus King's office many times. I've talked to staff to have him speak to us in a town hall. I don't even care if it's on Zoom. Why aren't they speaking to us, telling us the truth, because conservative media and social media is surrounding us. There is no liberal bias in the press." Heck said what makes her crazy is that Congress knew what was going to happen in advance with the Project 2025 document, yet members continue to pretend its business as usual in governing. "They've given up their power," she said. Wearing all black, Joanna Linden, 67, of Waterville, said she was dressed in mourning. "Elon Musk donated millions to the Trump campaign," she said, "and he's been set free inside the government to wreck everything that provides services to regular people, and we're losing our democracy because of him." Retired educator Linda Woods, 73 and also from Waterville, held a sign that read, "This Musk Stop." "Our forefathers set up this whole separation of powers system with checks and balances, thoroughly outlined," Woods said. "He's trampling all over it as if it doesn't exist. I don't understand why someone is not doing something to stop him." Copy the Story Link
Boston Globe
29-03-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Sunday Sitdown: Dighton-Rehoboth coach Bill Cuthbertson on how high school baseball has changed over his 45 seasons
We wondered the same thing, so we sat down with the coach, who has also spent 34 years coaching basketball at Dighton-Rehoboth (11 girls, 23 boys), winning a combined 1,038 games between the two sports. I found it hard to find much about your background in my research. Take me back to your childhood. Where did you grow up and were you big into sports? Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up It's all a secret! I grew up in Barrington, R.I. I played basketball and baseball in Barrington and then I went to Bates College and played basketball and baseball there. Barrington was a great place to grow up. Advertisement Where did your love of athletics come from? My father got me involved early in life. My parents really encouraged it. I had some great coaches at Barrington. [Late Providence Journal sports columnist] Bill Reynolds was my English teacher in high school. I grew up watching him play and all his teammates. As foreboding clouds approach, D-R coach Bill Cuthbertson hits fungoes ahead of a scrimmage against North Attleborough. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff What are some differences between coaching the two sports? Obviously, the fundamentals and the skills are very different. But, in the end, at the essence of both of them, you're just trying to get the kids to exceed their potential and get them to understand the game and appreciate the game. Hopefully, when they become parents and get involved, invariably many of them end up coaching their own kids, or kids in their community. I certainly encourage all of them if they don't get involved in coaching to become officials. I imagine there's more getting into the granular of scouting every game in basketball? 100 percent. The way the technology has changed now, you're video-taping every game and you can share it with the kids on Hudl and I can edit the videos and send them out to the kids. I'm getting scouting videos and you're breaking them down and showing them to the team. That has changed dramatically. Advertisement Years ago you were driving to a parking lot to hand off a VHS tape. Exactly. Or you have to travel some odd night to go scout somebody. Now you can watch them live on streaming services. Being a retired teacher I'm not working on anything else so I spend a lot of my days just breaking down video. Related : Talk about some other ways you've seen high school sports change. It's changed dramatically, for sure. The biggest thing now is all the offseason training. This was never available when I played or when I started coaching. Now we have kids who train year-round, AAU programs, they play in the summer, and deep into the fall. How do you feel about that specialization? Are we producing better athletes? It's a double-edged sword. You see the development. Kids are bigger, stronger, faster, more advanced, and have more coaching. They're better trained and more developed. But, I'm from the train of thought that I like kids playing multiple sports. Three-sport athletes who have had different coaches and different experiences in competition. Unfortunately, that has gone the way of the dodo bird. Bill Cuthbertson talks with his players ahead of a preseason scrimmage. The coach cites his relationship with the kids as the primary reason he continues coaching. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff How have the kids changed? Anecdotally, you talk to some coaches and they say 'The kids these days are nothing like they used to be.' But then you talk to other coaches and they say 'The kids don't change that much. Things around them change. The technology changes. But the kids, at their heart, are pretty similar.' Advertisement I agree, that's how I view it. Kids are kids. In a lot of ways they haven't changed that much. They want to be good. They want to compete. They want to win. They want to have fun. They play because they love it, and that's really special. Now, the world around them has changed dramatically with technology and social media. Their lives are so much more complicated than my life was at their age. I can't imagine trying to navigate the world they live in when I was a teenager in high school. It's very complicated. I don't know how they manage to get through the day. That's the beauty of coming out here to play. You're playing baseball. There's a simplicity to it. One thing I hear is there is maybe a little less persistence than there used to be . . . Is there a sense that if there's not an immediate reward it's on to the next thing? Yeah, that's what I was alluding to. They've had all this training and preparation and now they expect to have success and it's not easy. Some kids struggle to succeed. That's part of the beauty of it, from where I stand as a teacher. They're learning not just how to be successful, but how to deal with adversity and failure. Related : We talked about the kids. How about the parents? How have they changed in 45 years? It's a lot different. Parents are a lot more involved. I've been very fortunate here for a long time. Great parents. Great kids, administrators, athletic directors, assistant coaches, but obviously there's always exceptions to the rule. They love their kids and they want their kids to be successful and I understand that. But we want everyone to keep it in perspective. Advertisement There was that 2019 suspension [during basketball season]. If I remember correctly it was a little bit over old-school coaching. Did you take anything out of that? Did you change your approach? That was a very difficult situation. If anything, it has motivated me to continue what I'm doing. I know what I'm doing is important and we're going about it the right way. Kids are still responding positively to me and I still think I'm doing a good job. Your wife, Cindy, is a longtime very successful field hockey coach at Apponequet. What's that dynamic like? It's great being married to another coach. She certainly gets it. We talk a lot about each other's teams and situations we run into. She's been very supportive and I'm glad she's still coaching. We're going to keep doing it as long as we can. Related : Did you ever question if coaching two sports was too much? I've been very fortunate. I love basketball and baseball. I love the competition. I love teaching the game. My wife and girls [Caitlyn and Kristen] were very supportive, wanting me to coach and encouraging me to coach. The way I've always looked at it, the baseball field and basketball court are really classrooms. I've always looked at it that way. It's just an extension of teaching. It's always been a passion and I love doing it. I feel fortunate I am able to continue doing it. Time management, though. That must have been tough with you both coaching and two daughters playing sports? Advertisement We laugh now. How did we do it? Where did we find the time? Of course, we were a lot younger and had a lot more energy and we could function on a lot less sleep. Do you have a message to young coaches or someone thinking of getting into the profession? One of the things I learned very quickly was that winning isn't the most important thing. Especially as a high school coach, you're really a teacher. While we all want to win championships and compete at a high level, the most important thing is your relationship with the kids and how their experience is. You want it to be positive and fun, but you also want them to take away lessons that will help them going forward in their lives. Bill Cuthbertson says his fire for coaching still burns, despite more than 1,000 wins across two sports. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff Brendan Kurie can be reached at
