The basketball game is set to start. Team B’s coach has his players on the floor, as well as the coach of Team R. The game will be officiated by three veteran, well-qualified and well-respected referees. The point guard from Team B gets the tip-off and drains a three-pointer to start the game. Team R’s coach begins complaining to the refs, “That basket shouldn’t have counted. The kid was using a girl’s ball that was switched in when I wasn’t looking!” The refs examine the ball, and it proves to

One consequence of the recent election is renewed scrutiny of digital media.

One consequence of the recent election is renewed scrutiny of digital media. Educating users to be critical consumers of information has always been a vital tool for democratic self-governance. Media literacy education works. We did it with other innovations, like print and television. And we can and must do the same with social media. But literacy education in a new medium can take several generations to be successful. We do not have that kind of time. So here’s a quick introduction in three

In a recent article in the New York Times, Farhad Manjoo wrote about “Apathy” in terms of becoming “fixed upon this one man…stuck in eternal orbit around an expanding black hole, irresistibly sucked in.” He wondered about all the time and energy that we have spent on this one person and what we could have done instead.

In a recent article in the New York Times, Farhad Manjoo wrote about “Apathy” in terms of becoming “fixed upon this one man…stuck in eternal orbit around an expanding black hole, irresistibly sucked in.” He wondered about all the time and energy that we have spent on this one person and what we could have done instead. But in every dark cloud…Manjoo claimed that when Trump’s rants and mounds of misinformation took aim at our trusted institutions like the FBI, State Department, and the CDC, many

Full disclosure: I have a master’s degree from Northern Illinois University and currently serve as Chief of Staff to Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara.

Full disclosure: I have a master’s degree from Northern Illinois University and currently serve as Chief of Staff to Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara. On Monday, the Rockford City Council voted unanimously to contribute $1.5 million annually to Rockford Promise for at least the next 17 years. This would allow graduates of Rockford Public School District 205 with a 3.0 GPA to earn a bachelor’s degree from NIU with all tuition and general fees paid for. Modeled on the Kalamazoo, Michigan, Promise,

Black women have long been undervalued in this racist and misogynistic nation. Often stereotyped as uneducated and loud, while being over-sexualized, Black women have faced an uphill journey. White women were granted the right to vote in the United States in 1920, but Black people, women and men, were not guaranteed that same right until 1965. But none of this stopped Black women from helping organize the civil rights movement and discovering their political potential.

Black women have long been undervalued in this racist and misogynistic nation. Often stereotyped as uneducated and loud, while being over-sexualized, Black women have faced an uphill journey. White women were granted the right to vote in the United States in 1920, but Black people, women and men, were not guaranteed that same right until 1965. But none of this stopped Black women from helping organize the civil rights movement and discovering their political potential. We recently experienced

When I was growing up, my small-town barber was a man with a sweet but regulated smile on his face, discouraged eyes behind horn-rimmed glasses. His name was Hans Fowler. Over the years of my maturity into early adulthood, Hans and I spoke of many things. He wielded his scissors unhurriedly and had quiet opinions on everything.