Info graphics from police visit

by Lauren McArdle

Trail by Media

The Summer Olympics in Atlanta, GA in 1996 would have been remembered as a tragedy, had it not been for one man, Richard Jewell. While a concert was going on, he found what he thought might be a bomb, and tried to clear out the area as much as possible, saving more than 100 lives. Instead the pike bomb killed only two and injured more than 100 people. However, Jewell is not remembered as a hero, but instead as a man accused of planting the bomb in the first place.

The police, when a situation like this occurs, must consider all options. They were investigating everyone and had received a tip that Jewell like attention from a former boss. However, because of their inability to keep the name under wraps, journalists knew that something was up with the guy they had been praising as a hero. The Senior Managing Editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution allowed an article to be printed saying that Jewell was in fact the bomber although there was no proof of this and they were unable to attribute this information to anyone conducting the investigation.

From there, other news agencies took it as fact and ran with it. All over the world, Jewell became known as the bomber. Part of this was due to the want of the FBI to find the bomber while the world spotlight was still on the United States, and so they continued on this lead. With the amount of journalist crowding around him constantly, he was forced to stay indoors or face accusatory questions from journalists. This made him look more guilty, and lead to more journalists and more stories about how he was guilty of this terrible crime. He was under surveillance for 88 days. After that time, it was decided, upon looking at the facts, that he was not a suspect in the investigation and was instead the hero of the story. It wasn’t until 2005 when Eric Rudolph plead guilty to the bombing that he was cleared completely. Some people still believe that he is the bomber.

The media has yet to learn that even under tense situations that claiming someone is a bomber without having proof is damaging to someone’s reputation. When people look up the people who were accused of  this crime, these are the stories that are going to pop up. It might be harder for them now to get a job, to have a life that isn’t in the shadow of being accused of something that they are innocent of. Richard Jewell had trouble finding a security job even after he was cleared of being the bomber. It took him over a year and he was paid only eight dollars an hour.

The sad thing about this story is that it still happens. In April 2013, while the investigation for the Boston Bombers was happening, a number of people were accused of the being the bombers. One was a Saudi national who was actually wounded by the blast.  He fit the image that American had of a Middle Eastern terrorist but it was proved that he was not the bomber. His picture was found online and put in many new stories. The next victim blamed was a 17 year old high school track star and his coach, who happened to be wearing baseball caps and have backpacks. Due to Reddit, an online website that created a forum, a theory went viral and the media picked it up. But the boy was innocent and not even under investigation.

I think what journalists need to learn from this story and from the accusations made during the investigation of the Boston Bombing is that people are innocent until proven guilty. If the courts of the United States holds that to be true, why is it that the media of the country cannot also do so? How can the media hold its head high and claim to report the truth, when they make accusations about innocent people  that damage them in the moment and for years to come. The media also has to understand the sway it has on people, especially in tense and uncertain times. In times like this, people want to know what is going on, if there is a suspect, and what is being done to catch the person. By throwing names out to the public, the media is creating a dangerous environment for the person and is slowing down the investigation. It is also not holding by their motto of reporting the truth. These people are not collateral damage on the road to catching a bomber or killer. They are innocent people with lives. The real criminal will be put on trial, we do not need the innocent suspects to have a trial by media.

by Lauren McArdle

A Profile on Patricia Gorman

Patricia Gorman, an assistant professor of the Commonwealth Honors College at the University of Massachusetts, has always loved the Irish culture. Over the years she has written essays and dissertations about their literature and theatre. She has also traveled to Ireland many times.

“I’ve always had an infinity for Ireland,” she said. This passion springs from her family ancestry and being part of the third or fourth generation of Irish Americans, depending on which side of the family. She doesn't know where her family is from in Ireland, but she says that that adds to the "intrigue and mystery" that drew her.

This semester Gorman is teaching the course “Irish Writers and Cultural Context,” which is a class that she created. In the class, Gorman teaches her students about the Irish culture they have likely heard so much about though the medium of plays, short stories, novels, and movies. Plays such as “The Bog of Cats” by Marina Carr, “Eclipsed” by Patricia Burke Brogan, and “Dancing at Lughnasa” by Brian Friel, juxtaposed with the movie “The Magdalene Sisters” and poems by people who partook in political activism during the fight for independence from the English. This knowledge is what she has obtained from years of study and multiple trips to Ireland.

                        Her first trip was in her twenties. While she was there she went to the Yeat’s Summer Program in Sligo, where she did graduate work on Yeats, though she eventually changed her topic to James Joyce, and specifically on "Ulysses." Another one of Gorman's trips to Ireland was academic, earning her Ph.D. in Anglo-Irish Literature and Drama from the University College Dublin in 2008.  Another trip ended up being an extended stay, living there during 1983 to1985 with her husband, Douglas DaRif, and two children, Meghan and Devin.  Though the Irish culture is in a state of “dramatic influx”, she still found the culture widely accepting.

One of the aspects of the culture that was difficult to adjust to was the pub culture, she said. In Ireland, people go to the pub in order to hang out with people, and have a variety of drinks ranging from alcohol to tea. People also commonly brought their children to the pub because it was a place of community, which was a culture shock for Gorman because of the American culture of not bring children into institutions such as bars.

However, Gorman had more trouble adjusting to life in the States when she came back because the pace of life in America is much faster than Ireland. Gorman said that the cities, and even the towns, in the United States, were more fast-paced than life in Ireland.

Her other degrees include a Master's in English, Liberal Arts and Education. This is because she continuously wants to learn and enjoys being on both sides of the desk, she said. “I just want to keep learning in a broad way,” she said in reference to her multiple degrees. When she retires, she wants to learn Thai in order to prove to herself that she can.

She remembers how her father would come home and tell stories from the classroom. “He would then lean over and grab my arm and say ‘And Pattie, they pay me for this.’” Her father’s love for his job inspired her to want to have a job that she loved. This job is teaching. “I’ve always wanted to be a teacher,” Gorman said, citing her father as her inspiration.

                        Before Umass, she taught graduate and undergraduate classes at Clark University and Clark's affiliate, Worcester Art Museum. At Clark she created classes that were based in feminism and spirituality in literature.  She liked the unique experience of being able to work and draw from the museum, incorporating the art from the museum with the literature of the class. While there she not only taught, but designed courses as well.

She came to UMass because she wanted to live in a progressive rural area, and the Amherst area gave her that. At Umass she has taught the Dean's book course, "Metaphor and Creativity", "Gender Politics in Representation", an Honors seminar and, of course, the Irish Writers class.

Among her other achievements is receiving the Commonwealth Honors College Distinguished Teaching Award for her work in the class "Ideas That Change the World, an Honor's seminar required for Honors students at Umass. She, and the other winner in 2012, were the first winners of the award. Not only that but she was nominated and selected by students to receive the award. The honors seminar that she teaches is a ground level that most honors kids take. In her version of the class, she starts off with Plato, especially his essay known as “The Cave”, which is a way to teach to her students about questioning everything around themselves.

         She encourages her students to explore what they find interesting. Lena Golick, a sophomore biology major at UMass, says "In Irish Writers she has been allowing us to explore whatever facets of Irish literature most interests us. By doing this, we all learn more because we are actually invested in what we are learning." Instead of creating prompts, she wants students to find out about what interests them, whether that be the music, history, mythology or anything that sparks interest. She lets them pick their own subjects of essays and discussions, and allows them to have a say in the curriculum, something that is unique in the sphere of education. Albert Williams, a UMass junior computer science and math double major, said "Professor Gorman took the indifferent Math student in me and instilled him with compassion."

                        She is currently editing a book on Joyce's "Ulysses." Part of her work with the book is a 400 page dissertation that examines the gender politics in Joyce’s work. By focusing on gender politics, she is able to look at the intersection between paganism and Christianity, two very different religions.

by Lauren McArdle

Speech paper

With Syria broken into factions and fighting each other for power in a "proxy" war, people are fleeing Syria and crossing borders for refuge. The influx of refugees into neighboring countries, especially Lebanon, was one of the central problems Omar Dahi addressed in his lecture "The Crisis of Syria's Refugees in Lebanon," in the Commonwealth College Building, Events Hall -East at 4 pm on Wednesday.

                Dahi, an associate professor of economics at Hampshire College, was born and grew up in Syria and spent last semester in Lebanon and  spoke to 45 people of the problems that are affecting Syria and surrounding countries. He first began by explaining how the crisis was not simply an uprising, like it was at the beginning but is now a "proxy" war involving the many rebel factions, the government, the United States of American, Saudi Arabia and Israel.

                "Lebanon is the most effected, besides Syria," said Dahi. The influx of refugees due to the crisis in Syria has taken its toll on all surrounding countries but especially Lebanon. Most of the neighboring countries have closed their borders, not wanting anymore refugees. Lebanon has not.

                 Before the Syrian crisis, Lebanon was a poor country, but since the rise in population, money has gotten tighter. "They don't have the fiscal ability to take care of these refugees," said Dahi, speaking from his own experience.

                But that has not stopped the flow of refugees into the country.  The population of Syria right now is about 4 million people. Out of that number, 1 million of them are Syrian refugees. That means that 1/4 of the population is Syrian refugees. This number is predicted to rise, resulting in half the population being refugees.

                Dahi says that there were three things that led to this crisis: the Arab uprising, the war against Iran, and the decline of U.S. power in the Middle East. The Arab uprising, commonly known as Arab Spring, started when Tunisia rebelled against their authoritarian government, and other countries in the Middle East followed suit. This uprising, which turned into the "proxy war" that it is now, provided a moral cover for what was happening what is happening in Syria now.

                The war against Iran also helped to deteriorate Syria. The U.S., Saudi Arabia and Israel created economic sanctions against Iran in an attempt to weaken their power in the Middle East. The allies determined that "Syria was viewed as the weakest link." Therefore, Saudi Arabia used the uprising there to push for allegiance and to try to put into government a more supportive government. Iran felt that the Syrian uprising had been hijacked and put money into the Syrian regime.

                The United States' decline of power in the area is a similar concept because of the fluctuating support they give to different opposition groups.  "You have many different sides pushing against each other and reaching a stalemate in destruction," he said.

                The best outcome for Syria would be peace talks which recently adjourned in Geneva, Switzerland. The talks would involve Syria, Russia, The united States, Saudi Arabia and Iran. There are two possible outcomes, either to create an opportunity for a new leadership to emerge or to split up the region. "And the hope," said Dahi, "or the best outcome, is the these processes create a new space for these voices to be heard."

                What can the United States do? Dahi said that United States citizens can contact their delegates to urge them to put pressure on their allies, like Saudi Arabia, for a political settlement. The other part the United States can take is to recognize Iran as a legitimate country and enter talks with Iran to find a peaceful resolution.

                "I felt like I learned  a lot about the current situation in Syria and that it has gone from an internal uprising to a kind of international battleground from Dahi's organized presentation," said Mary Carey, a journalism professor at the University of Massachusetts.

                Morgan Morselli, a sophomore at UMass, said "Dahi did a great job of clarifying why the refugees have a big impact."

by Lauren McArdle

2012-2013 Fencing Season

Fencing Season

The Student Debt Problem

Colin Diederich graduated from the University of Massachusetts last may with a degree in

computer science. He is now an associate software engineer at CA Technologies, but college is not a

distant memory. He paid for college mostly through loans and grants, and though his mom paid off the

interest while he was still in school, he still has to pay off the actual loans. "Instead of putting money

into the economy, I'm paying off an obviously good decision for five years or longer," said Diederich.


Many college graduates are facing the same kind of financial trouble. According to the American

Student Assistance, a nonprofit that tries to help students and alumni manage and repay their college

loans, nearly 20 million American attend college every year, and of those 20 million, 60 percent borrow
annually to help cover costs. In March 2012, the amount of student loan debt first exceeded $1 trillion

according to fastweb.com, a website that posts daily about the scholarships that are out there. Since

then it has risen to $1.1 trillion. Student debt is the second highest type of consumer debt, behind only

mortgages. It can take anywhere between 10 and 25 years to pay off student loans and payments start

coming in six months after you stop taking classes.


 Though some students have help from parents and guardians, not all do. Shelby Ashline, a

sophomore as UMass, has no help from parents, though she says she isn't paying for college by

herself. "I can't say I'm paying for college myself because I depend on a lot of people, my boyfriend

Roland especially. He works full time while I'm in school and this year, after all the loans and grants

and scholarships I could possibly get, we paid $1150," said Ashline. Her boyfriend, Roland Brock, is a

construction worker.


The beginning of this semester was especially hard for Ashline. She had applied for the

Massachusetts Native American tuition waiver last semester because she has Abenaki blood. One of the
requirements is that she be a resident of Massachusetts, so she sent them a copy of her lease for her

apartment, and she was accepted. This semester, UMass told her that she was not actually eligible

because she had not lived in Massachusetts for over a year which is the school's standards for being a

resident.


"So not only would I lose the waiver for this semester, but I would have to make it up because

they were going to take away from last semester. It was news to me that they can take away money

from previous semesters. I really wonder where the money went after that," said Ashline.


Scholarships can be hard to come by as well. According to an article published by Lynn

O'Shaughnessy on the CBS website, only .3 percent of full-time college students enrolled at a four-year
college receive enough grants and scholarships to cover the full cost of college. A study called the

National Postsecondary Student Aid Study surveyed more than 80,000 undergraduates and found that in

2003-2004 school year only 9.6 percent of undergraduate students at four-year colleges received private

scholarships worth $2,184 on average. And though good grades matter, only 19 percent of high schools
students with an average of 3.5 to 4.0 get awards.


Matt Mourovic is an assistant director at Financial Aid Services. He says that is hard for students

to get scholarships because "there are a lot more applicants than there is money." Though there is only

a small amount of money to go around, not a lot of people are taking advantage of the resources around

them. Scholarships can be found through the academic departments and through local groups from a

student's home town. At UMass, the Commonwealth Honor's College also offers scholarships for non-
honors students. It is also important to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or as it is

more commonly known, FAFSA. And in case all of that seems overwhelming, there are people like

Mourovic to help you, though he says on average, the office only sees about 20 to 30 percent of the

student body. His advice, "Apply earlier than you think."


The question, though, is whether college is worth it. With all this money that has to be paid and

the amount of debt students have to pay off later, is it worth it? There are some people who can't go to

the school of their choice or the most prestigious in their field because of money. "I feel bad for the

many people who have their dreams and in a way their chances ruined because they can't afford to go

to college. Education should be a right, not a privilege," said Ashline.


Ryan Wells, an assistant professor in the Higher Education Concentration, said "For any one

individual, is it worth it? Maybe? Overall, on average, it is." On average, according to Mourovic, poeple

who hold a Bachelors Degree make about $45,000 with a median annual of $17,500 higher than a

person without any type of degree. Wells also brought up the point that minimum wage is low and hard

to live on. College allows people to find jobs that are not in minimum wage.


"It is very alarming when you hear the dollar amount people are coming out with," said Wells.

Though the school gets money from the state, if it is a state school, it is usually the first thing to get cut

because it has other sources of revenue. So to compensate in the cut of state funds, schools will rise the

cost of school. This can be frustrating when in places like Sweden and Norway, college is free. But look

at the culture.


Their taxes are some of the highest in the world and they believe that sending people to college

is a public good. In America, the individual is the key, this country is very much an individualistic

community in which someone should go to college for their own personal gain, said Wells. However,

these countries are shifting over to the American model of college.


But why is tuition high? The sticker price that people get when applying is rarely the amount

people pay after everything is said and done. The net price, or the price a student actually pays, is a lot

lower. The money that students pay go to many things.


"College is expensive because you are paying for what you get," said Mourovic. This includes the

maintenance of the buildings, salaries for various people, and amenities. College is a business, said

Mourovic. Also many schools, UMass especially, are having construction done, what Wells calls an "arms

race" of buildings that can lead to greater prestige. Plus, as Mourovic put it, people are willing to pay for

it. Students and parents, despite complaining about the cost, are still saving up to put students through

college in any way possible.


Is the price of college going to go down? Is there going to be less debt for students in the future?

It is starting to be recognized as a big problem among graduates. Wells said that having student loans to

pay off can lead people to put off other big milestones in life, buying a house, starting a family, and

eventually retirement. However, Wells said, "I don't' see a dramatic culture shift that will change this,

not to sound pessimistic."



by Lauren McArdle

The BDIC Program

Shelby Ashline, a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts, chose UMass because

they had a journalism program and an equine management program. But upon coming here,

she found out that since journalism was a bachelors degree, a four year program, and the other

was an associate's degree, a two year program, she could not double major in the two. Her

advisor gave her a solution. " She said that I could combine the two by going to BDIC and she

directed me to the Goodell building where I could find their office. "


Created in 1968, the program allows students to design their own major. This

alternative to the traditional major also allows students to pursue their educational goals in

areas where majors have not been created yet. It is for students looking for that niche and

finding it by creating it for themselves.


The program for the students was created by the students. In 1968, a group of students

organized a conference and called for more individualism in education. Professor Arthur Kinney

of the English program steeped forward and helped the students with their demand for

academic freedom. The program was approved by the faculty senate and board of trustees and

began to operate in the fall of 1970.


To create a major in the BDIC major, students choose from three areas of study that will

help them in their pursuit. They then take a one-credit writing proposal class, where they get

help writing their proposal and creating their major to submit to enter the program. They get

help from a teacher and peer mentor. The proposal consists of why a student wants to enter

the program, what classes the student intends to take, what led the student to choose the

intended career path, and other similar questions. "I wish there was more guidance," Nicole

Dziadzio, a junior at UMass, said "The class is more or less designed for people who already

know what they want to do, but I don't think there is enough support when it comes to the

logistics of planning which courses to take. It can be overwhelming when there are thousands

of classes to choose from."


The classes they have to choose from are 300 level classes or higher. This can be a

restriction for some areas of study that are smaller than others. "BDIC does not allow its

students to take any 100-level classes and you can only take two 200-level classes. Because

equine management is only meant as an associate's degree program, almost all of the classes it

offers are 100- and 200-level," said Ashline, "The program may be a step towards individuality,

but it's only a baby step."


Not many people have heard of the program based on the small number of graduating

students, about 80-100 each year according to the program's website. Some hear about it from

advisors like Ashline and UMass senior Jeung Takeda, some hear it from friends like Dziadzio,

and some may hear it sandwiched between UMass trivia on college tours. But it is not talked

about enough according to sophomore Courtney Stacey, who said " I do not think enough

people know about it, and its various possibilities. It is a 36 credit major, so a student could

start it his or her junior year! I wish more people took the chance to do that."


The idea of committing oneself to one major, or two in some cases, can be scary. Is it

the right choice? Will there be time to take other classes outside of the major? "To like a major

after you're in it is really difficult, but because BDIC allows you to do what you think is best

freely, it allows me to reconsider and reflect what I want out of the courses rather than being

told just to take it. What appealed to me the most was that the program gave me an endless list

of different courses which I wanted to take but didn't want to make meaningless," said Takedo.


Ashline said that she tried the BDIC program because "I decided that if I could write

about horses in particular, like they do in magazines like Equus, I would just have the best of

both worlds in my career. I could combine my love of writing with my interest in horses. I don't

know if I believe a job like that could ever be boring. Thus, I was determined that my niche

would be Equine Journalism"


Stacey found that the education program was too rigid for her but also wanted

something that would allow her to take part in the Citizens Scholar Program. " To me, its

integration and interconnectedness across departments aligns with the interconnectedness of

our world. I believe education consists of many ways of learning, and many perspectives and

lenses, so it made sense that I would incorporate other disciplines into my work with

Education."


Though the BDIC major has some restrictions, it still allows students to travel abroad

and take part in other academic activities. " I also loved the fact that BDIC did not restrict me

from taking a Five College course, or Domestic Exchange and Study Abroad--all of which I am

doing," said Stacey. She is also able to take part in the Citizens Scholar Program, which is a two-
year, academic service-learning program that combines the classroom with community service,

and even incorporate it into her major and internships can count towards credits.


For more information about the program or who to apply, interested students can visit

the program office in Goodell 607 or can visit their website: https://www.bdic.umass.edu.



by Lauren McArdle

A-10 women’s lax notebook: George Mason continues win streak, SJU and GW fall

The George Mason women’s lacrosse team won its fourth straight game with a 10-9 victory over Coastal Carolina on Monday.

Senior Katie Mascolo led the Patriots with three goals, while junior Kirstin Russell finished with two.

With the score tied at 1-1 early in the first half, George Mason (4-2) followed with two straight goals by Russell.

Following a 2-1 Coastal Carolina (2-4) run over the following seven minutes, the Chanticleers then scored three straight goals to close out the first half to take a 6-4 lead.

After Coastal Carolina opened the second half with another goal, the Patriots then permanently took the lead with six straight scores.

The Chanticleers attempted a comeback behind two goals in the last 10 minutes of the game, but the Patriots held on for the one-point win.

Although Coastal Carolina finished with a slim 11-10 advantage in draw controls, George Mason held the advantage in attempted shots (21-7) and ground balls (16-15).

The Patriots play Presbyterian on Friday to wrap up their road trip before hosting Marist on Monday.

Manhattan tops St. Joe’s

Behind three goals from sophomore Kaitlyn Cunningham, Manhattan picked up its first win of the season with a 13-6 victory over Saint Joseph’s on Saturday.

Following a game-opening score by Hawks’ sophomore Kelly Phelan, the Jaspers responded with three consecutive goals.

St. Joe’s (2-3) scored the next two goals behind senior Val Paolucci and freshman Nora McCallion to tie the game at 3-3 midway through the first half.

Manhattan scored the next six points and extended the lead to 9-4 with eight minutes, 31 seconds left in the second half.

St. Joe’s will next play on Tuesday against Stetson.

George Washington falls to No. 14 Johns Hopkins

No. 14 Johns Hopkins scored the first nine goals of the game en route to a 17-3 blowout victory over George Washington on Saturday.

The loss was the Colonials’ second-straight defeat at the hands of a nationally-ranked team, as they also lost to No. 20 Navy last Wednesday.
Michaela Lynch, Allie Rash and Olivia Boudreau each tallied a goal for the Colonials (3-3), who will host Mount St. Mary’s on Wednesday.


by Lauren McArdle

Brendan Hall

The first thing Brendan Hall, a University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni and high school sports writer for ESPN Boston, showed the group of Journalism 300 students on Monday was a press conference he had attended over the weekend. Brendan Durkin, a boy with down-syndrome, had scored had scored the last basket in the final seconds of the Newton North game. Afterwards, there was press conference that Durkin got to speak at.

Most reporters had left the game early. Newton North was a favorite to win and proved so. Some groups didn’t even send reporters. But they missed out Durkin’s special moment. “Honest to God, one of the coolest things I’ve ever done, being a part of that press conference,” said Hall in his heavy Boston accent to the class.

Hall then went on the show the class similar stories. A story about the Bruins game that happened after the Boston Marathon Bombing and the way people were connected. Another about the Mansfield Coach’s speech to his basketball team after they had just lost a big game.

And although he showed the class the team stats pages he and his colleague Scott Barboza had done, featuring all the teams in Mass and talked about the different kinds of recaps they did, the focus seemed to be on the people.

It wasn’t just about the numbers and the game itself, but also about the people inside the sports. And it was more so about the special moments. “Certainly motivates you to write something special. When it happens, you kick it into a different mode.”

Hall didn’t start out at ESPN, and wasn’t always a sports writer. While at UMass, he worked on The Daily Collegian writing not only about sports but also wrote the beat for the UMass police and some arts pieces. “You got to cast a large net,” said Hall as advice to the class, going on to say that having diversity in your work shows dedication and flexibility.

While at school, he has did three internships, including the Boston Globe. He graduated with a degree for journalism. He then got a job at Worcester Telegram and Gazette and later as a correspondent at the Boston Globe. By then, he has found his niche as a high school sports writer which he had discovered while doing the internship at the Boston Globe.

He then, along with now colleague Barboza, helped create the high school page for ESPN Boston. Though it was launched in 2009, and Hall joined the project in 2010, he has had a lot of influence by making sure that all the sports teams are covered, not just the ones in the immediate area. The teams are all accounting for, even Martha’s Vineyard.

“100 years from now, people are going to pull up your account, and that’s the coolest thing for me.”

Obituary for Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert, 70, of Chicago, Illinois, died April 4, 2013, after a long battle with cancer of the thyroid and salivary glands.

Born in Urbana, Illinois on June 18, 1942, he was the only child of the late Walter and Annabel Ebert.

Ebert’s interest in journalism began when he was a student at Urbana High School, where he was a sports writer for the school newspaper. Ebert started talking classes at the University of Illinois as an early entrance student, completing his high school courses while also starting to take university courses. While at the university, he wrote as a reporter for the school paper, “Daily Illni”. One of the first movie reviews he did was for the university paper about “La Dolce Vita”, published in 1961. By senior year, he served as the newspaper’s editor. Through out his time at school, starting at the age of 15, he was continuously working for “The News-Gazette” in Champaign, Illinois. 

After graduating college in 1964, studied English as a master’s student. During this time, he attended the University of Cape Town on a Rotary Fellowship. He then was accepted as a Ph.D. scholar at the University of Chicago. While working on this doctorate, he applied to newspapers in the Chicago area. He was hired by Jim Hoge of the “Chicago Sun-Times” as a reporter and feature writer in 1966. It was not until the current movie critic left the paper that he received the beat. After working under the load of student and newspaper writer, he left the University of Chicago and focused his energies on movie reviews.

By 1970, he had written a book and co-wrote a number of screen plays, including the Sex Pistols movie “Who Killed Bambi”. He worked for the University of Chicago as a guest lecturer and taught about films.

In 1975, he received the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Ebert also began hosting a weekly film review television show called “Sneak Previews” that same year, which was produced by the Chicago public broadcasting station WTTW. Three years later, PBS picked up the show for national distribution.  This show, though changing names throughout the years, lasted 34 years.

In early 2002, Ebert was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer, which was successfully removed. He had surgery in 2003 for cancer in his salivary gland, which was followed by radiation treatment. In 2006, he underwent surgery to remove cancerous tissue in his jaw, but due to complications, lost the ability to speak.  

He became an honorary member life member of the Directors Guild of America. His final review for the “Chicago Sun-Times” was for the film “To the Wonder”, which he gave 3.5 out of 4 stars. It was published in April of 2013. However, throughout the year of 2013, previously unpublished reviews came out posthumously as the movies he has written about came out. 

Ebert leaves his wife, Charlie “Chaz” Hamelsmith, of 21 years. There was a private memorial vigil on April 7, 2013 with an open casket at the chapel of Graceland Cemetery. The funeral was held on April 8, 2013 at Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral. A bronze statue was erected in his honor in Champaign, Illinois  at the Virginia Theatre in 2014.

Memorial contribution can be made to the non-profit group headed by Ebert’s wife, the Robert Ebert Foundation.

By Lauren McArdle