AM-580 News Features

Hard-nosed, hard-drinking, tenacious, sometimes rewriting ethics to get the story – that’s a common way that Hollywood shows journalists in the movies. But in a new book, a University of Illinois professor argues that motion pictures have been kind to the profession of journalism – even with stereotypes that surfaced as early as the 1931 film “The Front Page.” Matt Ehrlich wrote the book “Journalism in the Movies” – he talked to AM 580’s Tom Rogers.

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15th District Congressman Tim Johnson says he hopes the early transfer of sovereignty to a new Iraqi government will be a first step to democracy and lasting peace in that country -- and the reduction of US forces.  Johnson spoke with AM 580's Jim Meadows about Iraq and its future.

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It’s considered by many to be the greatest novel of the 20th century --- and a good excuse for a party. James Joyce’s Ulysses explores a day in the life of Leopold Bloom of Dublin, with sly parallels to Homer’s “Odyssey”. Even its fans say it’s hard to read. But celebrations of “Bloomsday”, the day of the year when the novel takes place, get bigger every year. A Bloomsday celebration in downtown Champaign ran from morning to night, rotating between several locations. Most of them were bars --- a setting which  fans of “Ulysses” find completely appropriate. AM 580’s Jim Meadows followed the festivities.

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read "Ulysses" at the Project Gutenberg website 

Chief Illiniwek: What is 'Consensus?'

The University of Illinois Board of Trustees votes on a resolution that neither retires nor specifically preserves the controversial symbol, but calls for all sides to come to a consensus.  As AM 580's Jim Meadows reports, it will be very difficult to find an outcome that would end such a polarized debate.

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AM 580's Tom Rogers reports from Chicago on the Trustees' vote -- and the reaction

Among those mourning the June 10th death of Ray Charles are the many musicians who played with him on the road.  Several of them come from Illinois, and the University of Illinois jazz program.  AM 580's Jim Meadows talked with one of those musicians, trumpeter Jeff Helgesen.

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Ralph Martire of the Chicago-based Center for Tax and Budget Accountability advocates an increase in the state income tax, refundable tax credits for the bottom 60 percent of taxpayers, property tax abatements, and expansion of the sales tax to include consumer services. Martire talked with AM 580’s Jim Meadows.

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website for the Coalition for School Funding Reform, the group which sponsored Martire's appearance 

From Third Party to Major Party?

The man who hopes to be the Green Party’s presidential candidate this year predicts his party will win the White House by 2016.  David Cobb - an attorney and Green Party activist --- spoke to local Green Party supporters in Urbana, and he talked to AM 580’s Jim Meadows about his campaign strategy.

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Cobb's campaign website

When David Paul Hammer was moved to the penitentiary at Terre Haute – where federal executions take place – a nun he had befriended referred him to Sister Rita Claire Gerardot (left) of the Sisters of Providence, whose motherhouse is just north of the city.  Since then, Sr. Rita Claire has been Hammer’s intermediary, both in a spiritual sense and toward the community.  She tells AM 580’s Tom Rogers that it was her first experience dealing with a prison inmate -- not to mention one charged with capital murder -- but one she would never trade in.

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deathrowspeaks.info, a website Hammer set up as a voice to the outside world

Last year, Governor Blagojevich signed a sweeping new ethics law for state officials and employees. But the ethics law doesn’t stop at the state level. Every local governmental body in Illinois is required to enact its own local ethics ordinance. Some local officials say the ordinances they’re being told to pass are sometimes vague, and perhaps unconstitutional. AM 580’s Jim Meadows reports.

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The Illinois native and UI graduate whose inventions in scientific instruments eventually led to $400 million in donations to scientific research -- including the UI's Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology -- died Tuesday (5/18) at the age of 104.  

AM 580's Jay Pearce talked about Beckman's life and legacy with Beckman Institute director Pierre Wiltzius on Morning Edition.

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Beckman Institute site

Gay rights activists in Illinois want the same right to marry that same-sex couples now have in Massachusetts. On the day Massachusetts begin granting same-sex marriage licenses, a few same-sex couples applied for marriage licenses in Champaign County. AM 580’s Jim Meadows reports.

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43 years ago this month, 13 people challenged the segregation of interstate buses and bus stations in the south. Calling themselves Freedom Riders, the group --- both black and white --- were attacked by angry white mobs for their efforts.  AM 580’s Jim Meadows spoke with two of the original Freedom Riders who visited Champaign-Urbana.

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The Struggle for Equity

Despite a standing court order, African American students in the Champaign Unit Four schools aren’t achieving as well on average as their white counterparts. The federal court gave the district a roadmap of items to correct. There’s no guarantee they’ll lead to better educational results for minority students, but the district’s superintendent is confident. 

AM 580 looks at the problem and what’s being done to change the trend in Champaign-Urbana and beyond. Tom Rogers begins by talking to those who have first-hand experience with a system that leads to different results for different races.

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As Champaign and Urbana schools look for ways to close the achievement gap, parents play a big role.  But as Jim Meadows reports, parental involvement in children's education can come in many forms.

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A town hall meeting completed the series, with parents, teachers and school officials finding plenty of questions but few simple answers about what African-Americans need for effective education, who can best provide it, and how to avoid pitfalls along the way.  AM 580's Jim Meadows recaps the meeting.

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Read more at our "Bridging the Achievement Gap" site

Jack Valenti on Movies and the Digital Age

As the retiring head of the Motion Picture Association of America, Valenti says the illegal downloading of movies over the Internet could harm the film industry. At a panel on the issue during Roger Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival, Valenti heard from critics of the movie trade’s intense guarding of its product from copying. Valenti defended the Copyright Term Extension Act, which extended the life of copyrights much longer than previously allowed. 

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Valenti on his development of the MPAA rating system  

Ebertfest site

The national discussion over gay marriage became an academic discussion  Wednesday at UIUC. Professors of law, education, philosophy and English sat down to discuss the potential impact of legalizing same-sex unions. But while all the panelists supported gay rights, they didn’t agree on what the benefits of gay marriage would be. AM 580’s Jim Meadows reports.

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Passion Plays in the Year of The Passion

The Passion of the Christ remains one of the nation's top box office attractions.  But Mel Gibson's movie about the trial and crucifixion of Jesus is far from the first dramatization of the central story of the Christian faith.  Every spring, churches and other groups throughout the country put on passion plays, following a tradition that dates back to medieval Europe.  AM 580's Jim Meadows visited one passion play (left) that's been staged in Bloomington-Normal for more than 80 years.

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American Passion Play site

The Spreading Chestnut Trees

To see a mature American Chestnut in nature is a rarity. The trees, which once took up about a quarter of Eastern US forests, were driven to near-extinction by a fungal disease introduced about 100 years ago. AM 580’s Ali Kawa speaks with Purdue University scientist Doug Jacobs (left, under a chestnut in Wisconsin), who is working to restore the once-tremendously valuable American Chestnut.

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