Helen Elizabeth Garrett, commonly known as Elizabeth Garrett, (1963 – March 6, 2016), was a American professor of law and an academic administrator. In 2010, she became Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Southern California. On July 1, 2015, she became the 13th president of Cornell University.
Garrett died on March 6, 2016 from colon cancer at her New York City home. She was aged 52.
Paul Ryan (cartoonist)
Paul Ryan (September 23, 1949 – March 6, 2016) was an American comic book and comic strip cartoonist. Ryan worked for Marvel Comics and DC Comics on a number of super-hero comics. Until his death in 2016, he worked on "The Phantom" for King Features Syndicate. He was born in Somerville, Massachusetts.
Ryan died in Worcester, Massachusetts of cancer on March 6, 2016. He was aged 66.
Adrian Hardiman
Adrian Hardiman (21 May 1951 – 7 March 2016) was an Irish judge. He was the justice of the Supreme Court of Ireland. He served from 7 February 2000 until his death on 7 March 2016.
Hardiman was born in Dublin, Ireland. He studied at Belvedere College, at the University College Dublin, and at the King's Inn. Hardiman died in Dublin, Ireland from a heart attack. He was aged 65.
Vernon L. Smith
Vernon Lomax Smith (born January 1, 1927) is an American professor of economics. He worked at Chapman University's Argyros School of Business and Economics and School of Law in Orange, California. Smith shared the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics with Daniel Kahneman.
He is the founder and president of the International Foundation for Research in Experimental Economics, a Member of the Board of Advisors for The Independent Institute, and a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington D.C..
In 2004 Smith was honored with an honorary doctoral degree at Universidad Francisco Marroquín, the institution that named the Vernon Smith Center for Experimental Economics Research after him.
Radiometer
A radiometer or roentgenometer is a device for measuring the radiant flux (power) of electromagnetic radiation. Generally, a radiometer is an infrared radiation detector or ultraviolet detector.
Reading Rainbow
Reading Rainbow is an American children's television series. It aired on PBS Kids from June 6, 1983 until November 10, 2006. It encouraged children to read. In 2012, an iPad and Kindle Fire educational interactive book was launched with the "Reading Rainbow" name.
The public television series won over 200 broadcast awards, including a Peabody Award and 26 Emmy Awards. Eleven of those awards were in the "Outstanding Children's Series" category.
When the show was canceled in 2006, reruns ran until August 28, 2009.
The original team included Lynne Brenner Ganek, Ellen Schecter, and LeVar Burton.
Paul Webley
Professor Paul Webley CBE (19 November 1953 – 2 March 2016) was a British educator. He was the Director and Principal of the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London from 2006 to 2015. From 2010 until his death in 2016, he served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of London.
He was a member of the Editorial Board of the "Journal of Economic Psychology". He was the former President of the International Association for Research in Economic Psychology. Webley was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to higher education.
Webley died in London, England on 2 March 2016 from cancer. He was aged 62.
Sheila Varian
Sheila Varian (August 8, 1936 – March 6, 2016) was an American breeder and trainer of Arabian horses. She was born in Santa Maria, California. Her career began in 1963. She used "vaquero"-influenced methods of training horses.
Varian produced many famous Arabian horses who won many show horses in the United States. Varian received many awards from the United States Equestrian Federation. She was added into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in 2003.
Varian died in Arroyo Grande, California from ovarian cancer on March 6, 2016. She was aged 79.
I've Been to the Mountaintop
I've Been to the Mountaintop is the name of the last speech Martin Luther King, Jr. gave before he died.
King gave the speech on April 3, 1968. He was in Memphis, Tennessee for the Memphis Sanitation Strike. The sanitation (garbage) workers in Memphis were on strike because they got paid very little, and their work was dangerous. King wanted to support them.
The speech talks mostly about the Strike. King talks about the best ways to get the workers what they needed. At the end of the speech, he talks about the possibility that he might be killed.
The next day, King was murdered.
When talking about the Strike, King focuses on the importance of non-violence. At a protest on March 28, some protesters had become violent and started breaking windows. King says:
King thought that if protesters or the people on strike were violent, other people would only pay attention to the violence. They would not pay attention to how badly the sanitation workers were treated.
King suggested boycotting things sold by white businesses as a nonviolent way of protesting and getting people's attention. He explains that one black person might be poor, but all together, they spent a lot of money. This gave them power. If they stopped buying things from businesses owned by white people, then those businesses would lose a lot of money. Then they would have to pay attention, or else they could go out of business. Meanwhile, black people could use their money to buy things from businesses owned by other blacks. King says:
King then talks about the Civil Rights Movement. He says:
King promises that civil rights activists will not stop until they get their basic human rights.
At the end of the speech, King says that as soon as he got to Memphis, he began to get threats. However, he says he is not afraid of death. This is the most famous part of the speech, and also its ending:
King was a Baptist pastor. He often mentioned stories from the Bible in his speeches.
In the end of this speech, King is talking about a story from the Old Testament. Moses was the leader of the Israelites (the people of Israel). The Israelites followed Moses because they thought he would lead them to a Promised Land. In this Promised Land, they could live in peace.
However, before the Israelites got to the Promised Land, God spoke to Moses. God said he would let Moses see the Promised Land with his eyes. However, God would not let Moses enter the Promised Land. The Bible says:
Soon after this, Moses died. Joshua replaced him as leader, and led the people of Israel into the Promised Land.
King is saying that like Moses, he has "been to the mountaintop" and seen the Promised Land a society where black people have peace and equal rights. He knows that he may not get to this Promised Land with them, because he might die first. However, he tells his listeners that, like the people of Israel, African-Americans as a people will get to the Promised Land.
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African-American civil rights group. The SCLC was very important in the Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King, Jr. was its first president.
Today, the SCLC says it is "a nonprofit, non-sectarian, inter-faith, advocacy organization that is committed to nonviolent action to achieve social, economic, and political justice." This means the group is open to people of all faiths and religions, not just Christians.