News Display: U.S. Copyright Law Enacted, Friday, 5/29

The Everett Cafe features thematic news displays on a wide range of educational topics, in addition to daily postings of headlines from around the world. Stay tuned into current events and consider how the news may impact teaching and learning.

• Kent State, Monday, 5/4


On May 4, 1970 four students were killed and nine others were wounded by the Ohio National Guard in response to demonstrations at Kent State University in protest of Nixon’s proposed invasion of Cambodia. Students and others were angry at the expansion of the Vietnam War, or second IndoChina War, largely a guerilla war against the spread of communism, which occurred between 1959 and 1975.

Two of the victims, Sandra Scheuer and William Shroeder, had been walking across the campus or simply watching the protest when they were shot down. The Kent State shootings caused an estimated eight million students nationwide to go on strike, forcing hundreds of educational institutions to close down temporarily. On May 14 and 15, policed killed two student protestors and injured a dozen more at Jackson State University.

Join the Gottesman Libraries as we remember the Kent State massacre and ponder the role of students in shaping political change within the timeline of activism: What did the Hungarian Revolution, begun by students in October 1956, or the French student protests of May 1968, or demonstrations at Tiananmen Square in 1989 tell us? Are students today more politically moderate and career-oriented than students of the sixties and seventies and if so, why?

Also be sure to check out our latest slide show documenting the Kent State shootings.





• Watergate Hearings, Friday, 5/15


May 17, 1973 marks the beginning of the Senate’s nationally televised hearings of the Watergate scandal, which involved conviction of top advisors and aids in the Nixon Administration for acts relating to spying on the National Democratic Committee, including fraud, burglary, bribery, sabotage, wire tapping, laundering, and other crimes. Seven top men, John Mitchell, U.S. Attorney General; H.R. Haldeman, White House Chief of Staff; John Ehrlichman, assistant to Nixon in domestic affairs; Charles Colson, White House counsel for political affairs; Gordon Strachan, White House aid to Haldeman; Robert Mardian, aid to Mitchell and counsel to the Committee to re-elect the President; and Kenneth Parkinson, of the same committee, were indicted by grand jury which also named Richard Nixon as an “unindicted co-conspirator”. In addition to the “Watergate Seven”, were the “White House Plumbers”, a covert team responsible for fixing “leaks” about government operations, especially the Vietnam War; its members, also found guilty, included Everette Howard Hunt; Egil Krogh, George Gordon Liddy, and Jeb McGruder.

With the likelihood of impeachment by Congress, the Watergate scandal led to the resignation of Richard Nixon on August 9, 1974 and his eventual pardon by President Gerald Ford.

The Gottesman Libraries will post headlines covering the Watergate scandal and its impact. Come and consider the extent of the legacy, if any, in terms of immoral or dishonest behavior among our nation’s political, social, or educational institutions.

In addition see the slide show featuring music and images of Nixon's term of office.




• Clara Barton & the American Red Cross, Thursday, 5/21


The American Red Cross was founded on May 21, 1881 in Washington, D.C. by visionary leader Clara Barton, a home-educated teacher and civil servant in the U.S. Patent Office. Barton started teaching at the age of fifteen; opened a free public school in Bordentown, N.J; nursed an invalid brother; organized the distribution of donated medical supplies; formed a volunteer relief service for soldiers and served as superintendent of nurses under Major General Benjamin F. Butler’s command during the Civil War. All these experiences set the stage for her most notable philanthropic achievement: founding the American Red Cross.

The first local chapter of the American Red Cross was established in Dansville, New York in August 1881. Originally the humanitarian foundation intended to provide disaster relief, such as nursing for the victims of the Michigan forest fires (1881); the Johnstown, Pennsylvania flood (1889); and Carolina islands hurricane (1893). Also came the need to assist refugees and prisoners of war, so Clara Barton and associates journeyed to Constantinople to assist Armenian victims of the Ottoman Empire (1896) and then to Cuba to provide assistance to victims of the Spanish-American War and the U.S. military (1898).

Today the role of the American Red Cross is much wider, strengthened by numerous corporate partners, local chapters, employees, and volunteers; it provides community service to assist those in need; communication services and help for the military and their families; the collection, processing, and distribution of blood and blood products; educational programs on health and safety; and international relief and development programs.

Important to the history of nursing and the foundation of the nation’s first program in nursing education at Teachers College are stories relating founding and development of the American Red Cross.

Be sure to view our slide show about the American Red Cross and the American Red Cross online Museum.




• U.S. Copyright Law Enacted, Friday, 5/29


“An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies, during the Times therein mentioned..”, that is, the first Copyright Law of the United States was signed into script type by President George Washington on May 31, 1790, seen in the Columbia Centinel of July 17, 1790. This legislation, signed by the Speaker and President of the Senate on May 25, 1790, aimed to protect books, maps, and other original materials, completed (though not yet necessarily published) for citizens of the United States for a period of 14 years, with an option to renew for another fourteen years. Violators were to forfeit every copy and every sheet of material and to pay a fine of fifty cents per sheet.

The law governing intellectual property has been subject to massive development and interpretation over the last couple of centuries, widening the coverage and scope of legislation, as well as litigation costs. Three enactments were approved in October 2008 to the Copyright Law, reflecting the need to address concerns over issues relating to the Internet, digital media, networks, and file sharing.

On May 29, the Gottesman Libraries will display headlines of stories covering copyright history – its meaning, origins, battles, and implications for education, including such topics as fair use, course reserves, and plagiarism.