TROY News Center

Dr. John Mascia, president of the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind, will deliver the 18^th annual Helen Keller Lecture at Troy University on April 23.

The lecture, which will begin at 10 a.m. in the Claudia Crosby Theater on the Troy Campus, is designed to promote awareness of people who excel in their chosen fields despite physical and/or mental limitations. Admission is free and the event is open to the public.

Dr. Mascia will be joined by TROY alumnus Donovan J. Beitel, an instructor in AIDB’s Business Enterprise Program since 2010, and Patrick Robinson, director of AIDB’s Talladega Regional Center. Malia Thibado, a second grader at AIDB and the daughter of Paul and Karen Thibado of Pell City, will present the musical piece, “Who I Was Born to Be,” for the entertainment portion of the lecture.

Dr. Mascia was named AIDB’s 17^th president, succeeding Dr. Terry Graham who retired on Feb. 1. Dr. Mascia previously served as vice president of adult programs, a position he held since 2009. He joined the senior management team at AIDB in 2005 as executive director of the Gentry Facility and Regional Centers and was later promoted to the role of vice president of adult programs to include oversight of the Alabama Industries for the Blind. One of his first tasks after arriving at AIDB was the successful retooling of the Gentry Facility that provides rehabilitation and training for deaf, blind and deaf-blind adults.

Before joining AIDB, Dr. Mascia worked as a supervising and chief audiologist and as an assistant professor in New York. In 1989, he joined the Helen Keller National Center where he served as coordinator of audiological services, supervisor of the Speech and Hearing Department, coordinator of professional services and then finally as national director of field services. As a senior administrator he was responsible for the supervision of regional representatives, national training programs, community placement services and 45 affiliate programs.

Dr. Mascia holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in audiology and speech pathology from Hofstra University in New York and a doctorate in audiology from Pennsylvania College of Optometry, School of Audiology. He received his certificate of clinical competence in audiology from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and is a licensed audiologist. He has made numerous presentations and served in leadership roles with professional organizations and is widely published.

Dr. Mascia has received leadership and service awards from consumer organizations and is involved in numerous professional and community activities including the board of directors for Talladega’s Red Door Kitchen, advisory committees for the Troy University Interpreter Training Program, State Mental Health Deaf Services Group and the Department of Rehabilitation Services Older Blind Services. He has served as president of the Talladega Lions Club, the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visual Impaired, Easter Seals Talladega County chapter and is a member of the American Council of the Blind, National Rehabilitation Coalition and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

He and his wife, Nancy, have three children – Katie, Christopher and Annie.

The Helen Keller Lecture is sponsored by Troy University, The Helen Keller Foundation for Research and Education, the Alabama State Department of Education, the Alabama State Department of Rehabilitation Services and the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind.

Dr. John Mascia

A pair of Troy University alumni will speak to early childhood/elementary music methods students on April 18.

Rob Lyda and Phil Wilson, both 2001 graduates of the John M. Long School of Music, will speak to a class in 201 Smith Hall beginning at 8:30 a.m.

Lyda earned a bachelor of music education from TROY and a master’s degree in music education from Auburn University in 2005 and currently serves as the sixth through eighth grade band and K-12 general music teacher at Notasula High School. In addition to his teaching responsibilities at Notasulga, Lyda is the junior high department chair, serves as the school accreditation and technology chair, and serves on the Macon County Schools academic calendar and technology committees.

Lyda has been the Teacher of the Year at Notasulga High School, the Rookie Teacher of the Year at Cottondale High School (Fla.) and was the 2011 Macon County Schools Teacher of the Year. In 2003, he was selected as an "Emerging Leader" of the Alabama Music Educators Association (AMEA) and the Southern Division of The National Association for Music Education (NAfME). He has served as the membership and public relation chair of AMEA. He holds memberships in AMEA, NAfME, American Orff-Schulwerk Association, Phi Kappa Phi, National Band Association, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.

Wilson, the 2010 Alabama Teacher of the Year, currently serves as the music teacher at Ogletree Elementary School in Auburn where he has taught for the past 10 years. Prior to coming to Auburn, Wilson taught at Thomasville (Ga.) High School where his duties included directing the chorus, assisting the band director, and directing literary activities.

Wilson graduated from TROY in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in music education and went on to receive his Master’s of Music Education from Auburn University in 2007. In 2010, he became a National Board Certified Teacher in the area of Early and Middle Childhood Music. He is a member of the National Association for Music Education, the Alabama Music Education Association, the Alabama Education Association and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Professional Music Fraternity of America.

Single tickets for the performance are on sale now and range in price from $25-$50. Balcony tickets for this show and the remaining shows in the season are buy one get one free while supplies last.

To purchase tickets, contact the theatre office at (334) 241-9567. Tickets may also be purchased online for an additional fee on the “Subscriber Series” page of the website: www.troy.edu/davistheatre.

The Davis Theatre is located in downtown Montgomery at 251 Montgomery Street. Office hours are Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday, 8 a.m. to noon.

“The Addams Family” is sponsored by RSVP Montgomery and Touch of Class Limousine and Transport.

The 2012-2013 Season at the Davis Theatre will conclude on Saturday, May 25, with the musical “Dreamgirls.”

MONTGOMERY—Local families are invited to take a closer look at the night sky during the annual Astronomy Day celebration at the W.A. Gayle Planetarium on Saturday, April 20.

The event is held in partnership with the Auburn Astronomical Society and is designed to introduce families to the fun of astronomy. Admission is free and open to the public. Visitors are encouraged to bring their own telescopes or binoculars as well.

Starting at 3 p.m., early visitors will be able to view the seven-day-old moon and the sun in the light of hydrogen-alpha with PST Solar Scopes. Members of the Auburn Astronomical Society will conduct a “Telescope Clinic” starting at 5 p.m. in which guests can bring malfunctioning or disassembled telescopes for repair.

At 6 p.m., Dr. Rodger G. Morrison, a TROY assistant professor of information systems, will give the presentation “Astrophotography:  Taking Good Pictures of Cool Stuff with Amateur Equipment,” inside the planetarium auditorium.

Following the presentation, Planetarium Director Rick Evans will lead a “Tour of the Night Sky” inside the planetarium, and after sunset, visitors will step outside for telescopic viewing of the night sky. There will be several telescopes available for viewing courtesy of the Auburn Astronomical Society, and participants will get the chance to view Jupiter, the moon and several binary star systems.

The W.A. Gayle Planetarium is located in Oak Park, across from Jackson Hospital and is operated by Troy University for the City of Montgomery. Opened in 1969, it is one of the largest planetariums between Atlanta and New Orleans.

For more information, call (334) 241-4799, or visit the W.A. Gayle Planetarium on Facebook.

TROY – A Fox News contributor, WSB talk radio host and blogger urged student journalists to know their facts, understand historical context and “tell the story” when they report the news.

Erick Erickson provided the keynote address at Friday’s M. Stanton Evans Symposium on Money, Politics and the Media at Troy University. The annual event is co-hosted by the University’s Hall School of Journalism and Communication and the Manuel H. Johnson Center for Political Economy.

“There are three things to being a great journalist: One, know what the facts really are. What is the truth? Remember, truth can change. A few years ago, science told us we had nine planets and, today, we only have eight. Know the truth at the time of your writing,” he said. “Two, What is your historical perspective? What happened before? Three: Tell the story. Build the human element around the facts. People want to be drawn to something more than themselves -- they are hungry for intellectual pursuit.”

Erickson, who is editor-in-chief of the Washington blog RedState.com, practiced law for six years, has managed political campaigns and spent three years as a CNN contributor before joining Fox News. He has co-authored “RedState Uprising,” and writes “Morning Briefing,” a daily email widely read by conservative pundits and activists. A graduate of Mercer University, he lives in Macon, Ga., where he is a former city councilman.

His speech to the symposium, named in honor of TROY faculty member Stan Evans who is a national columnist, commentator and book author, and former editor of the Indianapolis News, spoke on “Insta-Journalism and the Need for Slow.” He opined that “modern journalism has turned into a drive to be first, not accurate.”

“There is a need for slowness in news to allow for time to remove personal bias and consider all sides of the facts,” he said, calling on reporters to tone down sensationalism.

“It is common for reporters to think that somehow the world began in 2000. They have no sense of history and this means every new crisis is ‘the greatest crisis ever’ even when, historically, it's most likely not anywhere close,” he said.

Fox News contributor, conservative blogger and author Erick Erickson addresses journalism students at the annual M. Stanton Evans Symposium on Money, Politics and the Media at Troy University. (TROY photo)