Denzel Washington turns 70 later this week, but the Gladiator II star managed to squeeze in one more life milestone before the big day. On Saturday, the Oscar-winning actor was baptized at a New York City church in a ceremony that was livestreamed on Facebook. Dressed humbly in a gray T-shirt and black sweats, Washington was joined at the Kelly Temple Church of God in Harlem by his wife, Pauletta, who got emotional talking about her husband's "spiritual journey," per People. "I'm very proud of you," she told her emotional husband, per Page Six. "You are the head of our house, and you have set a great example for our children, who are now adult children who know the difference because we have shown them the difference." According to Archbishop Christopher Bryant, Washington noted, "It took a while, but I'm finally here. … If [God] can do this for me, there's nothing He can't do for you. The sky literally is the limit." Washington is also said to have been presented with a minister's license, which will allow for him to be ordained in the future. People notes that Washington's baptism comes after an Esquire interview published last month in which he said it was "not fashionable" and "not sexy" to be a God-fearing actor in Hollywood. "I'm unafraid. I don't care what anyone thinks," he said. "See, talking about the fear part of it—you can't talk like that and win Oscars. You can't talk like that and party. You can't say that in this town. I'm free now." (More Denzel Washington stories.)
Earlier this month, at a National Association of Independent Schools (“NAIS”) conference, more than one speaker got up and gave a blatantly anti-Semitic diatribe. This revered national education association is the premiere accreditation agency of over 1,500 of the most elite private schools in the country, including Dalton on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The conference program was so biased that some Jewish participants tried to hide their Star of David pendants inside their shirts. The relentless anti-Semitism unleashed over the past year speaks volumes about a larger infection that has reached the top echelons of America’s most vaunted school accrediting organization. This kind of raw bigotry by an education organization against a religious minority tells us something unnerving about the state of our schools right now. The American answer – the only hopeful answer for our long-term social health – is to get back to reminding ourselves just how and why this country was founded. That means reviving civics at the heart of our school curricula, long before our children land on college campuses or in the workplace. If we don’t expose young people to the great debates and documents upon which our nation was established, how can we expect them to be thoughtful citizens of a republic when they mature? Imagine students in middle school reading George Washington’s letter to the colonial synagogue of Newport, Rhode Island. In that central epistle of American government, written to the Jewish community by our first president, Washington made clear that tolerance of different identities is not merely a conditional indulgence. Bigotry would be given “no sanction.” Liberty for all was an a priori presumption based on natural rights. How many of our students in middle school and high school know terms such as natural rights and religious liberty, let alone the classic texts on which they are based and that helped spawn these United States? We need to recommit ourselves to education about our foundational propositions, events, and documents. Last month, just as the NAIS conference of hate was about to start, another national conference got underway. This one was different. The Jack Miller Center is devoted to one purpose: the teaching of American civics. As Dr. Justin Dyer from the University of Texas at Austin succinctly explains, that means “the rights and duties of citizenship.” This is a vast curricular mandate, necessarily beginning with the classics of Western thought that led to the American Founding and documents such as the Federalist Papers and the Constitution. How do the ancients, from the Jews to the Greeks to the Romans all the way to Locke and Hobbes and Rousseau, get us to Jefferson and Adams? And how does Jefferson get us to Lincoln and beyond? How was our government formed, and how has it evolved over time? What is its structure? What does it mean to be a citizen of this new and different kind of country in the history of nations? These are fundamental questions. At the Jack Miller Center’s November National Summit on Civic Education, the urgent significance of this kind of student learning was the only agenda item. Various educational leaders spoke, and real, concrete discussions took place on practical curricular progress. As the Head of School of a classical middle and high school, I see this kind of national dialogue as intrinsic to our founding principles. Students acquire significant skills as readers and writers while also gaining a deeper understanding of the American story. At Emet Classical Academy, we stand each morning for the Pledge of Allegiance. This is not some rote ritual. We say it because we understand what it means. In our high school Practicum Program, students are mentored by an expert in their extracurricular field of interest, learning that industry substantively while also thinking about how to make a public contribution. For example, a ninth-grade student interested in sports management is mentored by the leader of a sports facility. He will study the role sports play not only in our city’s economy but also in local democracy. These kinds of curricular modules form the pieces of a truly meaningful education. Civics is at the root of the kind of students we seek to raise. Will they be reflective and public-minded, or, in the frankest of terms, civically illiterate, and then compelled through no fault of their own to become resentful of a democracy to which they feel they have no claim? The choice is ours—not only as educators but also as parents and citizens. If we in school leadership positions don’t move fast, we’ll continue to see the downward spiral of our democracy into tribalism and hatred, just as we saw at the NAIS conference this month. The Jack Miller Center, and schools that learn from its work and commit to a path of knowledge about, and hope in, the American experiment, offer another way. Hate comes from insecurity. Education is its antithesis. Let’s start teaching our children once more about their own promise—and their country’s.
Reporter, Infosecurity Magazine Read more about Internet Archive’s wave of cyber-attacks: Customer service provider Zendesk has helped Internet Archive resolve a breach that let hackers send emails on behalf of the digital library. In the latest episode in a series of cyber-attacks that saw Internet Archive hit by DDoS attacks and a website defacement, a threat actor sent many of the library’s users an email seemingly from the Internet Archive team sharing a stolen access token for the digital library’s Zendesk account. This was confirmed by an Internet Archive blog post on October 21, which declared that “hackers disclosed archive.org email and encrypted passwords to a transparency website, and also sent emails to patrons by exploiting a third-party helpdesk system.” Speaking to Infosecurity, a Zendesk spokesperson said that Internet Archive did not secure its authentication tokens, which enabled unauthorized access to their Zendesk instance. The Zendesk team has since worked with Internet Archive to secure the non-profit’s account. “It’s important to note that there is no evidence this was a Zendesk issue and that Zendesk did not experience a compromise of its platform,” the spokesperson added. News site BleepingComputer said the hacker behind the Internet Archive breach contacted them and claimed they managed to get hold of an exposed GitLab configuration file on one of the organization's development servers, services-hls.dev.archive.org. This file allegedly contained an authentication token allowing the threat actor to download source code from Internet Archive. This source code likely contained the application programmable interface (API) access tokens for Internet Archive's Zendesk customer support system. Speaking to Infosecurity, Josh Lemos, GitLab's CISO, commented: “It is imperative that users implement security best practices by rotating personal, group, and project access tokens and use a key management server (KMS) for securely storing secrets. Storing key material, including tokens and API keys in configuration files, is a security anti-pattern.” He also said that starting in version GitLab 16.0, all access tokens now have a forced expiry date as a security best practice to ensure that leaked tokens are not usable forever. BleepingComputer reported that it had "repeatedly tried to warn the Internet Archive about their source code being stolen due to a GitLab authentication token that had been exposed online for nearly two years." In its latest blog post, Internet Archive did not say whether the data allegedly accessed by the threat actor in the non-profit’s source code was safe. “The safety and integrity of the Internet Archive’s data and patrons remain our top priorities. As the security incident is analyzed and contained by our team, we are relaunching services as defenses are strengthened. These efforts are focused on reinforcing firewall systems and further protecting the data stores,” the library’s message read. Some of the Internet Archive services have now resumed, including the Wayback Machine (starting October 13) and Archive-It (October 17), and archive.org has been made available in a read-only manner since October 21. This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
By Henry Neondo In the heart of Molo Sub-County in Nakuru County, Kenya, lies a kitchen garden that stands as a testament to the healing power of tradition. Mama Jane Sigara, a dedicated farmer and passionate herbalist, has made it her mission to preserve and promote indigenous vegetables, herbs, and traditional plants that are fast disappearing from many Kenyan farms and forests. With a strong belief that food is medicine, Jane has carved out a quarter-hectare space within her compound in Gitaru village of Molo sub-County to cultivate and conserve as many of these plants as possible. In so doing, Mama (a respectful name of an elderly lady) Jane, as is popularly known, not only enriches her family diet but also contributes to the wider community’s health and well-being besides ensuring that the tradition is not lost to the generations ahead. For a visitor unfamiliar with Jane’s garden, the sight in her compound might seem like any other rural farm: a patch of land that looks abandoned, with plants and herbs sprawling freely in every direction including the veranda of the two houses within her compound. Yet, this apparent disarray is anything but accidental. Every plant, herb, and grass on her farm has a specific purpose and offers some kind of benefit. Jane’s garden is an eclectic mix of traditional herbs and vegetables that not only serve culinary purposes but also possess medicinal properties. She has minimized tilling and weeding to allow the plants to grow naturally, a method that aligns with her holistic approach to health and agriculture. In Gitaru village, Jane is known as the “traditional seed grower and propagator.” It is a title she wears proudly, as she believes that the knowledge of these plants should not be lost to future generations. As she leads you through the garden, Jane’s enthusiasm for her plants becomes evident. She will be telling you the benefit of a plant or herb as she unconsciously plucks it , throwing it in her mouth chewing while explaining its purpose and value. She has created a space where nature is allowed to thrive, and where food is considered as much a remedy for the body as it is a source of nourishment. A walk through the garden One of the first things you notice as Jane takes you through her garden is the abundance of indigenous plants. They grow in clusters, as if they have found a com munity of their own. Among these, Jane points out a few key varieties that have been integral to her diet and their attendant health benefits for years. Known locally as Managu in Kikuyu and Esagaro in Kisii, African nightshade is a popular vegetable that has been a staple of Kenyan cuisine for generations. With its dark green leaves, this vegetable is rich in vitamins and minerals, particularly iron and calcium. It is often cooked as a stew or added to soups, and is believed to help manage blood pressure and improve digestion. Jane prescribes this nutritious vegetable to the neighbours who consult her regularly. She equally incorporates this into her meals, and it plays an important role in maintaining her overall health. This leafy green, known as Wagoroso in Kisii and Sukuma wa Shamba in Nakuru, is another common vegetable grown in Jane’s garden. The spider plant is highly nutritious and is known for its high iron content, making it particularly beneficial for people suffering from anemia. It is commonly boiled, steamed, or stir-fried, and its benefits extend beyond nutrition—it is also used in traditional medicine to treat ailments like skin diseases, menstrual cramps, and digestive problems. Jane believes that eating these nutrient-dense vegetables has been key to maintaining her strong and healthy lifestyle. Amaranth, known locally as Terere or murere in most both bantu-speaking Kenyans, is another vegetable that has long been cherished in traditional diets. It is rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals, and is often included in stews or served as a side dish. Amaranth is believed to help regulate blood sugar levels and improve overall immune function. Jane grows various varieties of amaranth, both the green and red-leafed types, which she incorporates into her meals and shares with her community. In Kisii, cowpea leaves are known as Ekitookye or Mchicha wa Njiru in Molo. These leaves are packed with essential nutrients, including proteins, vitamins A and C, and calcium. The leaves are often used in stews or soups, and the legumes themselves are cooked as a protein-rich side dish. Cowpea leaves are also considered a medicinal plant, with some people using them to treat symptoms of malaria, chest infections, and digestive disorders. Jane emphasizes the importance of growing such multi-purpose plants that not only provide food but also aid in medicinal healing. Coriander, or Dhania, is an essential herb in Jane’s kitchen garden. Used both as a spice in cooking and as a medicinal herb, coriander is believed to aid digestion, reduce inflammation, and act as an antioxidant. The fresh leaves are used to garnish food, while the seeds are dried and ground to make a flavorful spice. In addition to its culinary use, coriander has been shown to help lower blood sugar levels, which makes it particularly beneficial for those managing diabetes. Known for its distinct lemony fragrance, lemongrass, or Onyung’a in Kisii and Ngurumu in Nakuru, is another herb that Jane has cultivated in her garden. The leaves are often used to make herbal teas, which are believed to have calming and digestive properties. Lemongrass is also used in various skin treatments, as it contains antioxidants and has antibacterial properties. For Jane, lemongrass serves as a natural remedy for stress relief, digestion, and even as a soothing oil for massage. Ekitong’onera in Kisii and Enyoro in Nakuru, bitter leaf is a powerful medicinal plant that Jane has in abundance. Known for its potent healing properties, bitter leaf is commonly used in traditional medicine to treat a wide range of ailments, from malaria to digestive disorders. Despite its bitter taste, it is revered for its detoxifying effects and its ability to cleanse the liver and purify the blood. Jane has learned how to incorporate this plant into her diet, using it in soups or as a medicinal drink when needed. The Significance of Traditional Food Practices Mama Jane’s approach to food is one rooted in tradition and respect for nature. She has always believed that food should not just be something to fill the stomach but something that heals and nourishes the body. Her strict diet is based on the foods she grows in her own garden, and she avoids processed foods or anything that does not come from her land. For her, this is the key to maintaining a healthy, strong life. “I live a healthy and strong life. It is all about food. Food to me is medicine. I don’t take anything that does not grow on my compound,” Jane says with a smile. She is a firm believer in the medicinal power of the plants she grows, and she feels that her diet—rich in traditional vegetables and herbs—has been instrumental in maintaining her well-being. By consuming foods in their whole form, including seeds and leaves, Jane minimizes the loss of nutrients that often occurs when food is processed or peeled. She believes that many of the foods she grows, especially those with seeds, provide important nutritional benefits that are lost when foods are stripped of their natural components. “I try to eat many foods with seeds, avoiding peeling off many of the plants I cook and eat,” she explains. “This way, I have maintained a healthy lifestyle.” The Importance of Conservation Mama Jane is not only dedicated to maintaining a healthy lifestyle but also to preserving the plants and crops that have nourished her community for generations. With the increasing use of hybrid and commercial crops, many traditional vegetables and herbs are disappearing, threatening biodiversity and food security in the region. Jane has taken it upon herself to conserve these plants by growing and propagating them in her garden, ensuring that they are not lost to future generations. Through her work, Jane has become a champion of biodiversity in her community, encouraging others to embrace traditional farming practices and grow indigenous crops. She has also taken it upon herself to educate her neighbors and the younger generation about the importance of preserving local plant varieties, not just for their nutritional and medicinal benefits, but also for their role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem. “I want to show others that you don’t need to buy expensive fertilizers or pesticides to grow food. You can rely on nature and traditional methods to maintain a healthy farm,” Jane says, her face radiating the pride of someone who is helping to preserve an important part of her culture. Mama Jane Sigara’s garden is more than just a place where food is grown; it is a living testament to the healing power of nature. By preserving traditional herbs and vegetables, she is not only securing her own health but also safeguarding the knowledge of her ancestors for future generations. As Kenya continues to face challenges related to food security and nutrition, the example set by Jane offers a valuable lesson in the importance of returning to our roots and embracing the wisdom of traditional farming practices. Through her work, Mama Jane is helping to keep alive a heritage of healing and health that has sustained generations of Kenyans for centuries. Jane is a member of a community working with the Maendeleo Endelevu Programme (MEAP) in Molo, Kenya. MEAP is one of the partners of the African Biodiversity Network, supporting communities in building resilience to the impacts of climate change. END The article is published with a generous support from the African Biodiversity Network You must be logged in to post a comment. Sign in to your account
Humanity faces an urgent need for change to prevent biodiversity loss and the continued destruction of our planet. The UN biodiversity expert panel’s latest “transformative change” report highlights the dire need for radical societal shifts. Released Wednesday by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the report calls for immediate action to address overconsumption, wealth concentration, and humanity’s growing disconnection from nature. “It is not just governments. It is not just business. It is not just civil society. It is all of us. We all need to work together,” said Arun Agrawal, one of the report’s lead authors. While transformative action may seem challenging, the report emphasizes that it is achievable. Here’s a closer look at three inspiring examples of successful transformations from around the world. In 2002, Spain suffered a severe ecological disaster when the Prestige oil tanker broke apart, spilling massive amounts of oil into the Atlantic Ocean. This environmental catastrophe devastated Galicia’s coastline, causing significant biodiversity loss and severely affecting marine life and the livelihoods of local fishing communities. In response, the communities in Galicia decided to adopt a new approach to marine reserve management, called the “Os Minarzos” model. This innovative strategy brought together fishers, scientists, and local authorities to collaboratively restore and protect the marine ecosystem. The model emphasized sustainable fishing practices, scientific guidance, and community involvement – promoting cooperation among all stakeholders. Although the transition faced challenges, including initial disagreements and tensions, the initiative became a long-term success. Over time, the “Os Minarzos” model led to healthier marine ecosystems, improved fishing practices, and increased biodiversity. Local fishers also experienced higher incomes, while trust and cooperation within the community strengthened significantly. The model’s impact extended far beyond Galicia. It inspired international guidelines for sustainable marine management and influenced networks of over 20 million fishers across Europe and the Americas. In China, the Ant Forest mobile application has become a powerful tool for promoting eco-friendly habits and environmental restoration. Launched in 2016, this innovative app encourages users to adopt sustainable behaviors, such as walking or cycling instead of driving, and cutting down on plastic and paper usage. For every eco-friendly action, users earn “green energy points” in the app, which accumulate to grow a virtual tree. Each virtual tree is then matched with the planting of a real tree. The initiative has made a significant impact. Since its inception, Ant Forest has planted an astounding 548 million trees across 13 provinces in China. This reforestation effort not only helps combat climate change but also addresses environmental degradation in vulnerable areas. Beyond its environmental benefits, the project has also provided economic opportunities. It has created jobs in eco-agriculture and ecotourism, particularly in rural regions struggling with environmental challenges. The Nashulai Maasai Conservancy in Kenya is a pioneering example of how traditional knowledge and community engagement can drive effective conservation. This initiative blends the wisdom of indigenous practices with modern approaches to tackle multiple challenges, including species protection, income generation, and climate change mitigation. The conservancy adopts a holistic strategy by establishing community-managed protected areas. These areas not only safeguard wildlife and combat biodiversity loss but also involve local communities in activities like river cleaning and tree planting. Such efforts improve environmental health while addressing the needs of the people living in the region. This collaborative approach has transformed Nashulai into a thriving habitat where both humans and wildlife coexist harmoniously. By empowering local communities and integrating ecological restoration with socio-economic benefits, Nashulai exemplifies how conservation can work in harmony with human development. “Over a very short period of time, biodiversity reappeared,” said Karen O’Brien, another lead author of the report. “The power of community, again and again in our examples, is important.” The UN report highlights the interconnectedness of ecological, social, and economic challenges – offering a blueprint for action. Addressing biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse requires collective effort. “It is all of us. We all need to work together,” said Agrawal. These stories from Galicia, China, and Kenya show that transformation is not only possible but can yield tangible benefits. Whether through community-driven conservation, innovative technology, or collaborative governance, humanity has the tools to make a difference. The question is whether or not we will rise to the challenge. —– Like what you read? Subscribe to our newsletter for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates. Check us out on EarthSnap, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com. —–
Share: The Triple $25Ks, is set for Aug. 14-17, 2025 at the Bader family facility, and it has been recreated and reconstructed for wide appeal. Limited to 400 single entries, there is a positively plump $293,075 guaranteed total purse on the table for this bottom bulb race.
The payout is $25,000 for winners of the main event on FTI Competition Converters & Transmissions Friday, Moser Engineering Saturday and Callies Sunday, and $10,000 for runners-up of the main event Friday-Sunday. The exciting event, designed specifically with bracket racers in mind, will feature extra enticing elements, including the Harland Sharp North American No Box Championship $5,000 Point Fund, for which racers will earn one point for each round won in the main event. Racers will be able to take part in a free test and tune session as well as the Flaming River $16,500 Shootout, which is limited to the first 128 entries, on Thursday. The Super 16, with no additional entry fee, will be contested daily for the sixteen racers with the best losing packages from the re-entry round and will feature a $3,000 guaranteed purse Saturday and Sunday. Last Chance Races, with no additional entry fee, are in place for racers who exit eliminations in the second round of the main event, and they are looking at a $13,500 guaranteed purse Saturday and Sunday.
An amazing $12,000 in Daily Racer Appreciation Prizes will be distributed thanks to the generosity of event supporters Summit Racing Equipment, FTI Competition Converters & Transmissions, Cornwell Quality Tools, Harland Sharp and Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels. “I will be the first one to admit that I let the No Box Bonanza become stale,” said Bill Bader, Summit Motorsports Park president.” After the hurricane impacted the event this year, we made a collective commitment to making NBB27 the preeminent bottom bulb big money race in the world, and by all accounts, we were successful. With a $293,075 guaranteed total purse, incredible support from manufacturers, all the extra races, the point fund and generous product giveaways, the opportunities for racers to go home with something from NBB27 are strong!” The entry fee is $599 to race for a share of more than $78,000 each day. Entry forms will be available soon. “The No Box Bonanza is a special event for a lot of racers, and we want to ensure its longevity,” said Bader. “We are confident that this reformulated format will help us do that.”
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Prior to about 1987, American sitcoms were — generally speaking — very different. No matter the premise or intended demographic, most sitcoms (and, again, this is a wide generality) focused on a reliable comedic structure of set-ups and payoffs. From “I Love Lucy” all the way to “Diff’rent Strokes,” sitcom writers were careful to explore a recognizable domestic/workplace/common setting environment through sharply recognized, very funny characters. The same writers were typically also careful to lay out gags and jokes very clearly. Every setup usually led to some kind of punchline or payoff. In the late 1980s, however, sitcoms underwent a reckoning. It seems that audiences and many longtime writers became tired of the decades of well-worm tropes and structures, and they began to deconstruct. 1987 saw the debut of “Married… With Children,” a sitcom that followed an aggressively dysfunctional family who all kind of hated each other. Their causticness was the joke. Then, in 1989, “The Simpsons” debuted, handily satirizing all sitcoms that came before it by offering a semi-surreal, yellow-hued parallel sitcom universe where everything was a little askew. 1989 also saw the debut of “Seinfeld,” the show that pretty much slammed the door shut on old-fashioned sitcoms. As the show’s creators, Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld have repeatedly said, “Seinfeld” was a show about nothing, and they mandated that none of its characters were to become sentimental, hug, or learn any lessons. The show was based on Seinfeld’s own brand of observational humor and petty grievances. Glen Charles was the co-creator of the 1982 hit sitcom “Cheers” (along with his brother Les and Jimmy Burrows), and he recalls with clarity the shift from punchline-based humor writing in sitcoms to the “Seinfeld”-inspired observational writing that eventually took over. Back in 2012, Charles spoke to GQ magazine about the sea change and felt that comedy at large suffered as a result.
Standup comedy had long skewed away from traditional setups and punchlines by the late 1980s. Indeed, as observed in the film “The Aristocrats,” comedians rarely got on stage to tell traditional jokes anymore, as the practice was seen as a relic of borscht-belt comedy of the 1950s and 1960s. Jerry Seinfeld’s style of humor was self-deprecating, and based on tiny personal inconveniences that everyone might relate to. This is why so many Jerry Seinfeld jokes begin with the phrase “What is the deal with…?” Seinfeld saw something out in the world that he found inherently illogical, and found humor in its absurdity. Life, he was declaring, is kind of meaningless, and the structures around us are to be pondered as equally meaningless. That humor was carried over into “Seinfeld,” and the writers of “Cheers” didn’t like that. Glen Charles didn’t like that petty grievance was the point. There was no comment offered with observational humor, just that the comedian noticed something. Charles was especially incensed when Seinfeld’s style of humor took over the rest of comedy. He said: “For better or for worse, I see more of S’einfeld’s’ influence now [on comedy] … not joke-jokes, but people airing very personal, subjective issues, and sometimes things close without even a joke. We never would have done that. We’d be there until two in the morning, making sure it had a button on the act. I’m not making a value judgment. It just seems to be more of a trend now.” Indeed, watching older sitcoms, one can see that they are typically more “writerly.” The structure is more solid from scene to scene, and the characters all have miniature arcs. There is sympathy, drama, and story in Charles’ traditions. Seinfeld dispensed with those traditions, presenting characters that couldn’t learn and couldn’t have arcs. But “Seinfeld” at least knew its characters were horrible people. The final episode of the series put them all on trial for their crimes of selfishness and pettiness. They ended the series in jail. One might wonder how Charles felt about that.
Jerlyn Leigh Mardis ’71 ’83, an alumna and longtime Rice University lecturer, passed away recently at the age of 74. Her association with the university started in the late 1960s when she enrolled as an undergraduate. She was elected as the Rice Student Association president, and her presence became a lightning rod of activity during a time of civil unrest. During her time as a student, she was instrumental in bringing activists to campus to speak, including Abbie “Flower Power” Hoffman and the feminist Kate Millett. Once at the university, she never fully left. She worked more than 36 years as a lecturer with the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing, the Program in Writing and Communication, the Wiess School of Natural Sciences and the Jones Graduate School of Business. “Jerlyn’s boundless curiosity about ways to improve her teaching was energizing for her colleagues and made all of us better educators,” said Jennifer Wilson, director of the Program in Writing and Communication and senior lecturer. “She was always thinking, questioning, tinkering in ways that were both thoughtful and exciting. Her generosity of spirit was remarkable; I always looked forward to spending time with her, and I never failed to come away from our interactions with new ideas and plans.” Mardis spent her career serving universities. She developed coursework for the University of Houston and the Texas A&M University School of Law. In addition, she was the owner of Mardis & Associates, a consulting firm she led for over 40 years, where she combined her expertise in communication and education to mentor and inspire countless professionals. Her passion for helping others was infectious. “Jerlyn’s presence enriched every room she entered,” said C. Fred Higgs III, vice provost for academic affairs, director of the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership and the John and Ann Doerr Professor of Mechanical Engineering. “She will be remembered for her dedication to excellence, her kind and supportive nature and her commitment to empowering others.” Mardis was preceded in death by her parents Gerald and Elizabeth McLaren Mardis. She is survived by her husband David S. Merritt, stepsister Elaine Duffy, brother and sister-in-law Jamie and Tanya Mardis, aunt Peggy Thigpen and several nieces and nephews. Details for a memorial of life service for Mardis are pending.
Last Chance Races, with no additional entry fee, are in place for racers who exit eliminations in the second round of the main event, and they are looking at a $13,500 guaranteed purse Saturday and Sunday.
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