The magazine The Nation was founded 150 years ago "by anti-slavery abolitionists four months after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln." Its birthday celebration is touching down in Tucson for the Festival of Books this weekend. More information about The Nation's writers' events here. 

Sunday at 7 p.m., the Loft will be screening the regional premier of the documentary Hot Type: 150 Years of The Nation, with the filmmaker Barbara Kopple and The Nation's John Nichols in attendance. Before the showing, at 6pm, there will be a reception honoring Kopple with " the Lofty Lifetime Achievement Award in honor of her important and influential contributions to the world of documentary filmmaking." Anyone who buys a ticket to the film can attend, on a first-come, first-admitted basis.

Kopple won two Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature, one for her 1990 film, American Dream, and the other for her 1991 film, Harlan County USA. Here's more about her filmography.

Barbara Kopple produced and directed Harlan County USA and American Dream, both winners of the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. In 1991, Harlan County USA was named to the National Film Registry by the Librarian of Congress and designated an American Film Classic. Harlan County USA was recently restored and preserved by the Women’s Preservation Fund and the Academy Film Archive, and was featured as part of the Sundance Collection at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005. The Criterion Collection released a DVD of Harlan County USA in 2006. Other works include Running from Crazy, Fight to Live, A Force of Nature, Gun Fight, The House of Steinbenner, Woodstock: Now and Then, Shut Up and Sing, Wild Man Blues, and Havoc.

Devastating news for literature lovers: Terry Pratchett died. Pratchett, king of footnotes, suffered from Alzheimer's Disease for almost 10 years. Pratchett wrote more than 70 books during his life—but good luck finding any at Bookman's today. 

There's a lot that could be said about what Pratchett gave the world, but I'll let his Twitter account have the last word on this one:

AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER.

— Terry Pratchett (@terryandrob) March 12, 2015

Terry took Death’s arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night.

— Terry Pratchett (@terryandrob) March 12, 2015

The End.

— Terry Pratchett (@terryandrob) March 12, 2015

Well, technically Inside Higher Ed and Slate started it. Still, Gawker is not an education publication and they don't really cover politics—This marks a crossing from "a challenge for the state" to (well, to steal a word from the article) lunacy. Our state is once again making decisions so questionable, nonArizonans think it's hilarious. 

From the Gawker article Arizona Completely Abandons Its Community Colleges:

Community colleges are the most democratic forms of higher education, and, you could argue, the most important. Don't tell that to the state of Arizona.

The trend in America is towards acceptance of the fact that there should be more public funding and support for community colleges, which educate nearly half of our nation's undergrads during any given year, and tend to be much more accessible to working people and minorities than four-year colleges are. It is just common sense for states to direct funds to their community colleges to help make them as open as possible. It is an obvious public good.

With that in mind, consider what the brilliant loons who run state politics in Arizona are doing right now: they have cut state subsidies for two community college districts that serve the state's three most populous counties down to zero dollars. Zero. Inside Higher Ed notes that just five years ago, these two districts were getting a combined $70 million from the state; now, they're scheduled to get nada.

Sigh. I'll let you know when the Daily Show inevitably meets Doug Ducey.

People wanting to take a visible stand for Arizona education are gathering at Tucson High (400 North 2nd Ave.) Saturday, March 14, 9:30 a.m., to march to the Festival of Books on the UA campus, less than a mile away. The march will be followed by a rally and passing out literature to Festival of Books attendees. Participants are encouraged to bring signs. More information on the Arizona Stands UP website.

This morning, State Rep. Victoria Steele testified that she was a victim of sexual assault as a child, during a hearing in the State House Committee. The Federalism and States' Rights Committee went on to pass a bill that prohibits health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act from providing abortion coverage. 

“This bill would require women who are seeking an abortion after being traumatized by rape or incest to share personal, private and emotional information with an insurance company if they want coverage for the procedure. It will force victims to suffer another trauma. Telling my story today was difficult, and I have had years to deal with and recover from the incident. I can’t imagine the position this legislation would put recent victims in if they attempt to get medical care,” Steele said. “Additionally, this bill endangers doctors who provide a legal, medical service to women by making the doctors’ personal information public. The bill is inappropriate on many levels. Politicians should not be creating laws that target women and doctors.”

The committee also approved an amendment that requires abortion providers to tell women they have the option to reverse the effects of abortion medication in case they change their minds, The Associated Press reported.

Supporters of SB 1318, sponsored by Republican state Sen. Nancy Barto of Phoenix, say tax dollars shouldn't support abortions

From the Center for Arizona Policy, a conservative group that's been watching this bill like a hawk:

In 2010, Arizona became the first state to opt out of providing abortion coverage through the ACA when it passed SB 1305 into law. Since the ACA passed, 23 states have restricted the circumstances under which plans on their exchanges may provide coverage for elective abortions – 17 of those states prohibiting abortion coverage altogether.

With the latest statistics showing that “nearly 90 percent of people who bought health insurance in the second year of Obamacare qualify for government help to pay their premiums,” prohibiting abortion coverage on a state’s exchange ensures taxpayers are not forced to subsidize abortion.

Many others argue this is just another intrusion of conservative lawmakers into women's health care decisions and rights.

The state Senate's Health and Human Services Committee passed the bill last month. It now moves to the House for a constitutional review. 

The state Legislature passed a budget Saturday that eliminates funding for Pima Community College. Now, PCC has to figure out how it will make up for that loss, which might mean students have another tuition increase coming their way.

The PCC Governing Board is meeting this afternoon to discuss increases of $3, $5 and $10 per credit hour.

"When (the administration) discussed the options with the student government leaders, they were very apprehensive about the $10 increase. We will relay that message to the board," a message on the PCC website said. "The college is very sensitive to the impact of tuition increases on our students and is working to minimize the effects of the lost state aid, while ensuring we have the resources needed to provide quality education and services to our students."

One year ago, the PCC board voted to increase tuition by nearly 8 percent, or $5 per credit hour, and since fall 2014 in-state tuition is $2,115. 

The school also issued a message to remind students that budget cuts do not interfere with federal financial aid—the FAFSA process is the same and students should still apply for grants and loans.

"PCC has a strong financial footing and will work hard to absorb the lost state budget revenue without negatively impacting the education and services we provide," the PCC administration says. "The state has been reducing its support to PCC for years and we have been anticipating the day when the state provided no funding to the college."

Now that the Tucson Police Department will not look into people's immigration status (unless the person is a threat to national security, has gang affiliations or prior felonies), immigration rights advocates plan to focus more of their energy in working with the Tucson City Council and other officials to issue identification cards for residents regardless of their status in this country.

Years-long activist Raul Alcaraz Ochoa says he and other colleagues mentioned the idea to council members several months ago, but they hope to revive the movement. Although the community won a major battle pressuring TPD to scale back its SB 1070 enforcement, their efforts to protect the rights of all, including the undocumented population, continue.

"We are putting this issue at the forefront, and plan to launch a concrete campaign," Alcaraz Ochoa says.

He has spoken to Councilwomen Regina Romero and Karin Uhlich in the past, and they seemed on board with the idea. 

Uhlich says the conversation came up about a year ago, and she greatly recommended bringing Pima County into the discussions so the IDs can function throughout the entire county, not solely within metro Tucson.

"We can consider library cards or something like that, where there is a proof of residency, to be some sort of ID that TPD and other city entities and official entities could use when engaging with residents on whatever matter might be," she says. "Tying them to a system that is already set up would have the best potential right now."

New York City's municipal ID program, launched in January, came up in the conversation. These ID cards are available to residents age 14 and older for free. There is something similar in place in San Francisco, as well as several other municipalities, and it's made life easier for a lot of people. (You can read more about that on this Al Jazeera article.)

Uhlich wants to look into what a system similar to that would cost here, and whether the city has the infrastructure and personnel to manage it, hence why she proposed the library cards idea, that's a database already established.

Bill Badger, who was one of the crowd members who helped subdue the crazed gunman who opened fire at Gabby Giffords' Congress on Your Corner event on Jan. 8, 2011, has passed away.

Giffords released this statement:

I’m so sad to learn that Bill Badger has passed away. Bill was not only a great man and a proud Army veteran, he was a hero. On January 8, 2011, Bill was wounded in the head by a bullet from the gun of my would-be assassin. Not even pausing to realize he had been injured, Bill ran towards the shooter and towards danger so that he could help subdue him until the authorities arrived. I believe that Bill helped save lives that morning. And I will always be grateful to him for his selfless, brave actions.

My heart, thoughts, and prayers are with Bill’s loved ones as they mourn the loss of a great man.

Ron Barber, the Giffords aide who would later go on to take Gabby's congressional seat, also released a statement:

Mark your calendars, folks. The Melvins have booked a show at Club Congress on Saturday, June 6. Why am I telling you this now then? Well, if you want to go to the show, I'd suggest getting tickets now because I foresee that the experimental grungey doom punk band's show will sell out well in advance.

After all, The Melvins are a pretty iconic act that's been around for over three decades now and the Congress room can only hold so many weirdos, so you'll want to be sure you're one of those weirdos that scores a ticket to the event. The band will be joined by Le Butcherettes—a badass punk outfit fronted by Teri Gender Bender that was formed in Guadalajara. 

The show takes place at 8 p.m. on June 6. You can buy a ticket now via TicketFly for $15. Don't say I didn't warn you. 

This gets a little English-teacher, but it's important. As a general rule, you want to avoid the passive voice when you're writing. Not, "The ball was hit into center field," but "Jim Smith hit the ball into center field." The ball didn't get there by itself. Usually, the passive voice is bad writing.

But the passive voice is a favorite with politicians and others in the limelight when they screw up. When you're caught, always say, "Mistakes were made" rather than copping to it yourself. The passive voice says no one is to blame. Somehow, that mistake just fell from the heavens like summer rain.

So, to the story at hand. A group of Sigma Alpha Epsilon frat boys at University of Oklahoma were joyously singing a song on the bus which said, in essence, it's better to lynch an African American than to let him join the fraternity ("There will never be a ni**** in SAE. You can hang him from a tree, but he'll never sign with me"). Two of them were expelled, and one of them, Parker Rice, issued an apology. But that doesn't end the problem, even if more of the students apologize or are expelled. This isn't simply about Rice or the other frat boys on the bus. It's about the wider culture that accepts underlying racism as a part of our lives, then when it's exposed, condemns the specific actors and moves on without addressing the larger problem that runs like a cancer through our society.

Listen to the passive voice in one part of Rice's apology: "Yes, the song was taught to us." Who taught it to them? Rice didn't say, nor did he say whether the song is sung regularly at the University of Oklahoma chapter, whether it's sung by other chapters, whether it's one of a number of racist songs, chants, jokes and slogans which are part of the fraternity's culture—and whether, as some African American students at the university have said, this is part of the pervasive racist culture they are forced to deal with daily. Ignore those questions and you end up clucking your tongue at the bad behavior of a few drunken frat boys and ignoring the larger issue.