The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1182554
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, November 6, 2019 A-3 LOCAL Call: 812-354-8500 Email: news@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg NEWS BRIEFS PCHS will conduct Veterans Day program Nov. 11 Pike Central High School will be conducting a Vet- erans Day Program on Monday, Nov. 11 at 9 a.m. in the high school gym. The high school swing choir and the high school band will both be performing. All vet- erans are welcome to attend. Contact the high school office at 812-354-8478, ext. 302 with your service infor- mation so that you can be recognized for your service. Tax counseling for the elderly needs volunteers Generations, Area 13 Agency on Aging and Disabil- ity, is looking for volunteer tax consultants for its Tax Counseling for the Elderly program. Volunteers will be required to attend a training session in January and complete the home study in order to be certified for tax season. If you are interested, call Linda Yochum at 812-888 -4854 or at 1-800 -742-9002. Veale Creek Theatre presents 'The Story of Ernestina Scrooge' The Veale Creek Theatre presents The Story of Er- nestina Scrooge by Tom Fuller, on December 6 at 7:30 p.m., December 7 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Decem- ber 8 at 2 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online by visiting www.showtix4u.com and searching for Veale Creek Theatre. Zipmed Urgent Care available for Veterans Zipmed Urgent Care, 695 Third Ave., Jasper (near Fazoli's restaurant) is the first local facility qualified by VA to provide urgent care services to area veter- ans. Vets with non-life threatening health needs may be seen and treated at the urgent care location in Jas- per at any time without an appointment and without copay, seven days a week. Veteran must be enrolled in VA Health Care. They will accept Medicare, but not Medicaid. This is part of the Mission Act passed in June. To reach Zipmed Urgent Care, call 812-634-6824. Hours of Operation: Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. READER GUIDE Subscriptions: Change of address: subscribers changing addresses will please give old address as well as new one along with phone number. We cannot guarantee prompt change unless this is done. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Press-Dispatch., P.O. Box 68, Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 or e-mail to subscribe@ pressdispatch.net. Subscription rates: One year: $31 for Pike County and all 475/476 zip codes; $34 in the state of Indiana; $51 elsewhere in the USA. Paid in advance. Subscriptions taken after noon on Friday will not receive a paper until the second edition after their subscription date. About us: Andy Heuring and John B. Heuring, Publishers Andy Heuring, Editor John B. Heuring, Adv. Mgr. Eric Gogel, Production Mgr. Monica Sinclair, Office Mgr. Dennis Marshall, Sports Editor Cindy Petty, Adv. Sales Pam Lemond, Adv. Sales Matt Haycraft, Adv. Designer • • • Published every Wednesday by the Pike County Publishing Co. Phone: 812-354-8500 820 E. Poplar St., P.O. Box 68, Petersburg, IN 47567-0068 • • • Entered in the Post Office in Petersburg, Indiana for transmission through the mails as Periodical Mail, postage paid at Petersburg, Indiana – published weekly. (USPS 205-620) OCU honors prestigious principled alumna By Janice Barniak Oakland City University dedicated a plaque to alum- na Melba Phillips, a Pike- County born physicist, pio- neer for women in science, contributor to the physics leading to the atomic bomb and activist against McCar- thyism Friday morning, with her surviving family members from as far away as Virginia present for the dedication. Phillips graduated from Union High School in ru- ral Pike County at 16, after skipping two grades and continued her education at Oakland City College (now OCU.) In a 1977 interview, she said it was the cheapest, nearest college and, coming from a farming family, they didn't have money to spare. Phillips attended in the 1920s, had an active social life leading clubs, attend- ing the required campus chapel services, serving as editor of "The Mirror" and almost getting the annual yearbook pulled for her crit- icism of a teacher that was constantly late and cancel- ing class. She appears in many or- ganizational photos of Filia Rotunda, a club celebrating large women, started after an Anti-Fat Club appeared on campus. In the 1930s, she stud- ied under, then collaborat- ed with, J. Robert Oppen- heimer, father of the atom- ic bomb. Their work yielded the Oppenheimer-Phillips Process, an essential for- mula that still carries their names. When the atomic bomb was developed, she joined a group of scientists that aimed to do everything they could to ensure it would be used for peace and not de- struction. In the 1950s, during the Red Scare, she stood up to Joe McCarthy, refus- ing to turn in scientists as Communists and was fired from Brooklyn College. She used the hiatus to write two books that are considered classics in the field of phys- ics. Researcher Randy Mills, an OCU professor, said he first heard of Phillips from a student who worked at Am- ber Manor, the retirement community Phillips lived in after her long career. He remembers the stu- dent told him a resident had visitors from all over the world. When he did delve into Phillips' story, he said he connected to Phillips hav- ing come to college and hav- ing a new world open up cul- turally—it's an experience echoed in many rural stu- dents' experiences, includ- ing his own. "I came from a rural area, much like Melba and much like many of our students, those coming from rural ar- eas—they may be technical- ly poor, but they're also cul- turally poor, coming from closed communities." In those communities, be- ing academic can lead to be- ing seen as not having com- mon sense, or can open a person to ridicule. "It resonated with me," he said. "I like forgotten people, underdogs, people no one else writes about. Her sto- ries appear in books about American physics. She was a great pioneer." While not traditionally religious, Mills said he sees Phillips' reputation as a prin- cipled physicist as rooted in her upbringing and then continued education at Oak- land City College. She even talked about God through trigonometric principles in her writings while on cam- pus, he said. In 2004, she died at 97 years old at Amber Manor. "My sense of her is she was tremendously pleased with her life. She never lost her connections with south- west Indiana," Mills said. Professor Randy Mills unveils a plaque at Oakland City University dedicated to Melba Phillips, a phys- icist who graduated from OCU and went on to work with Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, among other notable achievements. Melba Phillips poses at University of Califor- nia at Berkeley in the 1930s wearing a dress she made for herself. UC-Berkeley is where she stud- ied then collaborated with J. Robert Oppenheimer. Melba Phillips accepts an honorary doctorate in 1965 from Oakland City College (now university). Historic images courtesy Randy Mills Professor Randy Mills discusses the life of Melba Phillips at the dedica- tion of a plaque to her memory Friday at Oakland City University. Photo cour- tesy Oakland City University Tricia t Paid for by Claridge for Council THANK YOU to all who voted for me, campaigned for me and placed signs in their yard. I appreciate all of the support. Petersburg Council District 4 Adam Scales (812) 354-8488 adam.scales@infarmbureau.com LOUIE CAMPBELL Sales Professional lcampbell@patriotonline.com CALL OR TEXT 812-899-6267 @LouieYourCarGuy HWY. 64 W. • PRINCETON "Quite Simply, A Better Experience!" Looking for a Great Deal On Your Next Vehicle? Puzzled about what to read? ..and you will have your solution. subscribe to 812-354-8500