Watts Briefly

-MODL’s Gates to speak at screening

-Zimmerman scholarships honor 5 Tucsonans

-Watts student earns Obama scholarship

-National institute awards professor for engagement

Watts College Professor of Practice Bill Gates, director of the School of Public Affairs-based ASU Mechanics of Democracy Laboratory, will be a panelist for a screening and discussion of the short documentary “Denial,” 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18, in the First Amendment Forum of the ASU Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication on the Downtown Phoenix campus. Required RSVP here.

The film documents efforts by Gates, a Maricopa County supervisor, and colleagues at the Maricopa County Tabulation Center, to uphold the integrity of vote counts in 2020 and 2022 against false claims that the elections was rigged.       

A question-and-answer session follows the screening, featuring Gates; The New Yorker writer Rachel Munro, who appears in the film; and director and producer Paul Moakley. “Arizona Horizon” host Ted Simons will moderate the session, presented by The New Yorker Documentary and Arizona PBS.       

Gates is also scheduled to be Simons’ guest on “Arizona Horizon” on KAET-TV, Channel 8, at 5 p.m. the same evening, where he also will discuss the documentary.

Five Arizona State University social work students from the Tucson area will receive 2024-2025 Gabe Zimmerman Scholarships at an Oct. 4 ceremony at the university’s Tucson location.

Michelle Hernandez, Alissa Inzunza, Bennie Mthembu, Tinesha Smith and Lov’e Sturm will be honored at the event. All five are pursuing Master of Social Work degrees.

The ceremony will include remarks by Faviola Augustin (MSW ’12). A past recipient of the scholarship, Augustin is a psychotherapist and somatic practitioner in Tucson as head of her own practice, Sagrado Wellness.

“The impact of the award itself has meant so much for my social work profession, but even more impactful is the name behind the award,” Augustin said. “Gabe Zimmerman’s passion for public service and human rights, including environmental rights, are the resounding values of a social work hero. I have attempted at maintaining these social justice values in my work and personal life by staying committed and centering my community’s needs first.” 

Since 2012, the scholarship, open to Tucson-area ASU students studying social work,  has honored Gabe Zimmerman (left), an aide to former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz. 

Zimmerman and five others were killed, and Giffords and 11 others wounded in January 2011, when a gunman fired on a crowd during a “Congress on Your Corner” event in a grocery store parking lot near Tucson. The shooting suspect pleaded guilty of multiple counts in connection with the shootings and sentenced to life in prison.

State Rep. Betty Villegas. D-Tucson, is also scheduled to speak at the 11:30 a.m. event. For more information, email Assistant Teaching Professor Heather Voelkel, Heather.Voelkel@asu.edu.

Sage Furr-Johnson, a social work major with a minor in criminology and criminal justice, is one of two ASU students among 88 nationwide to be named as 2024-2026 Voyager Scholars. Each received an Obama-Chesky Scholarship for Public Service from the Barack Obama Foundation

The Denver resident said she plans a career providing prevention and intervention services to victims and survivors of intimate partner violence, child abuse or exploitation, and human trafficking, with an emphasis on women and girls victimized by gender-based crimes.                               

Melanie Gall, an assistant professor in the School of Public Affairs and co-director of the Center for Emergency Management and Homeland Security, recently received one of seven 2024 Engagement Awards from the North American Alliance of Hazards and Disaster Research Institutes.

Gall co-chairs the NAAHDRI membership committee and served previously on the inaugural board of directors.  Gall is a hazards geographer and studies how natural hazards and society interact using geospatial analytics and disaster metrics.         

NAAHDRI is “dedicated to bringing together the leaders of hazards and disaster research centers and institutes throughout North America as well as partner individuals and organizations to advance research, education, advocacy and action,” according to its website.