We don't typically promote other blogs, but the Editors of the American Journal of Bioethics have a blog worth your time. Not surprisingly, recent discussion focuses on Korean stem cell research issues. Other issues addressed include: abortion, living wills, aging and organ donation. Many of the entries report on ethics related news stories from around the world, so this blog may be a useful source of topics and evidence for class projects.
http://blog.bioethics.net/
Economist Milton Friedman calls for an "industry shakeup" in K-12 education in the November 2005 issue of American Spectator. He recommends instituting educational vouchers for all parents and children, not just the poor. He thinks such vouchers would empower market forces to improve education weeding out poorer performers after a brief period of competition. "Just as the breakup of the Ma Bell monopoly led to a revolution in communications, a breakup of the school monopoly would lead to a revolution in schooling." (p.20) This is essentially the operating principle of higher education, its effectiveness there engenders many opinions.
To accompany the arrival of XBox 360 (just kidding), Vairo Library just received Game Work: Language, Power and Computer Game Culture (really). The author, Ken S. McAllister, an assistant professor of rhetoric, compositon and the teaching of English, is also the Co-Director of the Learning Games Initiative at the University of Arizona. This is a study of popular culture that includes a lot of theory and anaylsis. Some of the more interesting features include an appendix on how to run a game night.
For those who plan ahead, NOAA has just issued its final percipitation outlook for December 2005 - February 2006. Not too steal their thunder, but their forecast for our area is Equal Chances. “Equal chances, for temperature or precipitation, means there are no strong or consistent climate signals for either above or below normal conditions during the season.” For more details and graphics see:
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2005/s2534.htm
Here is a book with wide appeal. Students of architecture, geography, history, American studies will find something of interest in this study of how the Delaware River shaped our regional identity, our buildings and landscapes, and the history of the nation. People who want to fend off New England "cradle of America" types will find ammunition here. (Vairo Library F157.D4L36 2005)
Understanding and Reducing College Student Departure is a brief review of the literature on student retention, updating Tinto's work and offering revisions of it. Of particular interest to us are the chapters dealing with commuting students, and recommendations for dealing with them. Most of this is not new, but it might be reinforcing and reinvigorating to the work of many people on campus. (Vairo Library LC148.B72 2004)
If you are an NPR listener, you may have heard an interview with Frederick Busch and his son over the weekend. The occasion for the interview was an article the fiction writer father wrote for the November 2005 issue of Harper's. The issue is now available in the library, and the Busch article, "Don't watch the news: a Marine's family lives from phone call to phone call," is recommended reading. The master wordsmith tells the terror shared by many less articulate, but no less pained families with loved ones in service.
John Berendt, of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil fame, has a new book, The City of Falling Angels . Berendt explores the heart and soul of Venice as he investigates the fire that destroyed the Fenice Opera House.
Just as he covered the historic Savannah murder trial, he covers the trial of the arsonist in Venice. If you are travelling to Italy, want a great story with colorful characters, or like to read the book before you see the movie, check out The City of Falling Angels (Vairo Library DG674.2.B47 2005)
If you want to find your way around Philly, you have a great new tool at your disposal http://maps.a9.com/. It not only gives you a street map, for many blocks it gives you structure by structure photos on both sides of the street! It makes it easy to recognize homes, restaurants, shops, etc. Similar maps exist for other major U.S. cities. A9.com is a subsidiary of Amazon, and it reflects the search engine research the company is developing. They have a yellow pages feature too, so you can find pizza close to your friend's house.
A Place on the Team: the Triumph and Tragedy of Title IX, by Welch Suggs, is a definitive history of the landmark legislation that lauched women's sports in this country. In addition to history, it reviews the positive and negative consequences of the the legislation and the court cases that have followed it. He also discusses the economic pressures facing all college sports, and the implications they may have for both women's and men's athletics, and the academic enterprise in general. (Vairo Library GV709.18..U6s86 2005)
Film lovers and philosophy club members will be interested in two books recently acquired by the Vairo Library. Movies and the Meaning of Life: philosophers take on Hollywood is a collection of essays that include analyses of The Truman Show, Contact, Waking Life, Being John Malkovich, Boys Don't Cry, Kill Bill and many more. Star Wars is the focus of a collection of seventeen essays entitled Star Wars and Philosophy: more powerful than you can possibly imagine. (Vairo Library PN1995.M665 2005 and (PN1995.9.S695S76 2005)
Since we have a professor of philosophy who studies walking and a number of people on campus who enjoy a brisk stroll on a beautiful fall day, we want to alert you to a new book arrival at the Vairo Library. On Foot: a history of walking by Joseph A. Amato traces the seemingly simple act of walking thru war, romance. technological advancement and social class. A few people other than Dr. Macauley have apparently considered the enormous meaning of walking, "a series of interrupted falls." (Vairo Library GV1071.A63 2004)