Here's another entry just in time for throwing out the first ball of the season, Breaking into Baseball: women and the national pastime. Jean Hstings Ardell explores the role of women around the diamond, in the front office, and in the press box, and in the umpire crew. There is mention of the Philadelphia Bobbies (1920s) and the Dolly Vardens of Chester (1880s). Did you remember "Take me out to the ball game" was about a woman named Katie Casey? (Vairo Libary GV880.7.A73 2005)
George Mason isn't just in The Final Four, it's also into web scholarship in its Center for History and New Media. One of their projects is the American Women's Dime Novel Project, which sheds light on this popular phenomenon between 1870 and 1920. Students of literature, popular culture, sociology and women's studies would benefit from visiting this site at:
http://chnm.gmu.edu/dimenovels/The Center's other sites are on topics such as 9/11, the Declaration of Independence, critical infrastructure and much more.
Dr. Wayne McMullen submits:
Felicity Huffman, of "Desperate Housewives" fame, stars in "Transamerica," a road movie about a transsexual (Stanley) who is about to take the final medical step to become a woman (Bree). Before the operation occurs, however, s/he and a rebellious teenage son take a cross-country trip that leads to numerous revelations, personal confrontations, and reconciliations. Though the film is somewhat predictable (it re-hashes certain themes common to many road movies), the film's greatest strength is Felicity Huffman's tour-de-force performance as Bree. Huffman completely immerses herself in the role, bringing a warmth, poignancy, and dignity to a role that could otherwise have turned into a caricature. It's a film worth seeking out, but, if you miss it in theaters, this is the kind of small film that will hold up well on home video.
Just in time for the start of regular season baseball, When Winning Costs Too Much: steroids, supplements, and scandal in today's sports arrives on the new book shelf. Baseball is not the only sport discussed in this book which includes interviews with physicians, coaches and athletes. It includes chapters on sterioids, doping, heat stroke and fatal injuries. Most important, it has a section of tips for coaches, athletes and parents that are helpful to avoid the high costs of winning, and, ultimately, losing. (Vairo Library RC1230.M38 2005)
From Dr. David Macauley:
For the bookworms and "bibliovores" among us, there is an essay by Blake Eskin in the Sunday, March 26th New York Times Book Review section called "Books to Chew On." Apparently, April 1st occasions an event (foolish or otherwise) called the Edible Books Festival marked in the libraries and bookstores of some 28 states and 16 countries. The piece notes one librarian at Ursinus College (outside Philly) who organized bacon strips into the shape of France as a tribute to Sir Francis Bacon, who once observed, "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." Here's a link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/26/books/review/26eskin.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
And here is a very playful pictorial site one might thumb or gnaw through. Click on the "gallery"link within it:
http://www.books2eat.com/
Happy Edible Books Day!
We've had a couple of inquiries about the text of the recently released National Security Strategy document. It is available on the web at :
http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss/2006/
If you would also like to read some interesting analysis of defense policies and strategy, visit the Project on Defense Alternatives website at http://www.comw.org/pda/about.html
In Meltdown: the predictable distortion of global warming by scientists, politicians, and the media, climatologist Patrick Michaels argues the threat of global warming is being exaggerated for political ends. He identifies what he regards as misinterpretatons of computer models, exaggerations, and the reasons behind them. While he is at it, he argues for the abolition of tenure in the academy. "Abolishing of tenure will create a much more fluid market at the senior level, but more significant than that, it will free academics from the necessity of establishing a career of compliance in order to receive a promotion." (p.240). Michaiels offers interesting perspectives on science, research, publication and climate. (Vairo Library QC981.8.G56M535 2004)
We're just catching up with the Feburary 2006 issue of The American Spectator . It includes several interesting articles reflecting conservative viewpoints on the status of the war in Iraq. However, one totally non-partisan article (pp. 16-19) by Mark Yost on the advances of battlefield medicine is particularly interesting. As happened in previous wars, many of the life saving innovations developed for the battlefield are making their way into trauma centers worldwide. The print copy is available in the Vairo Library, it is archived online in the ProQuest database.
As if global warming, avian flu, and war were not enough to worry about, we should add the scarcity of water to our growing list of major concerns. In Water for Sale Fredrik Segerfeldt argues we should privatize the water supply. "...the main argument is that an increased role for private enterprise and market reforms, if carried out properly and wisely, can save millions of lives and give water connections to hundreds of millions of people who today are deprived of it." (p.118) At the cost of bottled water, oil at $65 a barrell seems cheap. Even if we don't agree that privatizations is the solution, we can recognize it's way past time to turn off the water while brushing teeth.
(Vairo Lirary HD1702.S4413 2005)
HDFS and psychology students or instructors will want to check out our new arrival, The Development of the Person: the Minnesota study of risk and adaptation from birth to adulthood by L. Alan Sroufe, et al. This appears to be an amazing book; a longitudinal study that connects early childhood attachment styles with later development and experiences into adulthood. What makes the book extremely appealing is that one does not have to search for dozens of journal articles to link all the information together, this study and book has done that for you.
A review by Eleanor E. Maccoby, PhD, Department of Psychology, Stanford University states:
"[This book] offers a detailed picture of a varied set of children as they move from infancy to adulthood, noting how early interactions between parent and child play out in subsequent social relationships. It shows how each developmental phase adds new relational elements, which nevertheless emerge from, and depend on, what came before. It identifies some of the childhood roots of pathology, while also highlighting the kinds of parent-child interactions that underlie a child's growing competence and emotional well-being. Any serious teacher or student of psychosocial development will want to have this book within arm's reach."
Call # HQ767.9.D477 2005
Vairo library has a new book that focuses on economic, social and political issues facing Camden, NJ. The title of the book is "Camden After the Fall: decline and renewal in a post-industrial city" by Howard Gillette, Jr.
from the book cover/publisher:
Looking at the cumulative effects of urban decline in the classic post-industrial city of Camden, New Jersey, historian Howard Gillette, Jr., probes the interaction of politics, economic restructuring, and racial bias to evaluate contemporary efforts at revitalization. In a sweeping analysis, Gillette identifies a number of related factors to explain this phenomenon, including the corrosive effects of concentrated poverty, environmental injustice, and a political bias that favors suburban amenity over urban reconstruction.Challenging popular perceptions that poor people are responsible for the untenable living conditions in which they find themselves, Gillette reveals how the effects of political decisions made over the past half century have combined with structural inequities to sustain and prolong a city's impoverishment. Even the most admirable efforts to rebuild neighborhoods through community development and the reinvention of downtowns as tourist destinations are inadequate solutions.
Call #: F144.C2G55 2005
One thing it seems we cannot escape is the media and its constant presence everywhere. Advertisements, billboards, commercials, tv shows, movies, music, and now podcasts! A new book titled "The Other Parent: the inside story of the media's effect on our children" by James P. Steyer says that "kids spend more time each week with media than they do with their parents". Parents need to learn about the "new media reality" and its influence, and take steps to counteract the effects.
The first part of the book opens our eyes to this "new media reality" and its effects on our kids. The book discusses the politics and money involved with the media, and the author also discusses what our kids are being bombarded with in their every day lives. The second part of the book gives practical insight and advice about how to "take back control" from the media bombardment our children face.
While the advice the author gives is just common sense (talk to your children about what music they are listening to, no tv or computer in kids bedrooms, read with your children instead of watching tv), most parents are not heeding this advice. A good read for anyone interested in media studies or for someone who is a parent of children or teenagers.
Call #: HQ784.M3S74 2003
With all the news about a possible port deal with UAE, a new acquisition in Vairo Library might be of interest. (Though the book is not about the United Arab Emirates, it is about its close neighbor, and another American ally, Saudi Arabia). The book is called "The Two Faces of Islam: Saudi Fundamentalism and its Role in Terrorism" by Stephen Schwartz.
From Amazon's book description:
"Since its formation in 1932, Saudi Arabia has been ruled by two interdependent families. The Al Sa’uds control politics and the descendants of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab impose Wahhabism—a violent, fanatical perversion of the pluralistic Islam practiced by most Muslims. Stephen Schwartz argues that Wahhabism, [is] vigorously exported with the help of Saudi oil money...
Schwartz reveals the hypocrisy of the Saudi regime, whose moderate facade conceals state-sponsored repression and terrorism. He also raises troubling questions about Wahhabi infiltration of America’s Islamic community and about U.S. oil companies sanitizing Saudi Arabia’s image for the West."
A new acquisition titled The Real State of the Union is a compilation of 32 short essays addressing different political and social problems in the United States. The topics cover broad subjects such as family policies, taxes, foreign policy, health care, etc. However, the essays within these subject areas are very focused and provide statistics, current appraisals of the problem, and specific solutions. The essayists and editors of the book are of the hope that maybe their ideas presented here will inform the American public and then also be put into practice by our government, thus solving some of the current crises we face as a nation.
To quote the introduction, this book “reflects the commitment of the New America Foundation to escaping the ideological orthodoxies of the twentieth century in order to do justice to the greatest challenges facing the United States at the beginning of the twenty-first.”
This book would be a good starting place for anyone needing ideas for a political science or sociology paper. The essays are also short and concise enough that it makes for a quick read if you are pressed for time.
Call # HN59.2.R433 2004
Nordstrom is known for its superior customer service, but why are they known for it, and how do you emulate it? Vairo Library has acquired a new book called "The Nordstrom Way to Customer Service Excellence". The introduction says Nordstrom succeeds in customer service because of having "motivated, empowered employees"; Nordstrom "demands initiative from people on the front lines". Through a narrative of anecdotes and experiences at Nordstrom, this book explains to supervisors and managers how to achieve this empowered, motivated state.
This book is also very easy to read, with sections in each chapter called "Emulating The Nordstrom Way" and "Keys to Success". One Key to Success: "Trust the judgment of your front line workers. If you don't trust them, why did you hire them?". There are also exercises at the end of the chapters that pose questions to get discussions started.
Again, some of the items the book suggests may seem like common sense, but if it were, wouldn't all companies across America be known for superior customer service?
Call # HF5415.5.S626785 2005