The 2012 Election: What Academe Needs to Know

From The Chronicle of Higher Education

The 2012 general election will determine more than which candidates win federal and state offices. It will also determine who guides federal oversight of student aid, for-profit colleges, research, and more, with billions of taxpayer dollars in the balance. It will decide who presides over state support for colleges as most such public institutions struggle under repeated budget cuts.

As the final weeks of the campaign unfold, this page will host highlights of The Chronicle's will host a page with coverage of the general election as it relates to higher education.

Check back here for updates and at copies of The Chronicle of Higher Education in the library.

Students find e-texts "clumsy".

Several universities have recently tried a new model for delivering textbooks in hopes of saving students money: requiring purchase of e-textbooks and charging students a materials fee to cover the costs. A recent report on some of those pilot projects, however, shows that many students find the e-textbooks “clumsy” and prefer print.

The report is based on a survey conducted this spring of students and faculty at five universities where e-textbook projects were coordinated by Internet2, the high-speed networking group. Students praised the e-books for helping them save money but didn’t like reading on electronic devices. Many of them complained that the e-book platform was hard to navigate. In addition, most professors who responded said that they didn’t use the e-books’ collaborative features, which include the ability to share notes or create links within the text.

Source: Wired Campus August 23

New Website for Families

Looking for materials and resources to offer the families and community you serve? The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has a new website for you! The For Families site includes a wealth of information about children’s learning and development; a column by T. Berry Brazelton, MD, and Joshua Sparrow, MD.  Spread the word about this useful and engaging resource. For more information, visit families.naeyc.org.

Higgs Boson Humor

"A Higgs boson walks into a church. The priest orders It to leave immediately. The boson protests: "But how can you have mass without me?"
Source: from readers of New Scientist 21 July 2012

Maeve Binchy (1940-2012)

The Irish writer and journalist Maeve Binchy died yesterday in Dublin. She was an outstanding novelist, short story writer and columnist, who engaged millions of people all around the world with her fluent and accessible style. She was a great storyteller and a source of encouragement for young writers. She wrote 16 novels, two of which, The Lilac Bus and Echoes, were made into TV films while Circle of Friends, Tara Road and How About You were made into feature films. She wrote four collections of short stories, a play Deeply Regretted By and the novella Star Sullivan.

Binchy’s books in the Hoffman Family Library include:

Whitethorn Woods (2010)

Heart and Soul (2009)

Scarlet Feather (2008)

Night of Rain and Stars (2004)

Quentins (2002)

Tara Road (1998)

Gore Vidal (1926-2012)

"Gore Vidal, the American writer, media pundit, controversialist and politician manqué, who has died  yesterday, aged 86, was celebrated both for his caustic wit and his mandarin poise. His public career spanned seven decades and included 25 novels, numerous collections of essays on literature and politics, a volume of short stories, five Broadway plays, dozens of television plays and film scripts, and even three mystery novels written under the pseudonym Edgar Box. After 9/11 and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, he returned to center stage with a series of blistering pamphlets and public pronouncements that led even many of his friends to pounce on him. But Vidal never looked back."
(Quoted from the obituary in The Guardian)

Books by Vidal in the library include:
Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace (2002)
Empire (1988)
Myron (1974)

Famous Quotes:
" The United States was founded by the brightest people in the country — and we haven't seen them since."
"It  is not enough to succeed. Others must fail."
"All children alarm their parents, if only because you are forever expecting to encounter yourself."
"Fifty percent of the people won't vote, and fifty percent  don't read newspapers. I hope it's the same fifty percent."