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Issues and Controversies - Health Care

The issues surrounding the Public Health Care Option debate are explored this week in the Facts On File Issues & Controversies database. You can learn about key events in the history of public health care as well as the views from both supporters and critics of the public health care option.

Facts on File is available from any on campus computer, for information on off campus access visit our Off Campus Access website to learn how you can use this resource from home.

Check It Out

Maths from Scratch for Biologists

by Alan J. Cann

Call Number New Book Shelf QH 322.5 C363 2003

Unable to find a book, that concentrated on why numerical skills are useful to biologists, Professor Alan Cann wrote his own. The result is Maths from Scratch for Biologists , a highly instructive, informal text that explains step by step how and why you need to tackle maths within the biological sciences.

This title Math from Scratch for Biologists is also available in a digital form as part of our electronic book collection. For information on how you can create your own e-book account and access over 20,000 electronic books select the Netlibrary link.

Check It Out

Dream in Color: How the Sanchez Sisters are Making History in Congress

by Linda and Loretta Sanchez

Call Number New Book Shelf E901.1.S26 S26 2008

In this joint memoir, congresswomen Linda and Loretta Sanchez present their compelling story—noteworthy not only for their history-making achievements (including first sisters or women of any relation to serve together in Congress, first woman and person of color to represent a district in Orange County, first Latina on the House Judiciary Committee and first Head Start child to be elected to Congress) but also for its American Dream aspect—their parents immigrated from Mexico and despite lacking a formal education managed to send their seven children to college.

Written as a first-person dialog with Loretta's words printed in serif type and Linda's in sans serif, the book describes growing up in a family of seven children, who helped each other and their parents make sense of American culture and its educational systems. Each sister describes her struggle to win elective office and fight against sexism and racism in the halls of Congress as well as among some of their campaigns' opponents.

Artstor - Mexican Architecture and Urban Design

ARTstor and the School of Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin have collaborated to share more than 5,700 images from the Hal Box and Logan Wagner Collection of Mexican Architecture and Urban Design. This collection documents outdoor communal spaces in Mexico, including Pre-Columbian sites, as well as buildings and public spaces from the 16th through 20th centuries.

To view the Hal Box and Logan Wagner: Mexican Architecture and Urban Design (University of Texas at Austin) collection: go to the ARTstor Digital Library, browse by collection, and click "Hal Box and Logan Wagner: Mexican Architecture and Urban Design (University of Texas at Austin)." Or search the keywords: box wagner.

To view ARTstor from off campus locations you need to create an ARTstor account at http://www.artstor.org/ from any on campus computer.

Library Hours at Off Campus Locations

Library services are available at all three Southwestern College Higher Education Centers. Reference librarians are also available to help with your information needs.

Library materials from the main campus library can be transfered and borrowered at all three libraries located at each higher education center.

For the fall semester the education center libraries are open during these hours:

Higher Education Center at Otay Mesa 619-216-6750 x4424
Monday & Thursday 12:00 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday & Wednesday: 7:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Higher Education Center at National City 619-216-6665 x4868
Monday 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Tuesday & Wednesday: 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Thursday: 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Higher Education Center at San Ysidro 619-216-6790 x4907
Tuesday 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Wednesday: 2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

This Week in CQ Researcher

Afghanistan Dilemma by Thomas J. Billitteri, August 7, 2009

Is President Obama pursuing the right course?

Nearly eight years ago, U.S. forces first entered Afghanistan to pursue the al Qaeda terrorists who plotted the Sept. 11 terror attacks. American troops are still there today, along with thousands of NATO forces.

Under a new strategy crafted by the Obama administration, military leaders are trying to deny terrorists a permanent foothold in the impoverished Central Asian country and in neighboring, nuclear-armed Pakistan, whose western border region has become a sanctuary for Taliban and al Qaeda forces.

The Afghanistan-Pakistan conflict – "Af-Pak" in diplomatic parlance – poses huge challenges ranging from rampant corruption within Afghanistan's police forces to a multibillion-dollar opium economy that funds the insurgency. But those problems pale in comparison with the ultimate nightmare scenario: Pakistan's nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists, which foreign-policy experts say has become a real possibility.

• Is the Obama administration pursuing the right course in Afghanistan?
  
• Are troop levels in Afghanistan adequate?
  
• Should the United States negotiate with the Taliban?

To read this article and others visit our Articles and Databases webpage and click on CQ Researcher. Select the Remote Access link for information on how to access this resource from off campus locations.

Library Fall Semester Hours

Southwestern College library will reopen on Monday August 17th at 8:00 am for our fall semester.

Our fall semester hours will be Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. till 7:00 p.m. Fridays 8:00 a.m. till 2:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

August e-Book of the Month

The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into in College
by Harlan Cohen Sourcebooks, 2009

The #1 Student Handbook; Updated 3rd Edition

In college, there's a surprise around every corner…But that doesn't mean you can't be prepared!

In The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into in College, best-selling author, syndicated columnist and professional speaker Harlan Cohen provides a behind-the-scenes look at everything students need to know about college (but never knew they needed to know).

Completely revised and updated, this essential guide used by hundreds of thousands of students is packed with expert advice on everything from managing money to managing stress—plus hilarious, outrageous, and telling stories from students on over 100 college campuses.

The Naked Roommate will be provided with free, unlimited access August 1-31, 2009.

If you have already established a NetLibrary account through Southwestern College Library, visit http://www.netlibrary.com/ and log in to read "The Naked Roomate" or any of our other 20,000 electronic book titles from your home, work or any other off campus location.

If you do not have a NetLibrary account, you can create your own account from any computer on the Southwestern College campuses. Visit our NetLibrary information page .

This Week in CQ Researcher

Straining the Safety Net by Peter Katel, July 31, 2009

Is joblessness overwhelming aid programs?

As unemployment keeps mounting, millions more Americans are being forced to rely on a network of federal and state programs to meet their basic needs. The added pressure on the so-called safety net has prompted increases in unemployment insurance payments and expanded food-stamp and welfare caseloads, authorized under this year’s $787 billion stimulus package.

Budget crises, however, are forcing some states to cut back on safety-net programs, including health care and meals for disadvantaged children. At the same time critics say welfare reforms enacted in 1996 requiring aid recipients to work don’t mesh with the reality of today’s job shortage. But supporters of the reforms say the extra spending on benefits shows the system is working.

• Are safety nets working?
• Are fundamental changes needed in the federal welfare program?
• Is more job training needed?

To read this article and others visit our Articles and Databases webpage and click on CQ Researcher. Select the Remote Access link for information on how to access this resource from off campus locations.