This Week in CQ Researcher

Coastal Development: Is over-building putting coastal regions at risk?
by Jennifer Weeks

Off campus access is available with the current semester's passwords.

"Superstorm Sandy, which devastated portions of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut last October, has revived longstanding debates about coastal development. Congress has approved more than $60 billion in relief funding for Sandy, which ranks as one of the most destructive storms in U.S. history. Future storms could be even worse because of climate change, which is raising global sea levels. [...] Some experts argue that to make coastlines better able to withstand extreme weather, storm-damaged houses in vulnerable zones should not be rebuilt. Meanwhile, critics blame the federal flood insurance program, designed to help homeowners who cannot get private coverage, for subsidizing risky development with taxpayer dollars. But advocates say the program is needed to protect homeowners against catastrophic loss."

Read the full report in CQ Researcher, one of the library's databases. Off campus access is available with the current semester's passwords. Have a question? Ask a librarian!

You Could Win an iPad mini!

The Friends of the Library are sponsoring an essay contest based on the 2013 College Book, Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls. Only currently enrolled SWC students may enter.

This is the prompt: 

Lily seems willing to sacrifice everything to defend her principles and the rights of others. On more than one occasion, she is fired from a teaching position for refusing to back down from what she believes in. Do you applaud Lily’s moral conviction in these instances? Or did you hope that Lily would learn to compromise? Have you ever had to struggle with moral conviction? Did you stand firm or compromise? 

• Essay must be no more than 3 pages, double-spaced, using 12-point type.
• Only original submissions that are the student's own work will be considered. Do not research or use any sources other than Half Broke Horses. Failure to follow these guidelines will result in disqualification.
• Attach an additional page giving name, student ID #, email address, and phone number. No identifiers (name, ID#, etc.) can appear in the essay itself.
• Deadline is Wednesday, March 13, 2013 at 4 p.m. Late entries will not be accepted.
• Send essay and additional page as attachments to essaycontest@swccd.edu
• Questions? Contact Diane Gustafson dgustafson@swccd.edu or (619) 482-6433.

Winner will receive an iPad mini (white, 32 GB, Wi-Fi) valued at $429.

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Primary Sources Workshop Today!

Library Website Unavailable Saturday Night

A scheduled campus wide power outage will begin Saturday, February 23rd at 7:00 PM and will continue until 11:00 AM on Sunday, February, 24th. The library and college's websites will be unavailable during the outage.

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This Week in CQ Researcher

Improving Cybersecurity: Is the United States Safe from Internet Criminals? by Roland Flamini

Access is available from off campus with the current semester's passwords.

"The Internet has brought profound changes across the globe, but its rapidly expanding criminal side threatens to undermine both its achievements and its promise. Today, thieves using computers can rob banks and steal corporate trade secrets from the other side of the world. Hackers opposed to U.S. policies can sabotage government websites, and some experts warn that a hostile country could bring the United States to a virtual standstill without firing a shot, such as by hacking into the power grid or disrupting transportation. New cybersecurity legislation has not been passed since 2002, and with new laws stalled in Congress, President Obama announced on Feb. 12 he had signed an executive order aimed at protecting government and businesses from 'the rapidly growing threat from cyber-attacks.' Meanwhile, some countries are moving to control Internet content, often in the name of cybersecurity."

Read the rest of the report on CQ Researcher, one of the library's online databases. Access is available from off campus with the current semester's passwords.

Check It Out

Rome: A Cultural, Visual, and Personal History
by Robert Hughes.
Knopf, 2011.
New Books: DG808 .H84 2011

Available for four week check out with your SWC photo ID.

"This book is a comprehensive, and deeply personal history of Rome, as city, as empire, and, crucially, as an origin of Western art and civilization covering the span from the city's origins more than two thousand years ago through the twentieth century. The founding of Rome is shrouded in legend, but current archaeological evidence supports the theory that Rome grew from pastoral settlements and coalesced into a city in the 8th century BC. It developed into the capital of the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic and finally the Roman Empire. For almost a thousand years, Rome was the most politically important, richest and largest city in the Western world. This book tells the story of the Eternal City, from its earliest days right up to the present." (summary from publisher)

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Even Holidays!

Ask a Librarian

You Could Win an iPad mini!

The Friends of the Library are sponsoring an essay contest based on the 2013 College Book, Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls. Only currently enrolled SWC students may enter.

This is the prompt: 

Lily seems willing to sacrifice everything to defend her principles and the rights of others. On more than one occasion, she is fired from a teaching position for refusing to back down from what she believes in. Do you applaud Lily’s moral conviction in these instances? Or did you hope that Lily would learn to compromise? Have you ever had to struggle with moral conviction? Did you stand firm or compromise? 

• Essay must be no more than 3 pages, double-spaced, using 12-point type.
• Only original submissions that are the student's own work will be considered. Do not research or use any sources other than Half Broke Horses. Failure to follow these guidelines will result in disqualification.
• Attach an additional page giving name, student ID #, email address, and phone number. No identifiers (name, ID#, etc.) can appear in the essay itself.
• Deadline is Wednesday, March 13, 2013 at 4 p.m. Late entries will not be accepted.
• Send essay and additional page as attachments to essaycontest@swccd.edu
• Questions? Contact Diane Gustafson dgustafson@swccd.edu or (619) 482-6433.

Winner will receive an iPad mini (white, 32 GB, Wi-Fi) valued at $429.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Did you know... "The romance we associate with Valentine's Day may spring from the medieval belief that birds select their mates on February 14th."

Read more fun facts about Valentine's Day from the Library of Congress.

Primary Sources Workshop Today!

Libraries Closed for Presidents' Day

SWC Libraries are closed February 15 - 18 in observance of Presidents' Day. Libraries resume regular hours on Tuesday, February 19.

Have a question? Ask a librarian!

This Week in CQ Researcher

Preventing Hazing: Can Tougher Laws Stop Violent Rituals?
by David Hosansky
 
"David Bogenberger and his fellow pledges were required to drink alcohol — a lot of it — as part of the initiation ritual at the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity at Northern Illinois University. During the hazing, 19-year-old Bogenberger and the other pledges were taken from room to room in the fraternity house, each time asked a series of questions and then told to drink cups of vodka and other liquor.

When Bogenberger's lifeless body was found in the house early the next morning, on Nov. 2, 2012, his blood alcohol content was about five times the legal limit for driving. The cause of death was cardiac arrhythmia with alcohol intoxication as a contributing factor.

'He wanted to be liked. He wanted to be accepted,' said Peter R. Coladarci, the Bogenberger family attorney. “It's a classic case of a kid who just wants to fit in with the group.

Such initiation rituals are hardly unusual. And hazing-related deaths, while infrequent, happen every year.

Studies show that hazing, although prohibited by most states and many schools, remains pervasive across the country — and not just at college fraternities and sororities. Professional sports leagues also celebrate the practice, with photos posted to the Web each year of rookies being hazed. In the U.S. military, a soldier and a Marine in Afghanistan committed suicide after being hazed in separate incidents, spurring a congressional outcry and prosecution of the perpetrators by the Pentagon. In high schools and colleges, male and female students continue to engage in the sometimes dangerous rituals, even as school administrators have stepped up anti-hazing campaigns. [...]

Hazing rituals have occurred since the days of ancient Greece and Rome, typically as a way for young people to prove their worth to a group they want to join. Rituals can range from seemingly innocuous activities, such as dressing up in silly clothing or singing a school song in front of the group, to physical or psychological brutality."

Read the rest of the report in the CQ Researcher database. Off campus access is available with the current passwords.

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Database of the Month

Alt HealthWatch

This library database focuses on the many perspectives of complementary, holistic and integrated aproaches to health care and wellness and includes full-text articles for more than 180 international, and often peer-reviewed, journals and reports. The authoritative and up-to-date information found in this database is not available for free on the Internet.

SWC students, faculty, and staff may access this database free of charge. Simply go to the library's Articles and Databases page.

Use the current passwords to access this database from off campus.

 Have a question? Ask a librarian!

Check It Out

Enjoy the same liberty : Black Americans and the revolutionary era by Edward Countryman. Lanham, Md. : Rowman & Littlefield, 2012. New Books E269 N3 C68 2012. Check out this book for four weeks with your SWC photo ID card.

"Historian Countryman challenges the historical memory of the founding of our nation, one that presents a heroic portrait of white males and gives scant attention to blacks, most of whom were enslaved. He examines the contradictions inherent in the American Revolution and the ideals of the U.S. Constitution and its protection of slavery ... even as slavery blossomed in the same regions. [ ... ] Without the effort of revolutionary-era blacks, slavery might have continued unchallenged for a longer period of time in the U.S." (Review by Booklist)

Primary Sources Workshop Today!

African American History Month

February is African American History Month

[Unidentified African American soldier in Union uniform with a rifle and revolver in front of painted backdrop showing weapons and American flag at Benton Barracks, Saint Louis, Missouri] courtesy Library of Congress

African American History Month is a time set aside to recognize and pay "tribute to the generations of African Americans who struggled with adversity to achieve full citizenship in American society." (Library of Congress)

African American History Month -  Library of  Congress
Information, events, audio, video, images, and other links provided by the Library of Congress and other U.S. government agencies

Black History Month 2013 - Smithsonian Education
African American Cultural Heritage Virtual Tour, as well as images and links to additional resources

Learn More About Black History Month -- NAACP
Sign up to receive a text each day in February containing a new fact about accomplishments of African Americans

The Library has many more books, articles, e-books, statistics, and other information relevant to African American History month. Have a question? Ask a librarian!

Have a question? Ask a Librarian!

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24/7

Ask Us Now

You Could Win an iPad mini!

The Friends of the Library are sponsoring an essay contest based on the 2013 College Book, Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls. Only currently enrolled SWC students may enter.

This is the prompt: 

Lily seems willing to sacrifice everything to defend her principles and the rights of others. On more than one occasion, she is fired from a teaching position for refusing to back down from what she believes in. Do you applaud Lily’s moral conviction in these instances? Or did you hope that Lily would learn to compromise? Have you ever had to struggle with moral conviction? Did you stand firm or compromise? 

• Essay must be no more than 3 pages, double-spaced, using 12-point type.
• Only original submissions that are the student's own work will be considered. Do not research or use any sources other than Half Broke Horses. Failure to follow these guidelines will result in disqualification.
• Attach an additional page giving name, student ID #, email address, and phone number. No identifiers (name, ID#, etc.) can appear in the essay itself.
• Deadline is Wednesday, March 13, 2013 at 4 p.m. Late entries will not be accepted.
• Send essay and additional page as attachments to essaycontest@swccd.edu
• Questions? Contact Diane Gustafson dgustafson@swccd.edu or (619) 482-6433.

Winner will receive an iPad mini (white, 32 GB, Wi-Fi) valued at $429.