SWC Libraries Are Closed

SWC Libraries are closed from Saturday, December 9, 2017 to January 1, 2018.

The Library will be open for Intersession beginning January 2, 2018. 

Have a safe and happy winter break!

What are ballot measures? What do they mean for you?

Ballot Measures Database

The Ballot Measure Database is part of the much larger National Conference of State Legislatures website. This database "includes all statewide ballot measures, starting over a century ago" from all types of state elections: General, Primary, and Special.

New ballot measures are added to the database when they qualify to be listed on a state's ballot. They are marked "Pass" or "Fail" as soon as election results are available. Browse by State and/or Topic and limit by date. This is a very useful site for anyone interested in locating state issues that have appeared on a state ballot in the last 100 plus years.

Here is an example of recent ballot measures in California in the areas of drugs/alcohol/ and tobacco policy (Source: NCSL):

Cigarette Tax Increase Amendment

Proposition 56

Election: General - 2016
Type: Initiative
Status: Pass (Yes votes: 62.9% unofficial)
Topic Areas: Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco Policy | Health | Tax & Revenue

Summary: Click for Summary

Increases cigarette tax by $2.00 per pack, with equivalent increase on other tobacco products and electronic cigarettes containing nicotine. Allocates revenues primarily to increase funding for existing healthcare programs; also for tobacco use prevention/control programs, tobacco-related disease research and law enforcement, University of California physician training, dental disease prevention programs, and administration. Excludes these revenues from Proposition 98 funding requirements. If tax causes decreased tobacco consumption, transfers tax revenues to offset decreases to existing tobacco-funded programs and sales tax revenues. Requires biennial audit.

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Legalization of Marijuana for Adults Over 21

Proposition 64

Election: General - 2016
Type: Initiative
Status: Pass (Yes votes: 55.8% unofficial)
Topic Areas: Business & Commerce | Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco Policy | Tax & Revenue

Summary: Click for Summary

Legalizes marijuana and hemp under state law. Designates state agencies to license and regulate marijuana industry. Imposes state excise tax on retail sales of marijuana equal to 15% of sales price, and state cultivation taxes on marijuana of $9.25 per ounce of flowers and $2.75 per ounce of leaves. Exempts medical marijuana from some taxation. Establishes packaging, labeling, advertising, and marketing standards and restrictions for marijuana products. Allows local regulation and taxation of marijuana. Prohibits marketing and advertising marijuana to minors. Authorizes resentencing and destruction of records for prior marijuana convictions

Winter Intersession begins Saturday

SWC Libraries are closed from Saturday, December 9, 2017 to January 1, 2018

Have a safe and happy winter break!

Extended Hours - Final Week!

Chula Vista Campus Library Hours:

December 4, 2017: 7 am - 9 pm
December 5, 2017: 7 am - 9 pm
December 6, 2017: 7 am - 9 pm
December 7, 2017: 7:30 am - 9 pm
December 8, 2017: 7:30 am - 2 pm

See you at the Library!

Website of the Week

California Center for Jobs and the Economy 

http://centerforjobs.org/profiles/ 

The California Center for Jobs and the Economy has expanded its interactive data visualization tool, “Data Profiles,” to include U.S. congressional districts.

Users can now obtain quick facts on the state of local economies for congressional districts. In addition, there are breakouts by county, assembly and senate districts, Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (Go-Biz) regions, and workforce regions. The tool provides information on unemployment, labor force participation, industrial categories, and basic demographics.

Review by Tanya Carr, SWC Librarian

Tired?

Sleep in a little, then go jump start your day at the SWC Library! We are open 10 am - 4 pm this Saturday, December 2, so that you have time to study for your finals.

See you at the Library!

Check It Out

Check out a few books before you leave for winter intersessions! There are over 100 great titles to choose from in the New Books Area.

The Making of Black Lives Matter : a Brief History of an Idea
by Christopher Lebron
Oxford University Press, 2017
Call Number: New Book Shelf E185.615 .L393 2017

Started in the wake of George Zimmerman's 2013 acquittal in the death of Trayvon Martin, the #BlackLivesMatter movement has become a powerful and uncompromising campaign demanding redress for the brutal and unjustified treatment of black bodies by law enforcement in the United States. The movement is only a few years old, but as Christopher J. Lebron argues in this book, the sentiment behind it is not; the plea and demand that "Black Lives Matter" comes out of a much older and richer tradition arguing for the equal dignity - and not just equal rights - of black people.

The Making of Black Lives Matter presents a condensed and accessible intellectual history that traces the genesis of the ideas that have built into the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Drawing on the work of revolutionary black public intellectuals, including Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, Langston Hughes, Zora Neal Hurston, Anna Julia Cooper, Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, and Martin Luther King Jr., Lebron clarifies what it means to assert that "Black Lives Matter" when faced with contemporary instances of anti-black law enforcement. He also illuminates the crucial difference between the problem signaled by the social media hashtag and how we think that we ought to address the problem. As Lebron states, police body cameras, or even the exhortation for civil rights mean nothing in the absence of equality and dignity. To upset dominant practices of abuse, oppression and disregard, we must reach instead for radical sensibility. Radical sensibility requires that we become cognizant of the history of black thought and activism in order to make sense of the emotions, demands, and argument of present-day activists and public thinkers. Only in this way can we truly embrace and pursue the idea of racial progress in America.

-- review provided by publisher 

We are open until 4 pm today!

Time to get prepared for Finals! We are open until 4 pm on Friday, December 1 and Saturday, December 2.

Friday: 7 am - 4 pm

Saturday: 10 am - 4 pm

See you at the Library!