Essay Contest Winner Announced

The winner of this year’s Friends of the Library essay contest is Julie Barrios. Julie is taking classes at Southwestern as well as at SDSU, where she hopes to major in Marine Biology.

The prize for her winning essay is an iPad mini, which she happily picked up at the Library on April 5.

Thanks to all who entered the contest and to the judges. Congratulations, Julie!

Check It Out

Student's Guide to Writing College Papers

by Kate Turabian

University of Chicago Press, 2010.

New Book Area, Call Number: LB2369 .T82 2010 

This book will introduce you "to the art of defining a topic, doing high-quality research with limited resources, and writing an engaging and solid college paper."

There are three sections to guide you through writing your paper. In Part 1, you'll learn about the research process, including how to choose and develop your topic, validate sources, plan arguments, write drafts, and how to avoid plagiarism. Part 2 gives you the nuts and bolts for how to cite your sources. Part 3, "Style," discusses, punctuation, spelling, and other important elements of writing.

New books are available for four-week check out with your SWC photo ID card. Many more books on this topic are available in the library. Have a question? Ask a librarian!

Literary Festival Begins Tuesday

SWC Guest Writers Series

Spring 2013 Literary Festival 

Celebrating National Poetry Month 

Tuesday, April 9
Session 1: 9:30 am-10:45 am
So Say We All
Writing and Performance Workshop with Justin Hudnall (room L238 N/S)

Justin Hudnall holds a BFA from New York University‘s Tisch School of the Arts, by way of the Department of Dramatic Writing. His graduating year coincided with September 11th, which heavily influenced both his writing and his adoption of a career in international humanitarian aid, serving with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) as an emergency operations officer in New York and Southern Sudan. Currently, he serves as the Executive Director of So Say We All, a San Diego based non-profit arts collective which provides opportunities for expression and arts education to populations without access. In 2012 he was selected as a San Diego Foundation Creative Catalyst Fellow and recipient of the Rising Arts Leader Award. Justin is a twice finalist for the International Story Contest of Cork, Ireland. His plays have been performed off-broadway at The Atlantic Theater and Director’s Club, as well as several national regional theaters. His prose has been published by The Quotable, Citybeat, Voice of San Diego, Pinchback Press, Naughty American, The Huffington Post, Heinemann Press, and other alt. journalism and literary titles. He is co-editor of Last Night Night On Earth, a collectivist novel chronicling the day leading up to the end of the world through the perspectives of 20 writers all over the world, and The Far East: Everything Just As It Is, a people’s history of San Diego’s East County.

Tuesday April 9th
Session 2: 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
So Say We All
Performance (room L238 N/S)

Writers/performers from So Say We All bring their multimedia VAMP showcase to Southwestern College on April 9th from 11-11:50am for a special showing of some of the funniest and toughest writing from their catalog, and to tell you how to get involved in the new literary revolution. For more information about So Say We All, visit http://www.sosayweallonline.com/.

Need help with your research?

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Database of the Month

Magill's Medical Guide - Salem Health

This resource covers diseases, disorders, treatments, procedures, specialties, anatomy, biology, and issues in an A-Z format, with sidebars addressing recent developments in medicine and concise information boxes for all diseases and disorders.

Access is available from off campus with the current passwords. Have a question? Ask a librarian!

April is National Poetry Month

Celebrate National Poetry Month by reading, memorizing, or even writing a poem!

The library has many poetry books and critical works about poetry. Search the library catalog to find books and e-books by your favorite poet -- or to discover a new favorite.

The Academy of American Poets came up with 30 ways for you to celebrate poetry for each day in April.

Have a question? Ask a librarian!

This Week in CQ Researcher

Gay Marriage: Will the Supreme Court end curbs on same-sex unions? by Kenneth Jost.

Cuc Vu and Gwen Migita, right, leave the courthouse in Washington, D.C., after applying for a marriage license on March 3, 2010, the first day licenses were available in the District of Columbia. (Getty Images/The Washington Post/Bill O'Leary)

"The Supreme Court is set to confront the issue of gay marriage for the first time in 40 years in two cases set for argument in late March. Same-sex couples are asking the justices to strike down California's Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in the state just six months after a court ruled that preventing gays and lesbians from marrying was unconstitutional.

In a second case, a New York City widow is urging the court to strike down the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which limits federal benefits for same-sex couples. Edith Windsor had to pay a $363,000 federal tax bill on her late wife's estate that would not have been levied on an opposite-sex spouse.

The Obama administration says both laws are unconstitutional. House Republicans stepped into the Windsor case to defend DOMA. Court watchers say the justices are likely to be closely divided along conservative-liberal lines, with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy widely seen as having the pivotal vote on the nine-member bench."

Read the entire report via CQ Researcher, one of the library's research databases. Off-campus access is available with the current semester's passwords.