Oxford's Word of the Year - "Unfriend"

unfriend – verb – To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook.

Every year at this time, Oxford University Press announces a list of "words to watch" for possible inclusion in the next edition of their dictionary. The word at the top of the list becomes their Word of the Year.

An explanation on the OUPblog site says, "Unfriend has real lex-appeal” because friend has not, until now, been considered a verb.

• Interestingly, the word unfriend is not used on the configuration pages of Facebook. The phrase "Remove Connection" directs the unfriending action.

Curious about other Words of the Year? The website AskOxford published a hundred Words of the Year. Here are the past 10 years of words:

1998 • to Google

1999 • blogger

2000 • bling

2001 • 9/11

2002 • metatarsal

2003 • to sex something up

2004 • chav

2005 • biosecurity

2006 • bovvered

2007 • locavore

2008 • hypermiling

Which of those had staying power?

• Becoming the Word of the Year does not guarantee inclusion in the dictionary. The verb to google did not enter the Oxford or Webster's dictionaries until summer of 2006.

Should Everybody Go to College?

Photo by Noah Berger for The Chronicle Review

In the most popular item posted this week on the website of the Chronicle of Higher Education, experts in economics, education, management, political science, and career counseling in the field of higher education are asked if they think everyone should go to college.

The responses are widely varied. In Are Too Many Students Going to College? the experts do not agree. This makes sense. The decision to go to college is personal and quite often a family decision. Deciding to continue education beyond high school is a financial and time commitment, whether the choice is community college, a two year or a four year degree program, or a shorter program designed for specific career preparation.

The issue seems to not be, "should you go," but "where should you go." Clearly in today's world, post-secondary school education gives people a better chance of a higher income. It is safe to say that what high school used to give you in earnings now requires some higher education.

Which expert do you agree with? Is college a waste of time and manpower, is it essential to earning a living wage and finding fulfilling employment, or something in between?

Shuttle Schedule from Logue Library Changes During SEPTA Strike

Early this morning SEPTA drivers went on strike; this strike impacts bus lines, trolley lines and the subway. Regional Rail (which runs the SEPTA R7 and R8 trains into Chestnut Hill) is not impacted by the strike but is currently running up to 30 minutes late due to increased volume.

In response to the strike, the College’s shuttle system will be running on a modified schedule.

• One shuttle will run a continuous loop between the R8 station, the R7 station and Logue Library.
• The second shuttle will run between Logue Library and SugarLoaf approximately every 15 minutes.
• Finally, a third shuttle will make as needed runs depending on traffic patterns and train schedules.

We ask for your patience during these times; there may be delays in the shuttle due to increased ridership and traffic. We will keep the College community informed of any updates.

For information on the SEPTA strike and help in planning a different route to campus please visit http://www.septa.org/.

Schools of Education Deserve Praise, Not Scorn

by Stephen Krashen

(This was originally posted as an October 24th comment to a Newsweek blog post. The text of the post with a link to Duncan's speech appears below.)

Department of Education Secretary Duncan thinks that Schools of Education should be held accountable for student achievement. If so, American Schools of Education deserve praise, not scorn. If the role of poverty is taken into consideration, American children do very well in international comparisons.

The late Gerald Bracey pointed out that U.S. schools with less than 25 percent of their enrollments made up of children of poverty outscore all other countries in math and science. American children only fall below the international average when 75 percent or more of the students in a school live in poverty.

The obvious reason: The results of many studies confirm that the characteristics of poverty, hunger, poor diet, toxins in the environment, and a lack of reading material seriously affect academic performance. The United States has the highest level of childhood poverty of industrialized countries.

Clearly, poverty is beyond the control of Schools of Education.

Low scores on international tests are the fault of a society that allows so many children to live in poverty. Also, if we are to apply Secretary Duncan's logic, we should hold schools of business and departments of economics accountable for the current economic crisis.

-----

Duncan Offers Incentives for 'Revolutionary' Overhaul of TeacherColleges
by Patrice Wingert

As Wednesday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan's major speech at Columbia University this week called on America's teacher colleges to follow the lead of Louisiana, which has been setting the pace nationally in terms of overhauling its schools of education. The state has turned the devastation wrought by Katrina into an opportunity to force through the kind of education reforms that other states just can't seem to muster. One of its mostcontroversial strategies has been to include data on how effectively new graduates are teaching and how much their students are learning when evaluating the quality of teacher colleges and other training programs.

As Duncan put it: "Right now, Louisiana is the only state in the nation that tracks the effectiveness of its teacher-preparation programs. Every state in the nation should be doing the same." Duncan said the U.S. Department of Education would "provide incentives for states" through the ongoing $4.3 billion Race to the Top competition to make serious upgrades in their teacher colleges.

Duncan also went out of his way to chide university presidents for their failure to take the lead in overhauling the nation's overwhelmingly "mediocre" teacher colleges while blaming everyone else for the fact that too many high-school seniors aren't prepared to handle college-level work." I do not understand when college presidents and deans of the arts and science faculty ignore their teacher-preparation programs—and yet complain about the cost of providing remedial classes to freshmen," Duncan said. "Simply put, incoming freshmen don't know the content because too often they have been taught by teachers who don't know the content well."

Chilly Fall Break!

It's fall break at CHC so things are a little quiet around here. Talking to you last week though, it was clear that you would be doing a lot of work over the break. Don't forget that we are still here if you have any research questions while you're getting it all done.

Check the library's Ask! page for a list of ways to contact us, or just type your question in the Meebo box on the left side of this page. (If we're not online at the moment, leave your email address and we'll shoot you a message as soon as we get back.)

Sorry you're missing our favorite tree's big annual display!

Here's hoping you're also having some fun! Fresh air and falling leaves might be just what you need to control that early afternoon crash! You know what they say. "All work and no play . . . "

See you in a couple of days!

The 7 Must Read SlideShare Presentations for Job Seekers

Grabbed from Slideshare.net:

These seven presentations are handpicked by the Applicant Blog at applicant.com. They also got some love from from getthatjobonline.com

1. Effective Job Interviewing from Both Sides of the Desk
It is gives great advice by looking at both sides of the job interview. My favorite tidbit is,
"Your Awesomeness is not self-evident."

2. 10 Job Search Attitudes that Will Get You More Interviews
Short, but sweet. I think attitude is often an overlooked piece in the job hunt puzzle. My favorite tidbit is, "I will search as if I don't need a job."

3. Rethink your Job Search
This reads a bit like marketing material for JobTiger, but is still has good content. My favorite tidbit is, "Tap into job openings that may not have been published."

4. Leveraging LinkedIn for the Job Search
A great little walkthrough on using LinkedIn for your job search. Favorite tidbit, "When you find a connection, leverage it to find other connections."

5. 10 Commandements of Job Search
This is the presentation by the Applicant Blog, and it stresses staying positive. "Ignore the fact that your friend, uncle, aunt and even your mother-in-law is unemployed. It's about you."

"It stresses Staying Positive"

6. Job Search with Social Media & Mobile
This is a great presentation that covers LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter & some mobile apps. "Maxims remain the same ... tactics are very different."

7. Converging Trends Impacting Your Job Search
It covers a lot of ground discussing marketing trends, social media and what networking means today. "Become a content expert ... shift, cull & create content"

Back on the Hill

Welcome! And welcome back to you old-timers!

If you're starting classes for the first time, don't forget to stop into Logue Library and have a look around. Get a library bar-code sticker for the back of your ID card so that you can check out books and other materials you'll be using to support your academic research.

If you're baaaaack after a fun summer, stop in and say hello and tell us what you've been up to! We missed you and are glad you're back!

SciFinder Scholar Incompatible with IE Version 8

We were notified of this today from the publishers of SciFinder Scholar:

"On March 19, 2009, a new version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Internet Explorer 8, was released. Internet Explorer 8 is currently incompatible with SciFinder; however, researchers can use a built-in compatibility setting that allows you to view SciFinder as displayed in Internet Explorer 7.

"The Compatibility View Setting allows Internet Explorer 8 users to maintain a list of sites that can be displayed in Compatibility View. There are also options for viewing all websites and intranet sites in Compatibility View. To learn more about how to use the feature, visit the CAS web page titled Using Internet Explorer 8 with SciFinder.

Please note: If you print detailed reference answers when using Compatibility View, some content will be missing. You can export your answer as a PDF or .rtf file and then print the exported files.

Please excuse any inconvenience. CAS is working on a permanent solution to use SciFinder with Internet Explorer 8. "

We are unaware of any problems using the Mozilla Firefox browser.

Logue Library Resources on Forgiveness and Reconciliation

(photo from hoyasmeg's photostream at the Flickr Creative Commons.)

"Chestnut Hill College’s Institute for Forgiveness and Reconciliation is designed to be a learning laboratory for research and scholarship where forgiveness and reconciliation will be explored as alternatives to violence and conflict in our culture."

The inaugural lecture of the Institute will be presented by John Dear on March 25, 2009 at 7 p.m. at Chestnut Hill College in the Social Room, Fournier Hall. The topic of John Dear’s lecture will be “To Change the World, We Must Change Ourselves.” The lecture is free and open to the public.

There are many ways to explore the topic of Forgiveness and Reconcilliation across many disciplines of college research. Below are some tips to begin with.

Books
Search the Logue Library catalog or WorldCat (CHC log-in required). Call numbers for books begin with (in parenthesis): Religion and Philosophy (B) Psychology (R) and Sociology (H), History (D-F)

A few titles are listed here, with their call numbers at the end. Check the books shelved near these for more titles.

• Minow, Martha. Between vengeance and forgiveness : facing history after genocide and mass violence. Beacon Press: 1998. HV6322.7 .M56 1998


• Griswold, Charles. Forgiveness : a philosophical exploration. Cambridge University Press: 2007. BJ1476 .G75 2007


• McCullough, Michael E. Forgiveness : theory, research, and practice. Guilford Press: 2000. BF637 .F67 F67 2000


• Keogh, Dermot. Northern Ireland and the politics of reconciliation. Cambridge University Press 1993. DA990.U46 N6654 1993

Search Terms
Forgiveness, Reconciliation
Related topics – Victim-offender relations, Mediation, Restorative Justice

Sources of journal & newspaper articles – some with electronic full text
(CHC log-in required)

• EBSCOhost – Academic Search Premier, SocIndex, and others as suit the topic


• PsycNet – for psychology related articles


• CIAO Columbia International Affairs Online (all full text)
  Including Conflict resolution Peace studies, Ethnic conflict, etc
  Extensive set of working papers and conference proceedings, as well as journals and case studies.


• LexisNexis – Legal (all full text)
  Use the Advanced Search for law reviews, reports from symposiums, and more. Good source for case studies.

Journals

Conflict Management & Peace Science
Routledge Press
Academic, peer reviewed quarterly
International Relations; Politics & Political Science
Features original & review articles focused on news & events related to the scientific study of conflict & peace.
Available in SocIndex 2004-present, except the current 12 months.

Contemporary Justice Review
Routledge Press
Academic, peer reviewed quarterly
Provides information for scholars, practitioners & activists of justice around the globe who seek to explore new models & demonstration projects of justice that have applicability to social systems from the local to the international level.
Available in SocIndex 1998-present, except the current 12 months

International Journal of Peace Studies
George Mason University/Institute for Conflict Analysis & Resolution
Academic, peer reviewed; two issues/year
Articles in international conflict, peace building, human security, globalization, nationalism, ethnic conflict, & other related topics.
Available in SocIndex 2005-present

Journal of International Affairs
Academic, peer reviewed; two issues/year
“Affiliated with the School of International Affairs at Columbia University. Articles from a diverse group of scholars, business executives and government officials examining the defining issues of our time.”
Available in Academic Search Premier 1975-present

Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work (formerly Social Thought)
Haworth Press/Taylor and Francis
Academic, peer reviewed quarterly
Focuses on topics pertaining to institutional and noninstitutional religion, as well as sectarian and nonsectarian approaches to spirituality as it relates to social work and the other helping professions.
Available in SocIndex 2000-present, except the current 12 months.

Journal of Social Issues
Blackwell Publishing
Academic, peer reviewed quarterly
Articles for the professional psychologist and allied social scientists concerned with research on the psychological aspects of important social issues, sponsored by the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.
Available in SocIndex 1945-present, except the current 12 months.

Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health (Formerly American Journal of Pastoral Counseling)
Haworth Press (Taylor and Francis)
Academic, peer reviewed quarterly
Print (basement stacks) and electronic subscription (Logue Library Electronic Journals) Indexed in Academic Search Premier

Mental Health, Religion & Culture
Routledge Press
Academic, peer reviewed 8 issues/year
Aims to publish empirically-based work exploring the relationships between mental health & aspects of religion & culture. Also focuses on discussing conceptual & philosophical aspects.
Available in Academic Search Premier 1998-present, except the current 12 months.

Peace & Change
Blackwell Publishing Limited
Academic, peer reviewed quarterly
Scholarly and interpretive articles related to the achieving of a peaceful, just, and humane society. Topics related to peace and war, social change, justice, nonviolence and conflict resolution.
Available in Academic Search Premier 1975-present, except the current 12 months.

Peace & Conflict
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Academic, peer reviewed quarterly
Publishes work on subjects concerning peace, nonviolent conflict resolution, reconciliation, & the causes, consequences & prevention of war & other conflict.
Available in SocIndex 1995-present, except the current 12 months

Peace Review
Routledge Press
Academic, peer reviewed quarterly
International Relations; Politics & Political Science; Sociology; Sociology & Social Work
Focuses on current issues and controversies that underlie the promotion of a more peaceful world
Available in Academic Search Premier 1996-present, except the current 12 months.

Social Justice Research
Springer
Academic, peer reviewed quarterly
Acts as an multidisciplinary forum for the publication of original papers that have broad implications for social scientists investigating the origins, structures, & consequences of justice in human affairs
Available in Springer 1997-present.

Victims & Offenders
Routledge Press
Academic, peer reviewed quarterly
Provides an international and interdisciplinary forum of research, outcome studies, and evidence-based policies and practices on victimization, victim assistance, offender rehabilitation and treatment, and restorative justice.
Available in SocIndex 2006-present, except the current 12 months


Local Organizations related to Forgiveness or Reconcilliation

Good Shepherd Mediation Program
“Our mission is to empower Philadelphia community residents to creatively search for meaningful and lasting solutions to their conflicts without resorting to crime or violence”
5356 Chew Avenue Philadelphia PA 19138

Alternatives to Violence
National site –Under AVP contacts find Pennsylvania events and AVP leaders

American Friends Service Committee
1515 Cherry Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Angela Berryman - Assistant General Secretary for Peace & Conflict Resolution

Friends Conflict Resolution Programs - Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
1515 Cherry StreetPhiladelphia, PA 19102
Caroline Packard, JD (215) 241-7029 carolinep@pym.org
Conflict resolution services & training for nonprofit organizations. Educational programs and mediation services.

Philadelphia Interfaith Walk for Peace and Reconciliation
Meets at Aqsa Islamic Society
1501 Germantown Avenue at 3rd & Jefferson Sts., Phila, PA 19122
Concern for Jewish–Islamic relations and situation in Palestine

Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia
3723 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3189
“Nonprofit organization that helps to strengthen and enhance awareness of the rich diversity of religious traditions in the Greater Philadelphia region. The Center arose to fill a void and emerged as the first multi-faith organization in our region principally dedicated to interreligious dialogue, education, and community building at the grassroots and leadership levels.”

Shalom Center
6711 Lincoln Drive, Philadelphia PA 19119.
215/844-8494
Originally founded as a division of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, it is now an independent 501c3 tax-exempt religious institution with its own board.
Concerns: the Iraq war and its by-products, especially including the emergence of torture as a tool of US policy and of top-down, unaccountable presidential power; "Beyond Oil," an effort to address the dangers American addiction to over-use of oil poses to the planet through the climate crisis of global scorching and other dangers; the creating of deeper connections among Jewish, Christian, and Muslim teachings and communities in Abrahamic mode; an interfaith effort to identify and encourage the use and marketing of "Sacred Foods"; peacemaking in the broader Middle East; gay rights, especially in marriage and other sacred contexts; and immigrants' rights.

Mennonite Central Committee
East coast office - Akron, PA. (717) 859-1151 or Toll Free (888) 563-4676
Email: eastcoast@mcc.org
Philadelphia contact (215) 316-9464
MCC seeks to demonstrate God's love by working among people suffering from poverty, conflict, oppression and natural disaster. MCC serves as a channel for interchange by building mutually transformative relationships. MCC strives for peace, justice and the dignity of all people by sharing our experiences, resources and faith in Jesus Christ

Murder Victims Families for Human Rights
2161 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02140
National organization has local members

Peace Center – (Bucks County)
102 West Maple AvenueLanghorne, Pennsylvania 19047-2820
215-750-7220
Our programs are designed to help reduce violence and conflict in our schools, homes and communities through a multicultural, community-based approach. We are dedicated to furthering peace by understanding and managing conflict in our community, our nation and our world.

CentrePeace (State College Area)
3013 Benner PikeBellefonte, PA 16823
814.353.9081
The goals of CentrePeace are to promote Restorative Justice and decrease victimization and crime in our communities by improving the attitudes and capabilities of prison inmates through productive work and training in job and interpersonal skills.

Lehigh Pocono Committee of Concern
313 W 4th Street
Bethlehem, PA 18015
LEPOCO members share a vision that we can build a sane and more just world. Gathering strength from our diversity, we work together and as individuals for nonviolent change, starting in our own community

Brandywine Peace Community
PO Box 81 Swarthmore, PA 19081
brandywine@juno.com

Mural Arts Program
Restorative Justice
info@muralarts.org 215.685.0750
For years we have taken a pro-active role in dealing with issues around crime and delinquency by increasing the programs available to adult inmates at local correctional facilities, ex-offenders re-entering their communities, juveniles arrested for minor crimes and in residential placement, chronically truant youth, residents of crime-impacted neighborhoods and victims of crime

Action Reconciliation Service for Peace
1501 Cherry Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
German peace and volunteer service organization founded in the aftermath of World War II to confront the legacy of the Nazi regime…. Each year 25 German volunteers start a one-year peace service with ARSP in the U.S. ARSP also runs an international volunteer program in Germany.

Making Geek Chic... Attracting Women to the Science Professions

A January 19th New York Times article is hopeful that the science-friendly Barack Obama administration might make the sciences a more women-friendly career choice. The article titled, In ‘Geek Chic’ and Obama, New Hope for Lifting Women in Science quotes studies that show career advancement in the sciences require a level of sacrafice that most women aren't willing to make. "One must spend one’s 20s and early 30s as a poorly compensated and minimally empowered graduate student and postdoctoral fellow, and the remainder of one’s 30s and into the low 40s working madly to earn tenure" as a research scientist at a university.

An enlightened adminiistration could make the sacrafice less costly. "Legal experts suggest that President Obama might be able to change things significantly for young women in science — and young men — by signing an executive order that would provide added family leave and parental benefits to the recipients of federal grants, a huge pool of people that includes many research scientists."

And — of all the sciences — why do far fewer women choose Physics? That's a question that requires more scientific research!

Find more articles on this topic from EBSCOhost.

[photo: Karen S. Wendling, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Chemistry]

Presidential Inaugurations Quiz - Answers!

1. Dwight Eisenhower
2. John F. Kennedy
3. 1949, Harry Truman
4. Article II, Section 1
5. Rutherford B. Hayes
6. John F. Kennedy
7. Franklin D. Roosevelt
8. James Madison
9. Theodore Roosevelt
10. George Bush
11. Samuel Morse
12. James Buchanan
13. William McKinley
14. Calvin Coolidge
15. Herbert Hoover
16. George Washington
17. 20th amendment
18. Abraham Lincoln
19. Chester Arthur
20. Harry Truman

Presidential Inaugurations Quiz

Test your knowledge about past Presidential inaugurations in this activity.
(From the Harry S. Truman Library & Museum web site.)

1. Who was the first President inaugurated after the 22nd Amendment, which limited Presidents to two terms in office?

2. Who was the youngest President-elect at the time of his inauguration?

3. When was the first televised inauguration?

4. Where is the oath of office found in the Constitution?

5. Who became President as a result of the Compromise of 1877?

6. Whose inaugural address contained the phrase, "the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans . . ."?

7. Who was the first President inaugurated on January 20th?

8. Following whose inauguration was the first inaugural ball held?

9. Which President wore a ring to his inauguration that contained a lock of hair cut from Lincoln's head after he was shot?

10. Whose was the Bicentennial Inauguration?

11. Who was the first person to report an inauguration by telegraph in 1845?

12. Whose inauguration was the earliest to have been photographed?

13. Whose inauguration was the first recorded on movie film and gramophone record?

14. Whose inauguration was the first broadcast by radio?

15. Whose inauguration was the first broadcast by sound newsreel?

16. What president was inaugurated more than a month later than the March deadline, on April 30?

17. What amendment to the Constitution established January 20 as Inauguration day?

18. What future president lost his hat at President Zachary Taylor's inauguration?

19. What president was sworn in at his home in New York?

20. Whose inauguration came only 82 days after he became Vice President?

Try your hand at it... Answers will be posted on Inauguration Day!