October is AIDS Awareness Month

1 in 171 :

The number of people living with AIDS/HIV

Six Degrees of Separation is a term that’s entered popular vernacular and a sociological concept that's been studied academically*. These studies concluded, depending on method, the possibility of anywhere from 6 to 90 acquaintances creating a connection between us and everyone else on earth. Viewed in this context the number 39.5 million in 6 billion is a stunning 1 in approximately 171.

Now, add in the mathematics of unprotected sexual partnering:

1 plus 1 partner, who've been with 1, 2 or 3 partners, who’ve been with 1, 2, 3, or 4 partners, who’ve had 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or more partners….and those have had 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or more partners….and all the sexual partners of those people ….and so on. The number of unseen and unknown persons affecting your life is terrifying.

AIDS does not just happen.....

-to other people
-in far off countries
-or other sectors of society.
AIDS happens everywhere.

-More than 25 million people have Died of AIDS since 1981

-Africa has 12 Million AIDS Orphans

-AIDS is estimated to have killed over a million Americans

-People living with HIV/AIDS as of 2006: 39.5M

KNOW THE RISKS:

The Center for Disease Control: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/prev_prog/AHP/resources/other/print/Sample_article.htm).
The Mayo Clinic:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hiv-aids/DS00005/DSECTION=4
American Academy of Family Physicians: http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/common/sexinfections/hiv/005.html
*Stanley Malgram, Harvard University, 1967. Duncan Watts Columbia University, 2006.

Constitution Week September 2007

We the People:

For most of us these are words we learned in school and set aside for future reference. Beyond that many give little thought to the document that secures our rights and structures our government. We hear about the Fifth Amendment or Freedom of Speech if they are thought under threat, but do we understand the fragile historical document and the words it contains? Do we understand the limits of constitutional power in our governmental branches? Is there a historical significance to the concept “the pursuit of happiness?” Do we ever contemplate how words on paper can create a nation? Who is the government in America?

The week of September 17th is Constitution Week so take a moment and look at our constitution in the link to the National Archive below. It provides an in depth look at this document which affects our lives daily, including all the amendments, the Bill of Rights and links for more reading.

To know your rights

is to know the rights

of others.

For Constitution resources in the library and online visit HCC Brandon Library's U.S. Constitution Resources.

or

http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/constitution.html

Obscene, dangerous, profane, racist!

It’s difficult to believe these words have been used to describe the classic works of Mark Twain, Harper Lee and William Shakespeare. Yet at some point in the last fifty years anyone of these terms has been used to place a ban on such familiar authors as Joseph Heller, Judy Blume, J.D. Salinger, Stephen King, Alice Walker and Arthur Miller. Twain, Lee and Shakespeare have all been labeled racist for their honest portrayal of contemporary attitudes and James Joyce’s Dublin masterpeice, Ulysses, has become the main target for a number of censorship cases, as outlined in Paul Vanderheim's book, James Joyce and Censorship, the trials of Ulysses (available in the BLRC collection).

The list of challenged books and plays below provide a measure of the profound effect literature has on a nation and its culture, serving to remind everyone of the value of intellectual freedom. For this reason libraries, book sellers and readers take time every September to observe Banned Book Week and draw attention to the many works of literature that have been challenged. For additional lists of recently challenged books and most frequently challenged books of the 1990’s go to the American Library Association links below.

Lord of the Flies

The Diary of Anne Frank
The Living Bible

Farewell to Arms
Catcher in the Rye

East of Eden
Brave New World

The Grapes of Wrath
Catch-22

Huckleberry Finn
A Clockwork Orange

I know why the caged bird sings
The Color Purple

The Red Pony
The Crucible

To Kill a Mockingbird
Death of a Salesman

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Challenged books 2000-2005: http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/topten2000to2005.htm
Most frequently challenged books of the 1990’s: http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm