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hear about the Fifth Amendment or Freedom of Speech if they are thought under threat, but do we understand the fragile historical document and the words it contains?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

Global Warming Slide Show

Roberta Fernandez, of the Climate Project
SEPT. 27th – 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
BSSB AUDITORIUM

Many people believe that the Earth is too vast to be influenced by human activity. However, technologies have increased to the point that the global climate balance is tipping. Florida will be especially hard hit. Learn how small efforts can make a difference now. The Climate Project is a non-profit group that brings education, information, research and citizen action programs to communities around the country. Roberta Fernandez’ informative slide program, will be based on Al Gore’s book, An Inconvenient Truth. The DVD of that title will be available in the library for checking out.

This program is sponsored by the Brandon Campus Speakers Committee. If you have questions, please call Wendy Foley at 813-253-7812.

Top 10 ways you can help save energy!

The following is a list of 10 ways you can help make a difference by conserving energy. The list was compiled by Roberta Fernandez of the Climate Project (http://www.climateproject.org/). She will be presenting a slideshow based on the documentary An Inconvenient Truth on campus at the HCC Brandon Campus Auditorium on Thurs., Sept. 27th at 1pm. Also note that we do have the DVD of the movie in the library available for check out. Check this blog in the coming months for more information.

Top 10 Ways To Save Energy

1. 
   Carpool, walk, ride a bike, use mass transit: If every commuter did this 1 day at home,
   we’d save 5.85 billion gallons of gas and 143 billion tons of CO2
2. 
   Get better gas mileage: Every 3 miles per gallon improvement can save 3,000 lbs. of CO₂
   per year; A hybrid car can reduce CO₂ by 16,000 lbs. and save you $3,750 per year;
   Rapid acceleration can decrease mileage by 5 to 33%
3. 
   Replace your bulbs with CFL’s: If every house used only 1 CFL, it would be equivalent
   to removing of 1 million cars from the roads; Lighting accounts for 20% of all electricity
   consumed in the US
4. 
   Set your thermostat at 78 in the summer and 68 in the winter: Heating/cooling your home
   accounts for about 45% of a home’s total energy use.
5. 
   Seal your doors and windows, insulate. The average home causes more pollution than our
   car because of the fossil fuels burned to supply the power we need.
6. 
   Unplug everything you are not using: Standby power can account for 9-10% of
   household energy. A television uses 25% of its energy when it is turned off.
7. 
   Take shorter showers: aim for 5 minutes; 1883 low flow shower heads will save 472,630
   lbs. of CO₂
8. 
   Stop junk mail: The production of junk mail consumes as much energy as 2.8 million
   cars. There are 200 million trees cut for junk mail every year – that’s like cutting down
   the Rocky Mt. National Park 3 times per year
9. 
   Use refillable and reusable containers, recycle: 1.5 million barrels of oil is used for
   America’s bottled water. This equals fueling 100,000 cars for a year. 8 out of 10 bottles
   end up in landfills; Worldwide, 500 billion plastic bags are manufactured each year, that
   is nearly 1 million per minute. Use cloth bags instead
10. 
    Use the power of your voice and your votes: Write your local, state and federal officials
    to let them know you think this is a critical issue that needs to be addressed with
    appropriate measures.

Don't Panic

Sam Rockwell as Zaphod Bebblebrox in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy*

Thanks to the hard work and generosity of the Student Government Association we have a 101 new DVDs in the HCC Brandon LRC collection. This has expanded our Drama selection and added new titles in Comedy, Action, Horror and Family. We’ve also added to our Shakespeare performances for those who would like to see what they’re reading come to life in production. Below is a list of some of the new titles.

DVDs are available free of charge for a three day check out.

The Holiday

Volvar

Match Point
Riddick

House of Flying Daggers

The Prestige
The Illusionist

Beowulf and Grendel

Munich
Saw III

Copying Beethoven

In Her Shoes

* Image from hitchhikers.movies.go.com

Who wants to be in a Video?

OK, it's not that exciting...We are filming a short promotional video for the library Thurs. morning (6/14) from 9:30-12noon. As it is summer term, the library is a bit slower than usual so we need students to come to the library and fill out the "scenes." Please come by and help us promote the library!

Video of Ray Paul exhibit

In case you missed the great art exhibit we had in the library from April to June, check out the brief video.

Adopt a Cat June 2007

49,557

That’s how many animals were destroyed in Hillsborough,
Pinellas and Pasco Counties last year.
29,872 were in Hillsborough County alone.*

*Statistics provided by the ASPCA

June is designated as Adopt a Shelter Cat Month, but adoptions are not limited to cats alone. Dogs and other shelter animals are in need every day. For pet owners who can make room for one more or others who can give to their resources or time, this is a reminder of what a difference one person can make. And helping animals it not just an issue of making homes or providing shelter. Animal protection organizations strive to educate the public about animal care and population control. Spaying, neutering and proper care can make a difference for thousands of animals and help to relieve the overload, expense and tragedy of animal destruction in shelters.

Please visit some of links below and find out what you can do to help.


The ASPCA: http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer

Cat Call Adoptions: http://catcall.org/

Tampa Pets: http://www.tampapets.org/site/

Humane Society of Tampa Bay: http://www.humanesocietytampa.org/links/index.cfm

Ray Paul Exhibit -- Extended!

Ray Paul Exhibit at HCC Brandon Campus Library
April 9th – June 4th 2007


The artwork of one of Tampa's premier local artists, Ray Paul, will be showing at Hillsborough Community College’s Brandon Campus Library. Mr. Paul’s absorbing artwork has been shown in numerous exhibitions over the years, both locally and nationally as well as having graced the covers of books and the pages of magazines.

The artwork will be exhibited in the Brandon Campus Library from April 9th through June 4th. The exhibit is free and open to the public to come view the work of this extraordinary artist. Library hours are Mon-Thu 8am-8pm; Fri 8-4:30pm; Sat 8-2pm.

For more information on the artist, visit Ray Paul’s website:
http://www.raypaul.artistsunlimited.org.

Feel free to Chat in the library

That is, using our Meebo IM/chat service (on the library website: http://www.hccfl.edu/library/blrc/askalib.html).

If you have a question and we are online line drop us an IM. You can also use your own chat service (AIM, Yahoo, Google, MSN). Just add us to your buddy list: hccbrandonlibrary