An Abundance of Opposing Viewpoints

You may be aware of our Opposing Viewpoints database. However, if you have a paper or interest based around a topic that might be attached to a controversy or be related to current issues, you might want to check out our collection of Opposing Viewpoints published collections.  They take on a topic, highlight issues within the topic, and present scholarly articles and opinion pieces to explain the pros and cons within.

A quick list of some of the new topics added or updated:

  • Fashion Industry
  • Mass Media
  • Male and Female Roles
  • Latin America
  • Immigration
  • Global Warming
  • Debt
  • Culture of Beauty
  • Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Copyright Infringement
  • Gangs
  • Behavioral Disorders

… and so on.  Check’em out.

Second Chances: We’re All About Them

Look, we know that some people come to JCCC to rebuild from a past they’re not necessarily proud of.

That’s OK. In fact, I’m encouraged by every single student that walks through our door hoping to make their life better.

So let’s say you’ve got a few marks on your legal record. Part of the social contract is that when you’re out, we as an institution don’t really care about what has happened; it’s our job to get you back on your feet.

It is why we have books like Best Jobs for Ex-Offenders.  If you, a friend, or a loved one is in what sports teams call “The Rebuilding Phase,” then it might be worth figuring out what career paths JCCC can lead you to. Flipping through this book will hopefully help you realize that the scope of a professional future aren’t as narrow as it may seem.

This Book Is OVERDUE!

What’s more exciting than Titus Andronicus playing the Pitchfork Music Festival or the Bears acquiring Julius Peppers, or (I guess) the Chiefs trying to get Darren Sproles?

Not much: this is a cap-free year! But if you’re a librarian, any good book that makes us look awesome is worth promoting.

Enter This Book is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians can Save Us All. First admission, I hate the term “cybrarian”. That being said, this book argues that even though you may think Google and the Internet are killing the notion of a useful librarian, editor Marilyn Johnson shows all of the cool stuff librarians are still doing. From digital archiving to, what the Amazon review calls “curators of a community legacy.”

So if you dig it, you could check out this book.  For a shortcut to what we’re doing, check out some of the library links here.

We Just Want You to Know…

… That this book exists.

Fashion Law: A Guide for Designers, Fashion Executives, and Attorneys. Edited by Guillermo C. Jimenez, Barbara Kolsun.

I’m beyond curious. Do people copyright or trademark buttons or ways of stitching? or fancy pleating? Check it out at JCCC. I can only imagine how crazy some of these things must be.

New Student Journal @ JCCC

I’m a big fan of our Institutional Repository, ScholarSpace.  A repository, set up to gather all of the publishings coming from our campus, has really exposed some of our works to the greater academic arena, but there’s been a glaring issue: there has been a horrible lack of student-created material. And certainly one of the most glaring issues has been my lack of advertising to get students more involved.

UNTIL NOW. I’m proud to announce that with the support and hard work of Patricia Decker, we’ve been able to launch the Johnson County Community College Honors Journal. Students who have completed their Honors contracts for courses at JCCC can now submit their final projects for inclusion in our entirely digital journal.  There are some great advantages to this journal being all digital:

  • Obviously it is more green
  • Digital publishing allows the article to be included in larger academic online communities
  • We can incorporate alternative projects, such as video, images, powerpoint presentations, or a combination of many of these

We’re very proud to be showcasing the work of our students, and hope to receive many more submissions in the coming semesters.  Thanks to everyone who helped get this off the ground, especially the contributing students:

  • Christina Turner
  • Courtney Masterson
  • William Sherrill
  • William Bettes
  • Belinda Peister

Seriously: without students willing to share their fantastic work, we wouldn’t be able to show the rest of the world what our students are capable of.  I hope this gets students (Honors or not!) interested in submitting their work. Thanks again!

This Snow is Ridiculous, Until it Saves Me from Deer

Last night, traffic was slowed to a whopping 30 mph on Metcalf near 123rd St. This was, somehow, a good thing, as the unruly mob of deer that pranced passed the front of my car would have most certainly become hood ornaments were I going full speed.

In a transition that is somehow not awkward, the Book of the Day is a new title that just came by my desk called Deer-Resistant Landscaping : Proven advice and strategies for outwitting deer and 20 other pesky mammals. Since the best advice I have is “hire Ted Nugent”, I’m guessing this landscaping business would be a much better technique than anything I have to recommend. Recommended for students looking into landscaping careers, and also to people who hate deer.

In summary: that golf course needs better landscaping, and the snow did something positive for a change. Tiny miracles.