FICTION

1. 1225 CHRISTMAS TREE LANE, by Debbie Macomber.
2. BONNIE, by Iris Johansen.
3. FEAST DAY OF FOOLS, by James Lee Burke.
4. NEVERWINTER, by R.A. Salvatore.
5. SHOCK WAVE, by John Sandford.
6. THE CHRISTMAS WEDDING, by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo.
7. THE MARRIAGE PLOT, by Jeffrey Eugenides.

NONFICTION

1. KILLING LINCOLN, by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard.
2. PAULA DEEN’S SOUTHERN COOKING BIBLE, by Paula Deen with Melissa Clark.
3. SERIOUSLY…I’M KIDDING, by Ellen DeGeneres.
4. TRUST ME, I’M DR. OZZY, by Ozzy Osbourne with Chris Ayres.

Below is a list of new books that we have available for check out at the ARC/Rutland Library:

Fiction

1.  LIVE WIRE, by Harlan Coben.
2.  NIGHT ROAD, by Kristin Hannah.
3.  MYSTERY, by Jonathan Kellerman.
4.  THE PALE KING, by David Foster Wallace.
5.  THE FIFTH WITNESS, by Michael Connelly.
6.  44 CHARLES STREET, by Danielle Steel.
7.  MILES TO GO, by Richard Paul Evans.
8.  CHASING FIRE, by Nora Roberts.
9.  SAVE ME, by Lisa Scottoline.
10.  THE SIXTH MAN, by David Baldacci.
11.  QUICKSILVER, by Amanda Quick.
12.  EVE, by Iris Johansen.
13.  THE PRIEST’S GRAVEYARD, by Ted Dekker.
14.  OUTRAGE, by Robert K. Tanenbaum.
15.  10^TH ANNIVERSARY, by James Patterson.
16.  BEL-AIR DEAD, by Stuart Woods.
17.  A TURN IN THE ROAD, by Debbie Macomber.
18.  DEAD RECKONING, by Charlaine Harris.
19.  SIXKILL, by Robert B. Parker.

Nonfiction

1.  UNFAMILIAR FISHES, by Sarah Vowell.
2.  BOSSYPANTS, by Tina Fey.
3.  MALCOLM X, by Manning Marable.
4.  63 DOCUMENTS THE GOVERNMENT DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ, by  Jesse Ventura with Dick Russell.
5.  JEANNIE OUT OF THE BOTTLE, by Barbara Eden with Wendy Leigh.
6.  LOVE WINS, by Rob Bell.
7.  IF IT MAKES YOU HEALTHY, by Sheryl Crow and Chuck White with Mary Goodbody.
8.  THIS IS GONNA HURT, by Nikki Sixx.
9.  THE BEST ADVICE I EVER GOT, by Katie Couric.
10.  LIBERTY DEFINED, by Ron Paul.
11.  DOES THE NOISE IN MY HEAD BOTHER YOU? , by Steven Tyler.
12.  THE DUKAN DIET, by Pierre Dukan.
13.  GUY FIERI FOOD, by Guy Fieri.
14.  MY LUCKY LIFE IN AND OUT OF SHOW BUSINESS, by Dick Van Dyke.
15.  IF YOU ASK ME, by Betty White.

What is up with this weather?  In the past few years we have had unprecedented (at least in most of our lifetimes) flooding, tornadoes, and ice storms.  In the spring of 2008, we had massive flooding in Poplar Bluff and surrounding areas.  In the winter of 2009, we had a major ice storm that took down power lines (many people were without power for a month), damaged roofs, and destroyed trees.  Now in 2011, we’ve had another major flood in our area, that has left many people homeless and has destroyed thousands of acres of farm land. Also, in areas just south of us (Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas) there have been catastrophic tornadoes that have killed hundreds of people and have done millions of dollars worth of damage to homes and businesses.   

What is causing this major shift in our weather patterns?  Is it just a cycle of nature or is there a major shift in our climate? 

If you’re interested in what’s happening with our weather and would like to know more about what causes different weather events and climate changes, we have many resources at the ARC/Rutland Library that will help you in your quest for answers.  To get you started, I have listed a few of the books, videos, and databases that are available.

Books

Hot, Flat, and Crowded : Why We Need a Green Revolution – And How It Can Renew America by Thomas L. Friedman.

The Coming Global Superstorm by Art Bell and Whitley Strieber.

Sun, Weather & Climate by John R. Herman and Richard A. Goldberg.

The Great Flood of 1993 : Causes, Impacts, and Responses edited by Stanley A. Changnon.

Weather by John Farrand, Jr.

Severe and Unusual Weather by Joe R. Eagleman.

Weather in Your Life by Louis J. Battan.

Videos and DVD’s

The Miracle Planet – VHS

An Inconvenient Truth – DVD 

Databases

Science On-Line

GREENR

“Confronting Global Warming” Databases

Have you ever wondered why Chinese children seem so darn perfect?  Are you a parent struggling to raise children in our modern American society?  Have you ever wondered what those Chinese parents know that American parents don’t?  Well, you may want to check out Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua.

Amy Chua is a Chinese mother trying to raise 2 daughters in the United States.   She wants to raise them in the traditional Chinese way with no TV, computer games, playdates, etc.  Her daughters must take Mandarin lessons, practice math speed drills, and practice their musical instruments for at least two hours a day.  This is all wonderful if you happen to live in China.  However, when your children are exposed to U.S. culture (land of video games, TV, and cell phones) sometimes they have other ideas!  Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother tells the funny and thought-provoking story of the day-to-day conflict of a Chinese mother raising Americanized children.

To find out more about Amy Chua and Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother you can access her web- page at www.amychua.com.

Using precise language

Instead of using general words like nice, good, bad, great, amazing, a lot, try to be more specific in your choice of words.  Ask yourself, what do I mean by “nice” or “a lot,” and then write what you really mean.

For example, “I made a lot of money in tips last night,” would be better if written, “I made fifty dollars in tips last night.”

Or, the sentence, “The food was amazing,” is more interesting when written, “The food was the perfect blend of spicy and sweet.”

This week’s featured best seller is A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness.  If you enjoyed the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, I think you will enjoy this book.

A Discovery of Witches tells the story of Diana Bishop, a Yale historian who also happens to be a descendant of the first witch who was executed at the Salem Witch Trials.  Diana is very reluctant to use her witchy powers, and prefers to use her own intelligence and human abilities to make her way in life.  Unfortunately, while doing research at Oxford’s Bodleian Library, Diana discovers a magical manuscript that supposedly holds the secrets to how witches, vampires, and demons came into existence.  This discovery opens a floodgate of unwanted interest by other witches, vampires and demons.  One of the interested parties is a 1500 year old vampire named Matthew Clairmont.  Matthew and Diana fall in love (which is apparently a major no-no in the world of witches, vampires, and demons) and find themselves in the middle of a war amongst the supernatural.  The ending of this tome is left wide open, so I suspect there may be a part II to A Discovery of Witches.

To read more about Deborah Harkness and A Discovery of Witches you can go to:

www.deborahharkness.com

That being said, the Civil War is a fascinating subject to spend a lifetime studying. The Civil War changed our nation in many ways, and the affects of the Civil War are still being felt today.

Many years ago I read an interesting newspaper article in a local newspaper about how Doniphan and Ripley County were still suffering the effects of the Civil War. The article talked about how Doniphan had ties to the Confederacy and was burned during the Civil War by Union forces.  I cannot remember if the entire town was burned or only parts of it. The article went on the say that when the North won the war Doniphan and Ripley County suffered economically at the hands of the Union for their support of the South. Evidently a rail line was planned to be built through the Doniphan area which would have opened the area of to commerce and trade, but since Doniphan had ties to the South the rail line went through Butler County and Poplar Bluff instead. This helped Poplar Bluff and Butler County to grow and left Doniphan and Ripley County impoverished. To this day Ripley County is one of Missouri’s poorest counties. I wish I still had this interesting newspaper article in my possession.  I do know that you can do a Google search and find comments made on the Internet about the burning of Doniphan during the Civil War and the effects being felt even today due to Doniphan’s support of the Confederacy during the Civil War.

Rutland Library has an almost unlimited supply of Civil War material available for the faculty/staff, students and area patrons to use.  The Library has not only a large number of books in the “E” section of its general collection, it also has a special collection of Civil War books that is kept on the 2^nd floor known as the “McManus Collection on the Civil War,” which was donated to the college many years ago.  In it you can find many books dating back to the 1800s that are hard to find elsewhere. You can view a complete list of materials in the McManus Collection by going to the Rutland Library home page:  http://www.trcc.edu/arc/, then looking at the bottom of the left hand side of the page under “SPECIAL COLLECTIONS” and clicking on “MCMANUS CIVIL WAR.”   Because of their rarity, these materials are kept in a locked cabinet but can be made available on request.

If you missed the re-broadcast of the 11 hour Civil War series by Ken Burns on PBS last week, Rutland Library has it on both DVD and VHS. These may be checked out for seven days.  I have watched the entire series multiple times and can tell you from experience that this series is well produced and contains a wealth of information about the war and the people who fought in it and lived through it.  It recounts information, stories, and events that I had never heard of before about the Civil War. This series is not only educational but also very interesting and entertaining to watch. 

The study of the Civil War would make an excellent lifelong hobby for anyone of any age. During the observance of the 150^th anniversary of the Civil War, why not stop by Rutland Library, located on the campus of Three Rivers College in Poplar Bluff, and check out a book or two or borrow Ken Burns’ great documentary about the Civil War.

Stacey P. Ward

1.Select the cell in which you want the hyperlink inserted.

2.Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.

3.Click on the Hyperlink tool in the Links group. Excel displays the Insert Hyperlink dialog box.

4.The content of the cell you selected in step 1 shows up in the Text to Display box. You can change it if you want.

5.In the Address box specify the address for the page that will be loaded when the user clicks on your hyperlink. Typically this is a URL, but it can also be a file or resource on your system. You can also select an address from the drop-down list or use one of the Browse buttons (just to the right of the Look In drop-down list) to help locate the resource.

6.When completed, click on OK.

Friday, April 22  is Earth Day 2011.  This year’s Earth Day theme is “A Billion Acts of Green”.

Earth Day, for those of you who aren’t familiar with it, is the day where everyone is encouraged to plant a tree, pick up garbage along the roadsides, clean up parks, or otherwise do something to help save the planet.  The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970…..back in the days of flower-power and peace, love and rock-n-roll.

We have several resources here at the ARC to help you learn more about the “greening” of our world:

Books:

Green Jobs : working for people and the environment / Michael Renner, Sean Sweeney, Jill Kubit ; Lisa Mastny, editor.

Real change : from the world that fails to the world that works / Newt Gingrich with Vince Haley and Rick Tyler.

Vital signs 2011 : the trends that are shaping our future / World Watch Institute.

Population, climate change, and women’s lives / Robert Engelman ; Lisa Mastny, editor.

Global environmental change : the threat to human health / Samuel S. Myers ; Lisa Mastny and Robert Engelman, editors.

The global environment and world politics / Elizabeth R. DeSombre.

Veganist : lose weight, get healthy, change the world / Kathy Freston.

Databases:

GREENR (Global Reference on the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources)

Confronting Global Warming Databases

For more information on Earth Day 2011, you can go to Earth Day Network at the following link:  www.earthday.org/earth-day-2011

Write your name and class number clearly at the top of at least the first page, along with the assignment number, the section number(s), or the page number(s). If you are not stapling or paper-clipping the pages together, then put your name or initials on all the pages.

Attach your pages with a paper clip or staple. Do not fold, tear, or otherwise “dog-ear” the pages. It is better that the pages be handed in loose (with your name on each sheet) than that the corners be folded or shredded.

Clearly indicate the number of the exercise you are doing. If you accidentally do a problem out of order, or separate part of the problem from the rest, then include a note to the grader, referring the grader to the missed problem or work.

Write out the problems (except in the case of word problems, which are too long).

Do your work in pencil, with mistakes cleanly erased, not crossed or scratched out. If you work in ink, use “white-out” to correct mistakes.

Write legibly (suitably large and suitably dark); if the grader can’t read your answer, it’s wrong.

Write neatly across the page, with each succeeding problem below the preceding one, not off to the right. Please do not work in multiple columns down the page (like a newspaper); your page should contain only one column.

Do not squeeze the problems together, with one problem running into the next. Use sufficient space for each problem, with at least one blank line between one problem and the next.

Do “scratch work,” but do it on scratch paper; hand in only the “final draft.” Show your steps, but any work that is scribbled in the margins belongs on scratch paper, not on your homework.

Show your work. This means showing your steps, not just copying the question from the assignment, and then the answer from the back of the book. Show everything in between the question and the answer.

If the problem is of the “Explain” or “Write in your own words” type, then copying the answer from the back of the book, or the definition from the chapter, is unacceptable. Write the answer in your words, not the texts.

Remember to put your final answer at the end of your work, and mark it clearly by, for example, underlining it. Label your answer appropriately; if the question asks for measured units, make sure to put appropriate units on the answer. If the question is a word problem, the answer should be in words.

You should use your instructor or grader as a study aid, in addition to the text, study guides, study groups, and tutoring services. Your work is much easier to grade when you have made your work and reasoning clear, and any difficulties you have in completing the assignment can be better explained by the grader. More importantly, however, completely worked and corrected homework exercises make excellent study guides for the Final. Also, if you develop good habits while working on the homework, you will generally perform better on the tests.

In summary, schools today have made the development of essential skills, the provision of significant and meaningful learning experiences, and the development of the workforce some of its primary goals for student success. As such, they want their instructors to guide the students toward a higher level of confidence and competence. In math, that translates into a greater need for clarity in mathematical writing. The intention on these “Homework Guidelines” is that you and your instructor communicate better, and that you succeed both in your present mathematics courses and in future mathematical communication with co-workers and clients.

Based on “Homework Guidelines”, http://www.purplemath.com/guidline.htm
Copyright © 1990-2011 Elizabeth Stapel, Used By Permission