Author: Troy Swanson

Yesterday was World Autism Day. I thought that I’d pass along this link to the autism lecture we held here in the MVCC library on Autism. The Autism Spectrum: The Gifts We Share featuring Barbara Tobias, October 31, 2007

I heard this NPR Story, Three Writings Feel the Lure of Comics, (you can listen to the story online) on the way to campus this morning. Here’s a quote: As comic books — or, in more highbrow parlance, graphic novelizations — nudge their way onto the shelves of bookstores and the pages of literary magazines,… Continue reading Graphic Novels: Not Just for Nerds Anymore

Intellectual, conservative activist, and media personality, William F. Buckely passed away on February 27th at age 82. This News Hour segment is a nice overview of this life and work, “Editor Reflects on Buckley’s Conservative Legacy”. Our library holds 12 books written by Buckely. You may want to check out these articles in Academic Search… Continue reading Remembering William F. Buckley

Today is February 29th, which is my Great-Aunt Elane’s birthday. Despite the fact that she is my grandmother’s sister, today is only the 18th or 19th time she has actually celebrated her birthday on her birthday, because she was born on February 29th, which only comes around every 4 years. Why do we do that?… Continue reading Happy Leap Day!

Over the last year, I have had several students come to the information desk in the library asking me to help them find information that shows that story from the US government about the terrorist attack on 9/11/01 was untrue and that, in actuality, there was some other conspiracy that explains this attack. As a… Continue reading Debunking 9/11 Myths

During Black History Month, the library has shown Eyes on the Prize, which is one of the most ground breaking documentaries ever made. Using great news footage and interviews, this documentary follows the Civil Rights movement. This PBS interview with narrator Julian Bond, NAACP Chairman Recalls Work on Civil Rights Documentary, discusses the 20 year… Continue reading 20 Years of Eyes on the Prize

As President Bush is visiting Africa, I thought that this NPR story might be worth sending along, The Challenge of Africa. Yesterday, Mr. Bush visited a memorial to the genocide in Rwanda, and he and Secretary of State Rice have commented on the genocide in Darfur. This NPR story is a sort of review of… Continue reading The Challenge of Africa

The library was happy to welcome human rights activist Simon Deng this past week who spoke about the crisis in Sudan. You can listen to the podcast of this event by clicking here. Here are a few resources that provide a larger context for Mr. Deng’s lecture. The News Hour on PBS broadcast this update… Continue reading Crisis in Sudan Resources

Merriam Webster has announced it’s 2007 Word of the Year: w00t. They define it as: w00t (interjection) expressing joy (it could be after a triumph, or for no reason at all); similar in use to the word “yay”

Yesterday marked the 20th Anniversary of the death of Chicago Mayor Harold Washington. Three resources to send along are “Harold” by Chicago Public Radio’s This American Life, the book Harold Washington and the neighborhoods: progressive city government in Chicago, 1983-1987 edited by Pierre Clavel and Wim Wiewel (available in the MVCC Library). the special November… Continue reading Harold Washington