Jim Minick to Speak on Campus October 1

Please join us at the Appalachian Center on Monday, October 1, 7:30 p.m., for a reading by noted regional naturalist writer Jim Minick, author of the book Finding a Clear Path (West Virginia University Press, 2005). Jim’s book intertwines literature, naturalist studies, and ecology as he explores the natural world of Southwest Virginia and takes the reader on numerous journeys through Appalachian landscapes and natural areas. We will have a reception following the reading, and signed copies of Finding a Clear Path will be available.

Congress in the Classroom - Press Release

This month marks the official debut of The Dirksen Congressional Center's new online version of Congress in the Classroom -- http://moodle.congressclass.org/ -- an award-winning course for teachers.

Do you teach social studies, American government, American history, or civics? Are your lessons about the U.S. Congress out of date? Is it hard to engage your students in learning about the House and Senate? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then Congress in the Classroom Online is the course for you!

Congress in the Classroom Online will help you understand today's Congress and suggest ways to teach about it. The self-paced online course is organized around the twin responsibilities of Congress members: representation and lawmaking. There are more than a dozen individual units on such topics as "What Makes for Effective Members of Congress?" "How Representative is the Membership of Congress?" and "Lawmaking: Understanding the Basics." All the information you need to complete the course is available with just a few mouse clicks.

This improved version of Congress in the Classroom Online uses a more interactive approach, featuring many options to engage you (and theinstructor) in the course materials.

We welcome your participation! Take a look -- http://moodle.congressclass.org.

Sincerely,

Cindy Koeppel
The Dirksen Congressional Center
2815 Broadway
Pekin, IL 61554

http://www.dirksencongressionalcenter.org

SAILS Story Time - October 1

The SAILS Story Time for October will be October 1 at 3:30 p.m. All ages are invited to join us as we read books about explorers, including Jean Marzollo's In 1492. As always there will be a craft for participants. The event is held in the periodicals reading area.

Needle and ThREAD

One More Stitch, a needlework shop in Morristown, has joined with Funk & Weber Designs' challenge to needlework shops throughout the country. The challenge to is to provide hand-stitched bookmarks for children. It's being called Needle and ThREAD: Stitching for Literacy. Bookmarks collected at One More Stitch will be donated to the Morristown Children's Library on November 12 for Children's Book Week. If you cross-stitch and would like to join in this great project, you can drop completed bookmarks off at One More Stitch or at our library by November 9. Our technical services librarian, Lori Thornton, will see that they get to One More Stitch on November 10.

Highlander Documentary Series at UT

The University of Tennessee Libraries is hosting a documentary series and exhibit to teach the university and local communities about the Highlander Research and Education Center, as it celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.

All programs in the Documentaries in the Libraries series are held on Tuesday evenings in the Hodges Library Lindsay Young Auditorium, from 7-9 pm. The programs feature a documentary film showing and discussion led by experts from Highlander, filmmakers, and UT faculty.
The exhibit, on display in Hodges Library outside the reference room, was designed by Sarah Lowe, associate professor of art, and Paul Chinetti, a senior in graphic design. The exhibit is a time line that highlights milestone events in the history of Highlander. It includes many photographs of Highlander students, including civil rights leaders Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks.

The Highlander Center was founded in 1932 to serve as an adult education center for community workers involved in social and economic justice movements. The goal of Highlander was, and is, to provide education and support to poor and working people fighting economic injustice, poverty, prejudice and environmental destruction.

The Highlander Center works internationally, but is located in New Market, Tennessee, 23 miles from Knoxville.

For a complete listing of upcoming films, see UT's posting. The next one is October 2.

Homeland Security Essay Contest

The Center for Homeland Defense and Security is pleased to announce:

The First Annual Homeland Security Essay Contest

What single aspect of Homeland Security has been most successful and what single aspect will be most critical to Homeland Security success?
This is the question many will attempt to answer in the first annual homeland security essay contest sponsored by the NPS Center for Homeland Defense and Security. The competition strives to stimulate original thought on issues in Homeland Security and Homeland Defense.

Your response may be general, or focus on a specific aspect (organizational, policy, strategy, practice, technological innovation, social impact, etc.) or discipline/field (such as emergency management, public health, law enforcement, critical infrastructure, or intelligence).

Essays should be no more than five pages, single-spaced and twelve-point type and in Word or PDF format. Entries must be submitted via the http://www.chds.us/ website. Deadline for submission: 02 January 2008.
CHDS reserves the right to publish all contest entries.

Essays will be evaluated based on the relevance and innovation of their ideas, the strength of argument and the sophistication of presentation.

Who may enter: The competition is open to anyone who is interested in the field of homeland security. Individuals associated with CHDS are not eligible.

Award: The winner will receive a $1500.00 cash award and an all-expense-paid trip to the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security in Monterey, California where they will be recognized. The winner and the four top finalists will have their essays published in a special edition of Homeland Security Affairs <http://www.hsaj.org/> , the official publication of the NPS Center for Homeland Defense and Security.

How to enter: Simply fill out the entry form
<https://www.chds.us/?contests/essay_entry> where you can upload your
submission.

Poet on Campus

Poetry Reading
All the way from North Philadelphia by way
of The University of Vermont
Come check out the urban literary mechanics of
Critically Acclaimed Poet
Major Jackson
7:00 p.m. Friday, September 21, 2007
Thomas Recital Hall
Carson-Newman Campus
Jefferson City, TN

“By a falling, Cyclone chain-
link fence, a black rush streaks
for netted hoops, & one alone
from a distance breaks

above the undulant pack, soars—
more a Sunday Skywalk,
he cups the ball, whirling his arm
swoops down a Tomahawk.” --from Hoops

Sponsored by Harambee, C-N English Department, Appalachian Steeple, and Concert Lecture Series
Free and open to the public!

Madeleine L'Engle

Many of us loved this author of A Wrinkle in Time who died September 6, but John at The Corner knew her in a different way. It's a great story and brought a tear or two to my eyes.