From Clement C. Maxwell Library...

Hello!

We invite you to explore Maxwell Library! Need a fast connection to the Internet? Need to write your next research paper? Need to meet a friend? Need to work on a project with your classmates? Need to find peer-reviewed articles? Need a quiet place to read and think? Need a book, DVD, newspaper, image, CD, or sound clip? You can find everything you need here! If not, ask us. We are here to help you be successful. As we like to say: Get smart at the Max! Come on in!

Enter the Library’s raffle on Opening Day only! This is your only chance to win some sweet prizes! Your name may be drawn for a BSC hoodie or a stuffed BSC bear or a BSC day planner and notebook. You have to enter to win! (Only one entry per person. Prize winners will be contacted via their BSC email account.)

From Urban Institute

Abstract

Up-to-date state information on children of immigrants is essential for social policies that affect children and families. This brief, accompanying the Urban Institute's interactive Children of Immigrants Data Tool, describes the national and state characteristics of children of immigrants based on recent American Community Survey data. Since children of immigrants account for almost a quarter (24 percent) of children under age 5, their share in the school-age population will increase, with important implications for education policy. In addition, children of immigrants' poverty and low-income rates vary across states, highlighting the importance of state and local policies in promoting children's well-being.

Also visit th interactive Children of Immigrants Data Tool for comprehensive information on the characteristics of children of immigrants nationwide and for individual states and the District of Columbia.

Full Article

From Copenhagen Consensus Center

Climate engineering could offer an extremely cheap, fast solution to climate change, according to this comprehensive analysis of its costs and benefits.

An Analysis of Climate Engineering as a Response to Climate Change by Eric J Bickel and Lee Lane shows that we might be able to cancel out this century’s global warming by spending no more than $9 billion, and that climate engineering might be able to achieve as much for the planet as carbon cuts at a fraction of the cost.

Three methods of solar radiation management are explored in this research. Solar radiation management involves bouncing sunlight back into space, to avoid warming.

The authors look at stratospheric aerosol insertion (launching material like sulfur dioxide or soot into the stratosphere to mimic the effects of volcanoes, which create a hazy layer scattering and absorbing sunlight); marine cloud whitening (spraying seawater droplets into marine clouds to make them reflect more sunlight); and the deployment of a space-based sunshade (launching many tiny transparent screens into space that would focus a small amount of the sun’s light away from Earth).

Full Article (PDF; 3.7 MB)

Apply Today!
Check out available opportunities on Connect and Serve.

Commonwealth Corps is the first statewide initiative to engage Massachusetts residents of all ages and backgrounds in service to their community. Since the program’s launch in 2008, over 270 Corps members aged 18-82 helped students improve grades, reduced hunger, educated elders about services and answered calls of distress. 33 partner organizations are recruiting to fill their Commonwealth Corps member positions for the upcoming 2009-2010 service year that will begin in September.

Please help us spread the word about Commonwealth Corps opportunities and encourage members of your community to consider this service opportunity! Please share the attached flyer with your library community.

Residents can view Corps opportunities listed by host organizations throughout the Commonwealth from Holyoke to Roxbury, the Cape to Worcester, Revere to New Bedford, and dozens of communities in between by visiting Connect and Serve, the statewide volunteer web portal. Corps members serve up to twelve months in full-time, part –time or flex-time capacities and receive a stipend.

If you would like more information, please contact me or Cynthia Orellana at 617-725-4036 or via email at Commonwealth.Corps@state.ma.us.

We will have a series of five events this fall where local entrepreneurs, business professionals and BSC students, faculty and staff can learn business fundamentals while networking with their peers. Our Launch Event will take place on Tuesday, 9/22 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. in the Small Conference Room at the Rondileau Campus Center at BSC. Our featured speaker for this networking event will be Jack VercolloneBSC Alumni and founder of Verc Rentals, . This event will provide a stress-free environment for you to network with your peers and the BSC community while hearing about other CES events scheduled for the fall. Come out and network with us, while enjoying a cash bar and appetizers. Cost for this event is $5 if you register in advance; $10 at the door. To register or to find out more, go to www.bridgew.edu/ces or email ces@bridgew.edu.

By JOHN MARKOFF
The New York Times, July 21, 2009

A group of computer scientists at the University of Washington has developed a way to make electronic messages ''self destruct'' after a certain period of time, like messages in sand lost to the surf. The researchers said they think the new software, called Vanish, which requires encrypting messages, will be needed more and more as personal and business information is stored not on personal computers, but on centralized machines, or servers. In the term of the moment this is called cloud computing, and the cloud consists of the data -- including e-mail and Web-based documents and calendars -- stored on numerous servers.

The idea of developing technology to make digital data disappear after a specified period of time is not new. A number of services that perform this function exist on the World Wide Web, and some electronic devices like FLASH memory chips have added this capability for protecting stored data by automatically erasing it after a specified period of time.

The full article is available in the library's LexisNexis database.

The library now has access to the EBSCO Image Collection, a database of more than 100,000 licensed and public domain photographs, maps, and flags, with contemporary and historical coverage. These images are not tied to specific articles. In addition, when searching in many EBSCO databases you can limit your searches using Image Quick View which provides thumbnails of photographs, maps, charts, diagrams and illustrations included in the content of the articles in the specific database.

By Peter Grier and Mark Clayton
Christian Science Monitor, July 3, 2009

John Waters is leaning against a vehicle that looks like a delivery van as imagined by Pixar Animation. The IDEA - that's its name - is blocky, yet curved, with wheel skirts and a little upswoop at the back that adds attitude. You can almost hear it speaking in a chirpy cartoon voice.

Inside IDEA's silver sheet metal is plug-in hybrid technology that will power it an estimated 100 miles on a gallon of gas. If Mr. Waters has his way, thousands of these cuddly vans will soon be double-parked all across America, blocking travel lanes while their drivers wait for someone - anyone! - to sign for these darn packages, please.

Years ago Waters worked on General Motors' legendary EV1 electric car program. Now he's president and CEO of Bright Automotive, an Anderson, Ind., start-up that's recruited many EV1 veterans to help develop a new generation of hybrid trucks and cars.

"It's the wealth of experience of our people that will make this work," he says.

The full article is available in the Library's LexisNexis database.

By HENRY FOUNTAIN
The New York Times, July 7, 2009

To truly appreciate how glass can be used structurally, make your way to 233 South Wacker Drive in downtown Chicago. More precisely, make your way 1,353 feet aboveSouth Wacker, to the 103rd floor of the Sears Tower.

Once there, take a few steps over to the west wall, where the facade has been cut away. Then take one more step, over the edge.

You'll find yourself on a floor of glass, suspended over the sidewalk a quarter-mile below. If you can't bear looking straight down past your feet, shift your gaze out or up -- the walls are glass, too, as is the ceiling. You've stepped into a transparent box, one of four that jut four and a half feet from the tower, hanging from cantilevered steel beams above your head. The glass walls are connected to the beams, and to the glass floor, with stainless-steel bolts. But what's really saving you from oblivion is the glass itself.

The full article is available in the library's LexisNexis database.

by Harlan Cohen
Sourcebooks, 2009

The #1 Student Handbook; Updated 3rd Edition

In college, there's a surprise around every corner…But that doesn't mean you can't be prepared!
In The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into in College, best-selling author, syndicated columnist and professional speaker Harlan Cohen provides a behind-the-scenes look at everything students need to know about college (but never knew they needed to know).

Completely revised and updated, this essential guide used by hundreds of thousands of students is packed with expert advice on everything from managing money to managing stress—plus hilarious, outrageous, and telling stories from students on over 100 college campuses.

The August eBook of the Month is provided through the generous support of Sourcebooks, Inc.. This ebook will be available with free, unlimited access August 1-31, 2009. You can go the Library's NetLibrary web site to read this book online. (If the link doesn't work, please use the refresh button to reload the page.)