UWSP Libraries

The New New Deal: the Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era By Michael Grunwald   Call Number:  E 907 .G78 2012 Review from The Economist Publisher's Description : In a riveting account based on new documents and interviews with more than 400 sources on both sides of the aisle, award-winning reporter Michael Grunwald reveals the vivid story behind President Obama’s $800 billion stimulus bill, one of the most important and least understood pieces of legislation in the history of the country. Grunwald’s meticulous reporting shows how the stimulus, though reviled on the right and the left, helped prevent a depression while jump-starting the president’s agenda for lasting change. As ambitious and far-reaching as FDR’s New Deal, the Recovery Act is a down payment on the nation’s economic and environmental future, the purest distillation of change in the Obama era. The stimulus has launched a transition to a clean-energy economy, doubled our renewable power, and financed...

On a Farther Shore:  the Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson By William Souder Call Number:  QH 31 .C33 S68 2012 Currently on the New book shelf in the library lobby New York Times Book Review Publisher's Description : Published on the fiftieth anniversary of her seminal book, Silent Spring , here is an indelible new portrait of Rachel Carson, founder of the environmental movement   She loved the ocean and wrote three books about its mysteries, including the international bestseller The Sea Around Us . But it was with her fourth book, Silent Spring , that this unassuming biologist transformed our relationship with the natural world. Rachel Carson began work on Silent Spring in the late 1950s, when a dizzying array of synthetic pesticides had come into use. Leading this chemical onslaught was the insecticide DDT, whose inventor had won a Nobel Prize for its discovery. Effective against crop pests as well as insects that transmitted human diseases such as typh...

John Blakeman , Associate Professor and Chair of the Political Science Dept., has recently published The Supreme Court and the New Federalism: From the Rehnquist to the Roberts Court ( Rowman & Littlefield , 2012) with his colleague Chris Banks of Kent State University. Prof. Blakeman’s research focuses on constitutional law, religion and politics, and federalism. He has also authored The Bible in the Park: Federal District Courts, Religious Speech and the Public Forum (Akron, 2005), and was the co-editor of The American Constitutional Experience (Kendall Hunt, 3rd ed, 2012). Prof. Blakeman grew up in southeastern Kentucky in the heart of Appalachia. While he's lost his hillbilly twang, he retains his Alvin York outlook on life. Prof. Blakeman loves to fish and from time to time tries to advise and coach the UWSP Men's Rugby Club . He's a former rugby player himself​ , having played for Wake Forest Univ., Univ. of Glasgow, Hampstead (North London), and the infamous...

The University Library has had a number of interested spectators of the popular Zeppelin display located in the Lobby. The Zeppelin airship display includes materials from various sources and formats, including videos, old books, photos, magazines, and pamphlets. Many of the items in the display are from the collection of Rudolf Schmetzke, the father of Axel Schmetzke. Axel is a librarian at the University Library and is the Coordinator of Instruction.   Rudolf Schmetzke was born in Berlin in 1907 and was the son of a merchant. Fascinated by the emerging aviation technologies, he enthusiastically took to the air himself -- first in balloons, later in gliders, and finally in small engine-powered planes. He studied business and actuary science, and he worked in the insurance industry until WW II broke out. Drafted into the German air force (Luftwaffe), he spent six years in logistics, planning and setting up air fields in German occupied territories. After the war, ...

What the Robin Knows: how birds reveal the secrets of the natural world By Jon Young Call Number: QL 698.5 Y68 2012 (Currently on the New Book Shelf in the lobby) Publisher's Description :  A lifelong birder, tracker, and naturalist, Jon Young is guided in his work and teaching by three basic premises: the robin, junco, and other songbirds know everything important about their environment, be it backyard or forest; by tuning in to their vocalizations and behavior, we can acquire much of this wisdom for our own pleasure and benefit; and the birds' companion calls and warning alarms are just as important as their songs. Birds are the sentries—and our key to understanding the world beyond our front door. Unwitting humans create a zone of disturbance that scatters the wildlife. Respectful humans who heed the birds acquire an awareness that radically changes the dynamic. We are welcome in their habitat. The birds don't fly away. The larger animals don't ...

Did you know the UW Digital Collections includes published and archival materials on the history of UWSP ? The UWSP University Library Archives has also digitized past yearbooks and the UWSP Pointer student newspaper going back to 1895. Check it out here... The collection eventually will include additional books, manuscripts, sound recordings, photographs, maps and other resources deemed important to the study of our state's university system and its campuses. The materials included in this rich and growing collection were selected by librarians, scholars, and other subject specialists.