As baseball season opens today (go Mets!), here are the new rules and what they mean for the game.
Archive for March, 2023
Another New Neighbor for NJCU?
The revitalization of the city’s West Side continues as a 200-unit apartment complex has been proposed on Fisk Avenue. It went before the Planning Baord on March 21, and is in compliance with the Redevelopment Plan – West Side Avenue.
New Jersey Legislature: Special Meeting on Higher Education
This meeting, held on March 16, 2023, is the first of what may be three or four sessions examining the plight of smaller colleges in New Jersey as they face financial exigencies. NJCU’s interim president, Andy Acebo, testified, along with other education leaders. NJCU is not the only higher education institution in New Jersey experiencing problems – Bloomfield College, Rider University, and William Paterson University, among others, are also trying to cope with the myriad problems that have beset higher education in this state. But New Jersey is not an outlier, other states are also coming to grips with the decline in higher education enrollment (come here for the statistics).
Here is an article on the parlous state of higher education among some smaller colleges in New Jersey; another one as well.
The Proposed FY2024 New Jersey State Budget
Here is the entire budget. The numbers for New Jersey City University are on pages D-308 and D-327.
Open Access, Scholarly Books on Women
Hundreds of peer-reviewed titles, many from highly-regarded academic presses, are available online at Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB). Another worthy site is OAPEN that has numerous monographs on women as well, ranging from literary theory to sociology.
Regulatory Agencies for the Financial Sector
With the recent collapse of several banks,this series of CRS reports on the financial services sector provides an overview to this complex question of regulatory oversight. These briefings explore the banking, insurance, and securities markets providing definitions of terms, the regulators for each sector, and the assets associated with each group.
Open Access Feminist Journals
Here is a good collection of them, covering disparate disciplines and interests.
News Coverage of March 13 Rally for NJCU Funding
The story and over fifty photographs are here; additional reportage is also accessible.
Read the 2022 Nebula Finalists for Short Fiction
For novelette:
“If You Find Yourself Speaking to God, Address God with the Informal You“, John Chu (Uncanny 7-8/22)
“Two Hands, Wrapped in Gold“, S.B. Divya (Uncanny 5-6/22)
“Murder by Pixel: Crime and Responsibility in the Digital Darkness“, S.L. Huang (Clarkesworld 12/22)
“A Dream of Electric Mothers”, Wole Talabi (Africa Risen) (As of this writing,, not freely available)
“The Prince of Salt and the Ocean’s Bargain“, Natalia Theodoridou (Uncanny 9/22)
“We Built This City“, Marie Vibbert (Clarkesworld 6/22)
For short story:
“Destiny Delayed“, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (Asimov’s 5-6/22)
“Give Me English”, Ai Jiang (F&SF 5-6/22) (As of this writing, not freely available)
“Rabbit Test”, Samantha Mills (Uncanny 11-12/22)
“Douen”, Suzan Palumbo (The Dark 3/22)
“Dick Pig”, Ian Muneshwar (Nightmare 1/22)
“D.I.Y”, John Wiswell (Tor.com 8/24/22)
Online Primary Sources: Women’s History Collections
Discovering American Women’s History Online is a portal to hundreds of digital collections emphasizing the role of women in the United States. From slave narratives to the Emma Golden Papers, this site is an excellent place to start doing research.
Academy Award Acceptance Speeches
More than 1500 speeches can be accessed at the Academy Awards Acceptance Speeches Database; in some cases a video clip of the speech is included. You can conduct various searches: by keyword, date, award winner, and film title. Read and listen to John Wayne’s brief but heartfelt speech as well as Sally Field’s speech, and read/listen to the numerous acceptances when The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King garnered multiple statues.
Documents in the News: Annual Global Threat Assessment Released
Here are both the Congressional hearing and the unclassified report: U.S. Intelligence Directors Testify on Global Threats (Senate Intelligence Committee, courtesy of C-SPAN); and Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community (DNI).
Weather Nerds, Rejoice!
I count myself in this group. If, when you are watching the Weather Channel, you encounter a word or phrase you are not familiar with, then peruse the Glossary of Meteorology produced by the American Meteorological Society; it contains thousands of definitions enhanced by graphics, links, and references to open full text material.
As if that is not enough, the AMS also offers free access to the following: its annual review, State of the Climate; numerous open articles from its Journals Online feature; entry into its Special Collections site that focuses on thematic topics; and the ability to read other publications as outlined here.
2023/24 New Jersey School District Funding
Come here to find the proposed school funding for each district in the state. Jersey City would lose $51M or almost 28% of its funding.
Documents in the News: National Cybersecurity Strategy
The White House has just issued the National Cybersecurity Strategy that is divided into five “pillars”, each of which contains strategic objectives to be fulfilled. The document emphasizes the role of the Federal government in defining and implementing the various steps and procedures necessary to protect all the “small” players from intrusive harm.
Individual school systems and utility operators do not possess the personnel or resources to construct adequate safeguards in the cyber world, this is where the vast expertise of the government comes into play. In collaboration with local actors, the government will foster an environment in which all sectors, large and small, benefit from robust development and deployment of assets.
Facts and Figures on Women in the United States
Various statistics; i.e. employment, educational attainment, etc. have been culled from the U.S. Bureau of the Census. Links to additional resources are provided.
National Security Reports – February 2023 Update
Lightweight Cryptography (NIST); 1st EEAS Report on Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference Threats (EU); Pandemic Origins (GAO); National Firearms Commerce and Trafficking Assessment (NFCTA): Crime Guns – Volume Two (ATF); Political Declaration on Responsible Military Use of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy (Bureau of Arms Control, Department of State); Top Risks in Cybersecurity 2023 (Bipartisan Policy Institute); and Economic and National Security Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic Through 2026 (April 2022; declassified February 3, 2023; DNI).
Electric Grid Physical Security: Recent Developments; Congress and Police Reform: Recent Proposals; Congress and Police Reform: Current Law; Rules and Statutes Relevant to Safeguarding Classified Materials; The Protection of Classified Information: The Legal Framework; U.S.-China Strategic Competition in South and East China Seas: Background and Issues for Congress (major update, February 8, 2023); Al Shabaab; Russia’s War in Ukraine: Military and Intelligence Aspects (updated February 13, 2023); Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program; Russia’s 2022 Invasion of Ukraine: Related CRS Products; and Hate Crimes: Key Federal Statutes (all CRS).
Nineteenth-Century Black Poetry
“Periodical Poets is a digital humanities project containing over 500 poems printed in New York-based, nineteenth-century periodicals run by Black editors. In doing so, it reflects on literary trends, nineteenth-century reading practices, and the role of poetry in abolition and protest.” Presently, it contains over seven hundred poems that can be searched by collection (by the publication they appeared in), by individual item, or by “creator“. A very useful resource list adds to the usefulness of this site.
Congressman Frank J. Guarini Library Blog 