“Recently, the Education Department issued a controversial ‘blueprint’ for dealing with sexual harassment that could expose colleges that follow it to First Amendment lawsuits and redefine every flirtation and request to go out on a date as potential sexual harassment. It rejects decades of court rulings by declaring that any unwelcome speech or conduct of a sexual nature is harassment, even if it would not offend a reasonable person.

“By defining speech as reportable ‘sexual harassment’ even when it does not offend a reasonable person, the Education Department has cast a dark cloud over academic freedom and the ability to debate important issues about sexual morality, norms, and roles that may offend some listeners.” Read the full article in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

The Library provides access to The Chronicle of Higher Education to all USF faculty, staff, and students.

The Chronicle of Higher Education is the No. 1 source of news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty members and administrators. The Chronicle is a nine-time finalist for the National Magazine Awards, and one of its columnists was a finalist for a 2005 Pulitzer Prize. The Chronicle has also received honors from the Education Writers Association, the Society of News Design, the EPpy Awards, and the Webby Awards, among others. In 2007 The Chronicle was ranked in the 10 most credible news sources by Erdos & Morgan, a widely used survey of thought leaders in the United States. The Utne Reader that year named The Chronicle for “best political coverage” among independent newspapers.

James Gleick reports on “Wikipedia’s Women Problem” in the New York Review of Books:

There is consternation at Wikipedia over the discovery that hundreds of novelists who happen to be female were being systematically removed from the category “American novelists” and assigned to the category “American women novelists.” … The word that came to mind … was sexism. And who could disagree? Joyce Carol Oates expressed her view on Twitter: “Wikipedia bias an accurate reflection of universal bias. All (male) writers are writers; a (woman) writer is a woman writer.” Elaine Showalter tweeted in response that this was not what she’d had in mind in titling a book A Jury of Her Peers: American Women Writers: “Wikipedia is cutting down on American writers category by taking women out of it! A new step backwards.”

Read the full article from the New York Review of Books.  Gleeson Library provides free online access to all New York Review of Books articles from its beginnings in 1963 to the present to current USF students, staff, and faculty.

About the New York Review of Books: With a worldwide circulation of over 135,000, The New York Review of Books has established itself, in Esquire‘s words, as “the premier literary-intellectual magazine in the English language.” The New York Review began during the New York publishing strike of 1963, when its founding editors, Robert Silvers and Barbara Epstein, and their friends, decided to create a new kind of magazine—one in which the most interesting and qualified minds of our time would discuss current books and issues in depth. Just as importantly, it was determined that the Review should be an independent publication; it began life as an independent editorial voice and it remains independent today. Read more about the NYRB.

April was Sexual Assault Awareness Month, but sexual assault is something that is with us every single day.

During this past month, Gleeson Library participated in raising awareness, during a month-long, campus-wide series of events by featuring a display of tee shirts made by students USF, based on the work of the Clothesline Project, along with books and other materials on healing from sexual trauma and getting help, supporting victims, and rape prevention for men and women. The display has been taken down, but the conversation and awareness building continues.

If you have questions, concerns, or want to know more about sexual assault prevention and healing, please click here, or here.

In honor of National Poetry Month, the Gleeson Library is pleased to co-sponsor with Sigma Tau Delta an “Open Mic” poetry reading in the Donohue Rare Book Room on Tuesday, April 23rd from noon to 1:00 p.m. Students are encouraged to perform 2-3 minute readings of their original work. Do not miss this opportunity to celebrate poetry and honor student voices.

The program is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. All are welcome to attend. For further information, please call (415) 422-2036.

John Hawk
Head Librarian
Special Collections & University Archives

Justin Bieber currently has more than 37 million followers on twitter.

Unfortunately, according to Socialbakers, almost 16.7 million of those followers are fake or empty accounts and another 2.6 million accounts are inactive. Bieber’s 17.8 million “good” followers still make him the second-most popular Twitter user behind Lady Gaga who has 19 million real followers.

USF students, faculty and staff have access to this statistical chart, as well as a gazillion others covering thousands of topics. Visit Statista to find more.