Learning Resources

Abstract: Book review: Bonfire of the Humanities: Television, Subliteracy, and Long-Term Memory Loss, by David Marc, Syracuse University Press, 1995. 158 pages. ISBN 0-8156-0321-5.

Abstract: Maintains that the multifaceted missions of community colleges are increasingly under pressure to take on an additional primary mission: helping to rebuild their communities. In time, community colleges may evolve into something more like community service centers – an evolution already well underway at many institutions. In particular, three broad categories of initiatives undertake by the typical community college are explored: community-based education, collaborations with other local institutions; and community services. To address the expanding needs of their neighborhoods, community college may need to become more research-oriented, and increasingly take on the role of community facilitator as well as educator.

Abstract: Although his reputation for park design is perhaps greater, Frederick Law Olmstead left an indelible mark on campus design and the way we think about campus land use planning. The author outlines five of Olmstead’s basic principles for good design that are still employed today: the campus is an extension of the community in which it exists; buildings should be domestic, not institutional, in scale; student dwellings should approximate those they will inhabit in later life; the quadrangle is too inflexible a design; and the physical campus helps to shape the "tastes, inclinations, and habits" of the students.

Abstract: Book Review: Campus Architecture: Building in the Groves of Academe, by Richard Dober. Mcgraw-Hill, 1996. 254 pages. ISBN 0-07-017185-6

Abstract: Book review: The Details of Modern Architecture, Vol 2: 1928-1988, by Edward Ford, MIT Press, 1996. 440 Pages. ISBN 0-262-06185-6.

Abstract: Private colleges and universities increasingly are being asked to shoulder their share of municipal and regional tax burdens, thereby ending their age-old tax exempt status. In particular, the author cites four strategies used to pressure institutions into making tax payments: taxing only on property used for auxilliary or non-educational purposes; denying exemptions for leased property; redefining what kinds of institutions qualify for tax-exempt status; and demanding annual gifts of money or service in lieu of taxes. Advocates planning for the growing likelihood that an institution’s tax-exempt privileges will eventually be challenged.

Abstract: Book review: Discovering Design: Exploration in Design Studies, edited by Richard Buchanan and Victor Margolin. University of Chicago Press, 1995. 252 pages. ISBN 0-226-07815-9

Abstract: Book review: Studies in Tectonic Culture: The Poetics of COnsturction in the Nineteenth and twentieth Century, by Kenneth Framton. MIT Press, 1995. 411 pages. ISBN 0-262-06173-2.

Abstract: Book Review: Prescribing the LIfe of the Mind: An Easy on the Purpose of the University, the Aims of Liberal Education, the Competence of CItizens, adn the Cultivation of Pracitcal Reason, by Charles Anderson. University of Wisconsin press, 1996. 173 pages. ISBN 0-299-138-348.

Abstract: Discusses the advent of two-way compressed video, which, unlike radio, film, or cable television, permits bidirectional communication between isolated or geographically separate institutions. Advantages to two-way compressed video include greater connectivity and reasonable cost. Offers suggestions for guiding institutions through the implementation of interactive video connections and planning for eventual system upgrades.