Departments Books

Murray Sperber shows the scandalous financial side to NCAA college sports in this well-crafted book. It's hardly news that college sports are corrupt - amateurism is and probably always was un-workable. What is news, however, is that most colleges lose money from their athletic programs. Readers see that while football and basketball might attract revenue, they seldom offset the losses from "non-revenue" sports like gymnastics, tennis, swimming, track, etc. Also, winning sports teams fail to increase academic donations to host colleges - alumni don't like their schools having "jock" reputations. The author shows how colleges abuse Pell and minority grants to benefit athletics, and how these institutions force students (or their parents) to pay hefty "activities fees" along with tuition to bail out the athletic department

Like most appeals to reform NCAA sports, this book fell on deaf ears - we simply like the games too much. Still, this book should be of interest to educators and to students forced to pay outrageous activity fees at tuition time.

Good book simple to read with very clear diagrams of several common and not so common emergency room procedures

I picked this book up a few years ago from the author at a fire instructor class. I gave it a read and it was a pretty good book. I liked it because it was all true stories from NJ firefighters, mostly from northern NJ since the author is a Kearny firefighter. I guess firefighters from other areas would like it too. Id's say pick up a used copy here if you can since it seems to be out of print now. Some of the Emergency Services book stores still carry it I think.

This book has given me a better insight into plant pathology. I have found it to be one of the best books on the identification/classification of turfgrass infectious and non infectious diseases

Very nice book, with REALLY old pictures. It was complete, and answered virtually any question about canning. Would suggest this book to anyone who is interested in learning to can.

I read this when I was 10, and I still love this story now. Itreally put me in the Christmas mood. Unfortunately, it's very hard to find these days, but if you DO find it, it's definitely worth your time. :) :)

If you're interested in how real "coppers" used to tackle crime, Pre-Miranda, this is a fascinating read. A big-city detective (Lieutenant Detective Wayne Morgan) tells his tales of sleuthing in a definitely low-tech era, when even two-way radio contact with HQ and fellow investigators was unavailable, and detective work rested on footwork, brainwork...and more than a drop of "persuasion." Vintage photos are a huge plus, not to mention the story of Madeleine Baker, the first officially recognized woman homicide detective in the United States, who was hired by Lieut. Morgan.

Morgan gives a real sense of history of policework in the mid-third of the century, heightened by the fact that his father, Roy Morgan, was a veteran officer in the same Columbus, Ohio police force. There's a touching moment when Wayne "inherits" his father's badge, as Roy retires.

This book was adopted as a de facto sociology textbook at Ohio State University.

James L. Morgan, the detective's son, has also authored another textbook: Culinary Creation," a refreshing introduction to culinary studies, that, unlike so many other texts of that genre, emphasizes the import and influence of foods of many cultures...not just the familiar drone of the French/Continental perspective.

Published in 1990, this book functions as a dense introduction to the full span of Denver history -- from the town's beginnings as a provider of goods and services to miners leaving for the mountains, to its rise as a transportation and medical hub of the Plains, to its recent oil and high-tech booms. The book is thoughtful and intelligent (and basically the only solid semi-recent book I can find about Denver). The ten years since the book was published have seen immense change in Denver (economic revival, massive suburban growth), however, and the volume sorely needs a discussion of how the recent decade's events and growth have changed the metropolitan area.

I thought it was a wonderful resource - has current and original values & pictures of every SV piece to date, including this years!

This compiliation of 7 short stories features Colonel March, head of D-3, the department at Scotland Yard that deals with "queer complaints and queerer people." D-3 deals in strange incidents that may or may not be serious crimes, and often includes impossible murders.

The stories in this book include:

The New Invisible Man in which a man witnesses a disembodied hand fire a gun at a man in a brightly lit room in the building across the street. (4 stars)

The Footprint In The Sky in which the only snowy footprints going to and coming from the cottage of a woman attacked for her valuables were obviously made by a young woman who couldn't really have done the deed. (4 stars)

The Crime In Nobody's Room in which a man wakes up in a room similar to his and finds a body, but afterwards the room has disappeared. (3 stars)

Hot Money in which stolen loot is hidden in plain sight. (3 stars)

Death In The Dressing Room in which a dancer is slain and the most obvious suspects have perfect alibis. (3 stars)

The Silver Curtain in which a man is stabbed alone in a cul de sac with no one near him except one witness who couldn't have done it. (5 stars)

Error at Daybreak in which a man is seen to be killed alone out on a breakwater surrounded by ocean. (4 stars)

While some of the stories are familiar and Colonel March is not an indispensible character in any of them, they are quick to get through and important to Carr's fans.