Colleges and Universities Books

Having this guidebook is like having a best friend at UW to tell you first-hand all the goods and bads of being a Husky. I recommend this book to prospective students as well as current UW students, the list of bars and restaurants is great when you're looking for something to do on a Friday night. If you really want to know how youll do as a Husky, this book is your bible.

Anyone looking for insight into University of Washington should definitely check out this book. It's got everything you want to know and more. Besides that, it's well written from a student's perspective and dare I say it, fun to read. I like the student quotes sections and the bar/restaurant guide. But, no worries, it's got great info on everything academic and etc. Buy the book!

Imagine the world without Einstein's intellectual pursuits. Imagine, too, an advanced post-industrial society without a rigorously educated middle-class. Imagine the end of the United States as a global power. Now connect the cornucopia of these images.

Markets are not the gods of serious intellectual pursuits, a point that Christopher Newfield implies so well in his sophisticated analysis of how public higher education has been victimized by a culture wars' discourse promulgated by political coalitions steeped in the stagnation of conservative paternalism. In brief, the U.S. public has been cheated out of the best possibilities of public higher education as public universities have deteriorated financially over the last four decades. No amount of economic jingoism or political manipulation can nullify the preponderance of empirical evidence Newfield amasses in support of his contentions. Worse yet, policymakers have abandoned a robust vision of postsecondary education as a collective good. Increasingly, the parasitic norms of privatization and commercialization drive intellectual decisions.

Arguably, until this saturated generation of mass media and commodity consumption, the very best public achievements of Western civilization have been based on the genius of free inquiry (even more so than free enterprise). University faculty members have, for the most part, devoted themselves to research rigorous enough to expose ludicrous ideologies, materialistic fantasies, pedantic indulgences, and bogus evidence. For the great qualitative aspects of collective human existence, market ideology has too often been short-sighted and insufficient. To witness, the persistent intergenerational scourges of disease, idiocy, racism, sexism, and poverty could not have been challenged effectively without even relatively modest advances in expertise or knowledge.

One great reason the powerful ship Titanic sank was a failure of leadership and critical thinking. Leaders ignored the signs of the times and plunged many innocent lives into ruin and devastation. As in the Titanic story, naïve political leaders and popular social conformity to trivial mythologies can gradually plunge great nations into the abyss of ignorant demise. As noted philosopher, Randall R. Curren establishes in his poignant book entitled Aristotle on the Necessity of Public Education, authentic democracy depends on critical thinking in order to escape the tyranny of the majority as well as the barbarism of ignorance. Slothful, mediocre, and superficial thinking ruins civilization. Newfield shows how such shoddy thinking has imperiled the treasures of public higher education, before suggesting how this situation can be refuted and transformed for the collective good of future generations. Public higher education matters.

What a delight, after several years of dull, self-important books on the state of academia, to receive another clearly thought through book from Chris Newfield. As usual his research is not only well documented, but widely drawn. His curiosity lends each example the quality of a good story--we want to follow and learn more and see where it all comes out.
His sense of Americana, all of the beliefs, myths, and dreams enlivening the hopes of the middle-class, provide a compelling context for the arguments of the book. We begin to care what happens in all these committee rooms and budget conferences and administrative policy-taking. He takes us along to see through the myriad details into the resolute engine driving the decision-making. And he does this as a traveling companion, not as a didact.
Newfield also lays a foundation for a re-making of the university, after the relentless unmaking, not in the usual fix-it mode, but in providing a comprehensive understanding of the problems and how they arise. Rather than finger shaking he directs a focused intelligence on the myriad causes, missteps, and politizations, which turned the university from its committed path into unexpected territory.
Probably the main reason to read this book is that it is actually a great read. A non-academic friend picked Unmaking the Public University off my desk, read a few pages and asked to borrow it. When asked why, she said she found the style compelling.
The other important reason is that we begin to understand what has happened to public education and thus what can facilitate reincarnation.
Deirdre C. Patrick
Palo Alto

Because there are no standardized admissions requirements for veterinary schools in the US, this was an incredibly useful tool for me during my admissions cycle. Even though I had the time to mine individual schools for their information and plug it into a spreadsheet, I still found info. in this book that I had missed. Combine the opportunity cost of one's time, and it's well worth the cost.

Must have if you are planning to apply for vet school.

In this inspiring book author, John Hansen, chronicles the struggles that the Rev. William Tennent faced when trying to live out the call of God on his life. He pastored a Presbyterian congregation in Bucks County, PA and built a log cabin school for the training of ministers. Tennent knew what it was like to face rejection and criticism. His colleagues laughed and scoffed at his "Log College." Several of his parishoners tried to have him removed as pastor of the church. Despite all of his trials he never gave up his vision to train revivalist ministers to spread the gospel. Jesus said that unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies it remains alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit. The fruit of his labor was not realized until after his death. His log cabin school gave birth to 63 colleges and universities. The life of William Tennent has much to teach anyone who is struggling to carry out God's vision for their life in the midst much adversity. William Tennent never gave up and neither should we.

My wife read this book before me and commented how amazing this book is. It is not just history and a testamony of a man who shaped history, but it is full of valuable lesson which inspire and can be applied in our lives today. I personally am not such a great friend of reading history, but I highly recommend this book. It is amazing how much I have learned from this book.

If you've ever wondered what C-town was like before you got there, this is the book for you.

This book has a huge collection of pictures that chronicle thehistory of Clemson University. It is a must have for any Clemsonfanatic or those who truly enjoy learning about the old days at Clemson.

One of the finest books on football, and a turbulent era in American history, to come along in years. Like a great novelist, Michael Rosenberg deftly weaves together multiple stories and complex characters, while making all of the original connections and conclusions of a fine historian.

Michael Rosenberg did a superb job illuminating the larger than life personalities of coaches Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler. How do I know Rosenberg did a superb job? I know nothing about football except that two teams, wearing two different uniforms come together on a large field. Yes, I am a woman almost totally ignorant of testosterone-soaked sports. Yet I have to admit I was completely enthralled by "War." My family is from Ohio and though my husband isn't, he attended OSU during Woody's early era. So, I had some familiarity with the Ohio coach and wanted to learn more about him. Though the author is grounded in Michigan, I never felt that he treated one rival at the expense of the other. Rosenberg was completely fair and even-handed in his appraisal of the two men.

Those in the know about football (which is probably almost everyone else in the world), will enjoy the specifics of the plays. Though I could not because of my lack of experience, I will confess I raced to the end of the description to find out how the games turned out. What made the book compelling to me, though, was how the author reveals the depth of character of the two coaches. Through thoroughly researched primary sources, Rosenberg authentically sets each scene. The reader comes to know the two coaches as if one had known them firsthand. And, in doing so, one both loves and loathes them at the same time. At times I found I wanted to grab them by the neck, shake them and discipline them like children. But then I had to remind myself that the very quality I was reacting to was what made them the competitive fighting animals they were. And how they played off each other. Their antipathy compounded at the same time by their respect for and understanding of each other, was exquisite. Place all of this in the context of the tumultuous times of the 60's and 70's and you're in for a great ride. I especially loved learning about Don Canham, an ancillary character, whose luck, pluck and instinct, propelled him to success.

I highly recommend this book to people interested in sports, in football, in life. How Hayes and Schembechler chose to live their lives in their time in history has relevance for us today. If we could take away with us, the best of them, we would not do poorly.

I'm a W & L student, and all I can say is that this book is virtually flawless. It tells you what the school is really like, not what the administration tells you it is like. This book can really help you decide whether or not this college is right for you. It would also be helpful for any incoming freshman; the book contains a good bit of W & L slang that could be very useful in a student's first few weeks. If you're thinking of coming to Washington and Lee, BUY this book. For W & L I YELL LIKE HELL!!

This book is the first college guide book I've seen that has kept me interested as I read it. Not only was it a fun read and I found myself laughing at certain things, but the information is really insightful. It was a welcome change to get some perspective on the school from a student who goes there and isn't afraid to tell it like it is. I really believe anyone looking at this school will get something relevant out of the book. How could you not?!

I wasn't sure about Washington University before reading this book but now I think I know it much better. I'm happy to have found such a well written guide on this college. What really impressed me was the detail of information given and the fact that it was written by a student. I think anyone looking at this university should get this book. You won't be disappointed!

In the last ten years Washington University in St. Louis has grown into one of the country's premiere liberal arts colleges, drawing more and more prospective students to the midwest for a look.

This College Prowler guide is the ultimate companion to a visit to St. Louis. The book's 29 chapters give you hundreds of uncensored student opinions on topics including the best and worst campus food, Greek life, campus dating, the best dorms, the intramural sport scene, and which professors to avoid at all costs.

Prospective students can pick up some Wash U slang, read about how to dress for the horrible St. Louis winters, discover the quirky stores on South Grand Blvd., or read up on campus traditions like Thurtene and WILD. Learn what frat parties are like, the prevalance of student drug use, and even track fashion trends on campus. Above all you'll find out the best and worst things about living and studying at Washington University.

You're about to pick a place to spend the next four years of your life. This College Prowler guide helps you make the right decision by giving you the opinions of those who know the school best -- real Washington University undergrads. Written by students for prospective students, it's an honest and essential aid in making your big decision.

You'll also find in the guide a wealth of information about things to do in St. Louis and at Washington University, so if you decide to attend, you'll already have a head start on diving into the clubs, arts, sports, business, and social life of the area.

Please feel free to contact me, the book's author, at dan.carlin@gmail.com

I've long been a fan of David Swanger's work. I love how the straightforward simplicity of his poems' language and structures releases nuanced emotion. His maturity, as a poet and as a person, results in poems that shimmer with the mysteries of "the big questions," while cloaked in the most ordinary and intimate of interactions.

While thinking about this review, it occurred to me that "Wayne's College of Beauty" can be viewed, in part, as a modern man's journey through the "Seven Stages of Life." Some of the poems reach back to when his children were young, such as "My Daughter's Morning," "her sparkle is as the edge of new/ice on leafed pools, while I/am soggy, tepid; old toast." (This poem, as well as "Patriarch of the Lake," has been featured by Garrison Keillor on "Writer's Almanac.") In "Longer," a teenage daughter struggles with her questions about death as she talks with her father in the middle of the night. "The girl/glistens, a rosy dolphin riding/swells of seamless youth and health,/yet she worries.../If sleep has an opposite, it is/not waking, but the imagination." At the other end of the scale are poems that capture, with equal honesty and perception, the confusion, loss, and tender sweetness of a parent aging. I think of my own mother as I read "The Lessons": "Fathers diminish like fallen snow."

And then there is the voice of "something else" (knowledge? experience? imagination?) present in the very last poem of the book, "What the Wing Says," perhaps Swanger's greatest, and most mysterious. How simply it appears to speak: "Dismiss the grocer of your soul./Nothing important can be weighed." But how far it wants to take us -- I almost said "unimaginably" far, but that's the opposite of what the poem is asking. "Does the future move in only one direction?/Think how roots find their way, how hair spreads/on the pillow, how watercolors give birth to light./Think how dangerous I am, because of what I offer you."

David Swanger may be formally retired from teaching, but his lessons keep coming every time we open his books.

Here is a poet who has not received the acclaim he so deserves. Yes he has some respectable awards... he is, afterall, a professor Emeritus at UCSC ...and a Harvard grad; but why hasnt the poetic community realized his genius and bestowed more honors upon this man; especially when reading this book... I suppose its true that many great poets arent discovered until they die... but if you want to catch him in life... I suggest you read this NOW. Swanger's poems are a gift to us; embrace that gift.

This is a fantastic book about Huskies football history. I am a big husky fan and I learned a ton about former players from Greg's book. It gave a lot of really neat insight into their opinions of the program and their personal experiences. This is a MUST READ for any Washington Huskies fan! Thanks for writing a great book, Greg !!!

If you are a bonafide Husky football fan, you must read this book. Tells the players inner thoughts and what motivated them. His players are unanimous in describing Coach Don James as a man of integrity, loyalty and are proud to be part of his legacy.
K. Wong, M.D.