Many big city school districts have been through difficult straits over the past several decades, and Chicago is no exception. After the passage of the Chicago School Reform Act, the Consortium on Chicago School Research (CCSR) was created in 1990 in order to study school reform efforts across the city. Part of their mission is "to expand communication among researchers, policy makers, and...

Everyone could use a bit of the Constitution added to their daily lives, and this website more than delivers on its promise to deliver "smart conversation about the Constitution". Constitution Daily is an experimental blog edited by the National Constitution Center (NCC) in Philadelphia, and commentary here can include conversations about student privacy rights, the Second Amendment, and the...

U.S. Withheld Data on Risks of Distracted Driving http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/technology/21distracted.html?hp Should cell phone use by drivers be illegal? http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2009/07/should-cell-phone-use-by-drivers-be-illegal.html Car cellphone ban likely this year http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10585951 Road Phone Bans...

Based in Yonkers, New York, Consumer Reports has been sticking up for the rights of consumers since 1936, when they started the Consumers Union and began publishing product reviews of such common-place items as breakfast cereals, soap, stockings, and hot water bottles. On this site, visitors can learn about the history of Consumer Reports, which includes a series of rather interesting test photos...

With this rather remarkable collection, the dedicated staff members at Harvard University Library's Open Collections Program have brought together Philadelphia's yellow fever epidemic of 1793, London's Great Plague of 1665, and six other notable epidemics from world history. The collection provides general background information on diseases and epidemics worldwide, and as previously suggested, is...

This compelling collection from the North Carolina State University Libraries Digital Collection group brings together materials related to the African-American experience at the university in the late 20th century. The collection contains 445 items including newsletters, informal posters, correspondence, and faculty notes among other things. Visitors can search the items by format, topic,...

Air Force to start operational testing of F-35 http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2011/07/defense-air-force-to-start-opeval-test-f35-071511/ F-35 Lightning II Program http://www.jsf.mil/ GAO: Joint Strike Fighter-Restructuring Places Program on Firmer Footing, but Progress Still Lags [pdf] http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11325.pdf United States Senate Armed Services...

Tainted Drywall http://www.propublica.org/topic/tainted-drywall/ Habitat for Humanity Remediates Homes With Toxic Chinese Drywall http://www.neworleans.com/news/local-news/561699.html CDC won't study effects of Chinese drywall exposure http://articles.cnn.com/2011-02-09/us/chinese.drywall.cdc_1_chinese-drywall-allison-grant-cdc?_s=PM:US Recalls.gov http://www.recalls.gov/ United...

"On the Road's" Bumpy Journey [Real Player] http://www.wbur.org/news/2007/68102_20070622.asp Jack Kerouac: From Lowell to Legend http://extras.lowellsun.com/kerouac/ C-SPAN: American Writers II, Jack Kerouac [Real Player] http://www.americanwriters.org/classroom/videolesson/clips35_kerouac.asp# NPR: Jack Kerouac's On the Road, Present at the Creation [Real...

Damien Hirst in plagiarism row - does it really matter? http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100912/ART/709119970 Art may yet imitate life with Lehman Brothers' auction (Free registration may be required) http://www.efinancialnews.com/story/2010-09-13/art-may-yet-imitate-life-with-lehman-brothers-auction Damien Hirst...