If you have time only to read one book, or if you need to have a resource on advising student groups, this is the book to use. Well written, comprehensive and timely this should go on the required reading list for student affairs professionals and student group advisors. Dunkel and Schuh combine material on individuals, groups, institutions, finance, legal issues and more all into a very usable resource.

I read this book for my freshman seminar class in college. It was wonderful and provided a variety of short stories and poems to shed light on experiences during the college years. The stories and poems are by a variety of authors so readers may enjoy a variety of styles. I would recommend this book not only to college freshmen or freshwomen but to high school seniors as well. It is enjoyable, easy to relate to, and often inspiring.

I have read over 15 "college admission" books and this one contained several tips that were new. Very easy to read. Only fault is it does push the PR courses and says rather disparaging remarks about other courses, but overall I would recommend it for anyone going through the process.

Educational Renewal Review By John Goodlad

Reason the author wrote the book:

1)Packaged 19 postulates for better teacher preparation. 2)Said schools should be and have a center of pedagogy, which includes outside sources-collaboration.

Purpose/theme of the book:

1)To be a proponent of better teacher preparation-thus having better schools 2)Center of pedagogy-school of education, arts and sciences, and local school districts make up this center. 3)Collaboration between K-12 and universities

Application to educational administration:

1)Have better teacher preparation programs 2)Have involvement in different departments-collaboration 3)Communication, collaboration, and common purpose are essential to good leadership, better schools, and teachers 4)Leadership must be shared and spread around

Key thoughts or ideas

1)Good societies have good school not the other way around. 2)Ambiguity is not a dirty word one should embrace it. Closure is a dirty word. 3)A partnership ethic must be encultured. 4)Concept of lifelong learning should be a part of the socialization process from the onset of education. 5)Inquiry and reflection should be habitual.

Unlike the majority of TESL texts, Swales manages to treat his discipline with respect while not becoming pretentious or defensive about the lack of research backing most of the theories. His combination of humor and anecdotal examples with clear theories reminded me of Alder and Van Doren's "How to Read a Book": personable, enjoyable, and clear principles that will make experts in the field nod in agreement while providing graduate students with plenty of research topics.

I had been looking for this book over the past year since I am a graduate of John Carroll University. Dr. Gavin's historical information about not just the University itself but the Cleveland area and the politics within the Catholic diocese is fascinating. I recommend this to anyone who graduated from John Carroll or who has an interest in Jesuit educational institutaions in the US.

It is well-known that using clichés is considered poor form in writing. However, there is often a fine, essentially nonexistent line between a cliché and an old truism with a great deal of wisdom. The title of this book is one form of what is perhaps the best of all the words of wisdom, namely to be the best, you must learn from the best. No one knew this better than Niels Henrik Abel, Norway's greatest mathematician. He wrote the following in the margin of one of his notebooks,

"It appears to me that if one wants to make progress in mathematics one should study the masters."

This book is a publication of some of the papers presented at an international conference on the History of Mathematics held in Kristiansand, Norway in 1988. It is fitting that Abel lived in that area for some time.
Reading about the actions of the masters is always refreshing and helps to improve your self-esteem. To know that even the great ones struggled and made colossal errors reminds us that mathematical progress is not linear, but extremely chaotic. If a chart could be made of the development of mathematics, it would exhibit a gross upward movement. However, if one was to perform an expansion transformation, the local behavior would resemble Brownian motion. It is also sad to be informed about some of the spiteful actions that even geniuses are capable of.
The range of topics covered in this collection of papers is wide and includes some of the applied mathematical motivations in the development of new areas of mathematics. It is reasonable to argue that most of the development of mathematics throughout history originated in "simple" problems that had to be solved. Problems from the simplification of calculations to the trajectories of cannonballs to a set of bridges in the old city of Konigsberg all served as the impetus that led to the creation of new mathematics. Many of the papers also present problems that can be used in college classes. It is good for us all to occasionally revisit the historical origins of the topics that we present and re-present in class after class. Looking at it from the perspective of those who created it is sometimes the best way to get new insights into the material, and many such items are found in this book.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.

The role of mathematics at Oxford during the first eight centuries of its existence is defined by a curve with steep slopes in both directions. At times the level of rigor in the examinations was slightly more difficult than "How many letters are there in your name?". Yet, over the years, some very capable people have either taught or been educated there.
The historical context of England over the centuries provides an interesting backdrop to what occurred at the university. Through a civil war and other political contests for power, the society altering features of the industrial revolution and the creation and subsequent dissolution of a mighty empire, the university has survived. However, the changes have been as profound to the university as they have been to the surrounding society. Although two of the editors are currently at Oxford, the treatment here is not in any way biased or hyped. The changes and the reasons for them are put down with the dispassionate accuracy of a historian.
As mathematics became a more significant tool in the management of society, the quality of mathematical training has been modified to suit. Long standing institutions are often criticized as being adaptability challenged. While partly true, the events described here clearly demonstrate that universities can and do change. Any history of a university is ultimately a series of mini-biographies of the people who made things happen. The sections that described some of the personalities of those who served as professors or other ranking officials was the most interesting aspect of the book.
With a history that is staid, learned and sometimes stodgy and other times colorful, Oxford has survived and thrived through incredible changes. No doubt the next few centuries will bring even more interesting and exciting challenges in the arenas of mathematics and human existence. Hopefully, the book describing the next eight hundred years will be as good as this one.

The book READY FOR THE REAL WORLD is an excellent preparation tool for college seniors. The book offers information in career planning, personal life, community responsibilities, financial planning, and alum activities.

Written in an easy-to-read style, READY FOR THE REAL WORLD covers most of the elements that college seniors must consider from the more practical aspect of the budgeting of finances to the often neglected consideration of psychological changes that take place as one goes from the rather protected status of a student to that as a job applicant and employee.

This book is an excellent one for college classes which are offered at the end of the senior year to help prepare students for life after college, but would also be helpful to individuals who are seriously thinking about the transition from college to the "real world."

The book includes checklists and activities that allow readers to assess their status financially, psychologically, and personally. I highly recommend this book.

An inspiring rendtion of the labor struggle at Harvard University....starring regular, working-class women who fought for self-determination on the job. Despite problems with organized labor and internal disputes, these 3,500 workers had the staying power and prevailed against a sometimes subtle and sometimes not campaign by Harvard. A labor story for the 90's.