Karen Contardo
Thursday                                                                                                                       September 24, 2009
4:05-5:20

done

The Atrium

On our trip to the atrium, we learned that they have a message board with many advertisements about events at the university. We have come to realize that the university is playing us to use up our time to keep us out of trouble.  Their primary offense is against women.  People of questionable character, namely Chazz who “Makes bad decisions” are brought to the campus with the purpose of intimidating individuals.  The university clearly hopes that this will increase the enrollment of female students in the self defense class.  Using this method not only can the university keep the female students out of questionable activities, they can also claim that the university students are more involved in campus life.  This problem is self perpetuating, as students flock to these classes the university’s poor actions are only encouraged.  This is the great problem that we have discovered in the Atrium.  The university purposely brings us into the atrium so that we can become aware of such activities.  For instance, they allow students to eat in the atrium.  This inevitably will draw students who want to work in the library to this portal of campus life.  This only serves to help prove the guilt of the university.

There are positive aspects of the Atrium. Most likely these were created to mask the clear and present conspiracy.  For instance they offer free yearbooks to all students clearly funded by the special interests groups such as the campus neighbors and the faculty.

The Writing Center carries several manuals that cover the various types of style in formatting. This includes MLA, APA and general style manuals.

The Writing Center will help you in any part of the essay ranging from brainstorming with a prompt to developing ideas.

Two things that they do not do are taking your paper from you and proofreading it (although, they will work with you to identify errors) and writing the actual paper for you.

Help for Unemployed Offered at Fond du Lac Public Library

Two full time VISTA volunteers have joined the staff of the Fond du Lac Public Library to help connect the unemployed in Fond du Lac County to state and local programs assisting with recovery.

Programs range from training and job searching to support groups. Many programs already exist in the community such as those offered by Moraine Park Technical College and the Fond du Lac Job Center. Where capacity is insufficient to meet demand, the Fond du Lac VISTA volunteers will help to set up additional programs in any of the six public libraries in Fond du Lac County, according to a library press release.

Assistance may include classes on basic computer use, online employment resources, interview techniques, and other services that may be of help to the unemployed.

One project the VISTA volunteers are currently working on is finding staff to open the Fond du Lac Public Library’s Computer Training Lab on evenings and weekends to anyone needing to use a computer as part of a job search or to apply for a job.

Users of the public computers in the library are currently limited to one hour because of high demand. Having a special computer room for job seekers would give them the added time they need to complete applications or perform job related training.

VISTA — Volunteers in Service to America — is often referred to as the domestic Peace Corps. Volunteers are usually recent college graduates who devote a year or more of their lives helping to improve the quality of life in communities. A prime objective of the volunteers is to ensure that any programs they help build will remain in place once their year of service is complete.

The volunteers, Sara Byrnes and Josh Cowles, are headquartered on the second floor of the Fond du Lac Public Library in the newly created Opportunity Center.

During their first two weeks at the library they have been researching services in our community that may be used to help the unemployed. They have already applied for a Library Services and Technology Act grant to obtain a mobile computer lab that will bring training to the rural areas of Fond du Lac County.

Summary:  This article talks about two volunteers who are trying to match up unemployed people with state and local programs that will help them get jobs.

This article deals with a few themes in class matters.  These efforts by the libraries are helping relieve some peoples’ stress by assisting them in getting employed.  The obvious theme this article deals with is unemployment.  The volunteers are using many of the library’s resources to help lower unemployment in the Fond du Lac area.

Note:  The library databases were unavailable during this class period and the students assigned to find an article relating libraries and the social justice issues raised in Class Matters turned to the internet to find their information.  You can read their article for yourself by clicking here.