October 19, 2011 Volume viii, Issue 2 Book Review of Triangle p.2 Halloween Reads p. 3 “Must Haves p. 4 JCB Lecture Series p. 4 Tucker’s Take p. 5 Spring Schedule p.6 Banned! Amy Snyder (2013) If you walked across the Quad on September 29th, you might have seen a ta- ble stacked with an assortment of books. Beneath the books hung a sign: Banned Books: Fight for Your Right to Read. And you may have wondered why in the world Sigma Tau Delta would bother sitting out in the sun (or ra- ther shade) all day with a tableful of banned books. One passer-by asked if we intended to burn them. Why no, as a matter of fact we intended to raise aware- ness about them. You’ve probably read a banned book in your time, perhaps in school or of your own volition. You might be surprised to learn of the possibilities. In school you might have read The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, or Ani- mal Farm. You might have read The Lord of the Rings, Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind (yes, it was a book first), The Giver, or Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Readers around the United States have read the Junie B. Jones se- ries (a popular children’s series for those of you unfamiliar with children’s libraries), the Harry Potter series, or the Twi- light Saga. Even Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle’s children’s classic Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? was once banned. All of these books, plus many others, have been banned at one time or another. The reasons behind banishing books are as varied as which books are banned. Explanations, from the mouths of those who ban, include obscene language, sexually explicit content, Satanism, racism, or simply being unsuitable to the target age group. Brown Bear was banned because its author shares his name with an objectionable philosopher. Books have been banned for many reasons by many groups of people. American school boards, the Nazis, and concerned parents are all guilty. The issue boils down to a question: Does anyone have the right to restrict another person’s access to a book? Which leads to a second question: Who does and on what grounds? The American Library Association (the ALA) has an entire chunk of their website dedicated to banned books. For more information, in the interest of your own knowledge and well-roundedness, please visit their website at http:// www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/index.cfm and explore.
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Transcript
October 19, 2011 Volume viii, Issue 2
Book Review of Triangle
p.2
Halloween Reads
p. 3
“Must Haves
p. 4
JCB Lecture Series
p. 4
Tucker’s Take
p. 5
Spring Schedule
p.6
Banned!
Amy Snyder (2013)
If you walked across the Quad on September 29th, you might have seen a ta-
ble stacked with an assortment of books. Beneath the books hung a sign:
Banned Books: Fight for Your Right to Read. And you may have wondered
why in the world Sigma Tau Delta would bother sitting out in the sun (or ra-
ther shade) all day with a tableful of banned books. One passer-by asked if we
intended to burn them. Why no, as a matter of fact we intended to raise aware-
ness about them.
You’ve probably read a banned book in your time, perhaps in school or of
your own volition. You might be surprised to learn of the possibilities. In
school you might have read The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, or Ani-
mal Farm. You might have read The Lord of the Rings, Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind (yes, it was a book
first), The Giver, or Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Readers around the United States have read the Junie B. Jones se-
ries (a popular children’s series for those of you unfamiliar with children’s libraries), the Harry Potter series, or the Twi-
light Saga. Even Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle’s children’s classic Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? was
once banned. All of these books, plus many others, have been banned at one time or another.
The reasons behind banishing books are as varied as which books are banned. Explanations, from the mouths of those
who ban, include obscene language, sexually explicit content, Satanism, racism, or simply being unsuitable to the target
age group. Brown Bear was banned because its author shares his name with an objectionable philosopher. Books have
been banned for many reasons by many groups of people. American school boards, the Nazis, and concerned parents are
all guilty. The issue boils down to a question: Does anyone have the right to restrict another person’s access to a book?
Which leads to a second question: Who does and on what grounds?
The American Library Association (the ALA) has an entire chunk of their website dedicated to banned books. For more
information, in the interest of your own knowledge and well-roundedness, please visit their website at http://
www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/index.cfm and explore.
Book Review: Triangle by Margaret Falcon
Liz Van Halsema (2013)
Imagine a small college located in the middle of the North Carolina mountains. The fall semester has just begun and
students are eager to be back at school to start classes, see friends, and just have fun. The weather is perfect and
many students are seen out walking and enjoying the cool breeze. The air is full of excitement and possibilities.
With roommates bonding and relationships budding, everything seems perfect, almost tranquil. Now imagine wak-
ing up one morning only to find out that your roommate’s date from last night has been killed in some sort of unfor-
tunate accident… or was it murder?
This is just a glimpse of what Margaret Falcon (the nom de plume of GWU’s very own Annette Spurling, secretary
of Communications Studies and Social Sciences) has to offer in her new book, Triangle. She tells the story of Kevin
and Karen, an ideal couple who attend the North Carolina college. He is tan, dark-haired, and muscular, and she is
beautiful, blonde, and thin. Together they are the prettiest couple on campus. But while they may seem perfect on
the outside, Karen is not satisfied with limiting herself to Kevin only. She becomes increasingly unfaithful as she
cheats on her boyfriend with more and more boys, all perfectly willing to go out with the beautiful Karen, all myste-
riously killed shortly after by a masked figure in black. It soon becomes clear that anyone who interferes with the
perfect relationship will be severely punished.
Tina, Karen’s roommate, disapproves of her friend’s promiscuity but is not exactly sure of what to do because of
her growing love for Kevin. Should she keep Karen’s secret or break the news to Kevin? As tension builds between
the two roommates, this question becomes more problematic. What will Tina decide to do? Will she be killed next
as the couple’s secret becomes revealed? And most importantly, who is the murderer under the mask? All of these
questions are answered as the novel reaches a suspenseful climax that will leave all of its readers on the edges of
their seats.
Full of murder, suspense, ardor, and unexpected plot twists, Triangle will definitely not disappoint those looking for
a fast, Halloween-appropriate read. With an equal mix of passion and mystery, this novel is perfect for everyone.
Falcon, teaches her readers that everything is not always as it seems. She makes us think twice about what might
actually be happening behind the scenes of our quiet university…
Prijedor Project
While visiting Gardner-Webb University, Amir Karadzic, founder of “Príjedor: Lives from the Bosnian Genocide” visited the class
of Dr. Matt Theado. The Prijedor Project is an exhibit raising awareness of and memorializing the lives of those who died in Bosnia
in the 1990s. His visit was a part of the Gardner-Webb “Life of the Scholar” program, and a display about the genocide and the Pri-
jedor Project is set up in the John R. Dover Memorial Library.
Photograph from the Gardner-Webb University homepage (http://www.gardner-webb.edu) on October 18, 2011
Words of the Week
1. bête noire (noun)- a person or thing especially disliked or dreaded
2. bedevil (verb)- 1. to torment or harass maliciously 2. to confound, cause confusion 3. to beset, hamper continuously