Skip to content

Library News

All Things Considered

How is everyone commuting these days? The price of gas is going up, and I keep reading articles about people who are switching to bicycles and scooters and public transportation for their commutes. Not sure I’m seeing much difference in bike/foot traffic around here, since I think many people switch to bikes in the summer anyway.  I usually take the T myself, but what prompts me to think about change is that today I decided to try a different route that took me directly to the Orange Line. Turns out that was a great plan on two fronts: it was a shorter commute AND there was a fire or something at Porter Square that caused a lot of delays on the Red Line. Too bad I didn’t think about checking for alternative routes earlier!

Anyone else making a change?

Starbucks Logo

I guess there are some folks out there who think the Starbucks siren logo is a wee bit naughty – this post details the history of the logo. We’ve come a long way since the 15th century! It’s pretty interesting – and one of the updates includes some comments and images from the guy who designed the green logo.

Alternative Spring Break Exhibit in the Library!

Now through June 16, Northeastern University Libraries and the Northeastern Center of Community Service invite you to view Break Out to Serve: Alternative Spring Break 2008, in the exhibit showcase on the first floor of Snell Library.

During Alternative Spring Break 2008, 92 students and ten staff members from Northeastern volunteered their time to a variety of projects in a number of issue areas.

Volunteers dedicated a total of 4,080 hours of service, all providing unique experiences and assistance to communities in need.

In Fort Smith, Arkansas, volunteers helped build four homes. Alternative Spring Breakers tutored children at an orphanage in Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic, in math and reading. Volunteers worked to repair and restore homes of senior citizens and people with disabilities living in Macon, Georgia. Other students planted trees and worked to restore the environment on a wildlife preserve in Kissimmee, Florida. Volunteers in Mobile, Alabama assisted HIV/AIDS patients with daily living tasks, such as landscaping and housework. In both New Orleans, Louisiana and Biloxi, Mississippi, students served by assisting in the continuing efforts to clean up post-Katrina wreckage. Students built a playground at a primary school and taught forty schoolchildren lessons for the week in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. In Tahlequah, Oklahoma, volunteers helped lay PVC piping on the local waterline project as well as tending to other routine tasks within the Cherokee Nation. Volunteers worked at a camp in Killeen, Texas for children with special needs and chronic illnesses.

Take a look at trip pictures and learn more about how you can get involved with Alternative Spring Break at Northeastern. For more information on how to make your next spring break the experience of a lifetime, contact the Center of Community Service at communityservice@neu.edu.

The Dangers of Cell Phones?

I have a few friends who use Bluetooth headsets, and one told me an upsetting story about her sister’s friend, who was a day trader and constantly on her cell phone, and who developed a brain tumor, allegedly due to the radiation.  (According to her, the headset prevents this exposure).  While I still use my cell phone regularly (how can you not?), I do sometimes feel a little nervous about it.  Cell phones are so omnipresent-it’s hard to imagine modern life without them.  I was quite worried when I read this article on the dangers of mobile phones-particularly for pregnant women and children.  It left me wondering, are mobile phones the cigarettes of the future?

Senator Ted Kennedy and Student Financial Aid @ Northeastern University

I am sorry to hear about Senator Ted Kennedy’s ill health.  He’s the subject of a new online exhibit by the NU Libraries Archives on Student Financial Aid at Northeastern University.  The exhibit recounts Kennedy’s strong support of federal financial aid for college students, and his relationship with Northeastern.  He spoke at student rallies, heard personal student testimonies, and held a press conference and a senate committee field hearing at Northeastern whenever student financial aid programs were threatened by presidential or congressional proposals.  The exhibit comprises photographs, articles from Northeastern University’s student and faculty/staff newspapers, official statements, and background information.  I wish Senator Kennedy and his family the best.