Lewis Carroll contest...for USC students

Alice in Wonderland

"Unbirthday Party"

1951

Ah, a Lewis Carroll contest. Unfortunately, it appears that it is limited to USC students.

"Spirit of Lewis Carroll lives on in contest"

USC Libraries’ Wonderland Awards encourage students to submit Carroll-themed work.

by

Michelle Ragsdale

March 8th, 2009

The Daily Trojan

Beneath the herds of stressed and anxious students hunched over texts and computers for hours on end lies a secret treasure. On the basement level of Doheny Library, within a tomblike silence, is an enormous, lifesize chess set.

After immediately stumbling upon the huge chess pieces set on the checkered floor, one quickly realizes that the set is only an accessory of Doheny Library's current exhibition, "Callooh! Callay! A Brillig Look at the USC Libraries' Wonderland Award."

The chess set then makes sense in Carroll's playful context.

USC's Wonderland Award is an annual award and contest held each spring and is open to all students. Sponsored by Linda Cassady, the award is "an annual multidisciplinary competition that encourages new scholarship and creative work related to Lewis Carroll," according to the website.

A fairly new award, the current exhibit in Doheny commemorates Wonderland's fifth anniversary. Surrounding the gigantic chess set, two columns stand on opposite sides of the exhibit and are decorated with Carroll's riddles, poems, and logic and math problems, sprinkling patrons with Carroll's own intellectual spontaneity.

Known for his "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass," Carroll was also a mathematician, photographer, logician and poet. So much more than Disney's popular film adaptation of "Alice in Wonderland," Carroll's original work today presents students with a surplus of avenues to explore.

With Carroll as inspiration, the award began five years ago to highlight Doheny's own Lewis Carroll Collection. Held in the special collections, the room features original letters and works from Carroll's life.

"The award grew out of the desire to have the collection known and used by students, and to stimulate interest in Carroll," said Linda Cassady, who is the sponsor of the award and whose husband donated the original collection to USC.

Since its inception, each year more and more students have contributed pieces to the award, which promises a $2,000 first prize and $1,500 second prize. Entries from virtually any medium are accepted; past entries have varied from poems and short stories to art installations, full-length screenplays to photography collages and digital compositions.

"It is so hard to choose winners, but the judges try to get a balance every year," said Tyson Gaskill, the Director of Programming for the USC libraries. Tyson has been involved with the award since its beginning and has even judged the contest in the past.

In fact, the exhibit under Doheny Library showcases a variety of past winners and entries that highlight the facets of Carroll not only as an artist but also as a man. Within the exhibit is an art installation entitled "Irrationali-tea Set," a play on the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. The piece is a full tea set, each cup uniquely twisted. Conversely, other entries focus on Carroll himself, still somewhat of a mystery to scholars today. One such entry in the Doheny exhibit is titled "An imagining of the Desk of Lewis Carroll," an art installation that showcases what Carroll's cluttered desk might have looked like 150 years ago.

Entries like these make the Wonderland Award unique to USC, giving all students, regardless of major, an opportunity to create art in any medium, all centered around Carroll’s playful constructions.

"Carroll presents language in new and different ways. His play with language is innocent and lends itself to this fun arduous pursuit," said Jonathan Hamrick, a graduate student studyingEnglish who has entered the contest twice and won awards both times.

Indeed, students haven taken quickly to Carroll's silly language, and entries are received every year from students across a variety of majors, including biology, creative writing, theatre and art.

"By starting the award, we wanted to get those creative juices flowing. This has been bigger than what I ever thought. We wanted to let kids work on something outside their area of focus," said Cassady.

With a dark rabbit hole as a jumping-off point for creative exploration, the Wonderland Award brings Carroll's lighthearted language and baffling intellect to USC students, producing a full pallette of works Carroll himself would be proud of.

Entries are due April 1 for the Wonderland Award.

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San Francisco pediatrician George Cassady loved the "Alice in Wonderland" books so much that he read them to his sons at bedtime and incorporated "Alice" quotes into his lectures at medical conferences. In 2000 he gave his extensive collection of vintage books and spin-off items to USC his alma mater, along with $100,000 to create an "Alice" symposium with the Huntington Library in 2006 and a promise to keep adding to the book collection. Already some 1,000 items are in the collection, which includes first editions of the 1865-66 Alice's Adventures and its sequel Through the Looking Glass. In addition to these and a facsimile of the manuscript, there are "Alices" in other languages and from many decades as the original black-and-white etchings gave way to color and to modern printing extravagances inspired by animation techniques. Stage adaptations, film versions, Victorian-era playing cards and pop-up books for the very young are included in the collection. Some illustrators are famous in their own right, like Salvador Dali, Barry Moser and Ralph Steadman. Critical works on Lewis Carroll are included, as well as collector’s editions of Carroll’s other books.

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Contact Doheny Library for details

Salvador Dali

Texts books at USC...more problems

Currently, there is no answer.

"Textbook prices are a formidable foe"

by

Torey Van Oot

January 15th, 2009

Daily Trojan

Venture to the third floor of Pertusati University Bookstore this week and you'll likely find most of the students roaming the stacks sounding off on the same complaint: the skyrocketing cost of textbooks is breaking their bank accounts.

Depending on whom you ask, textbooks set the typical student back $650 to $1,000 per year. One USC Bookstore official estimates, based on historical trends and sales data, that students actually spend upward of $800 per semester when you include the cost of required additional course materials and supplies. For many students, climbing costs do more than force them to divert some cash from the beer fund to pay for books. These costs, which a Congressional report found rose two times the rate of inflation from 1986 to 2005, create a financial barrier to educational opportunities.

Students' complaints about the cost of these mandatory class materials are certainly justified. But many of the gripes falsely lay blame almost entirely on the university and the bookstore, typically to the tune of, "Just another example of USC squeezing its students for every 'SCent." These complaints, rooted in misinformation and an over-simplified view of the very profitable textbook publishing industry, fail to address the actual problems with the textbook market and potential solutions to lowering costs.

Books, which make up nearly 40 percent of the bookstore's $50 million in annual sales, don't exactly add up to big profits for Pertusati. The store runs a 21 percent base margin on books, meaning for each dollar spent, the bookstore keeps just 21 cents. Subtract from that operating costs, such as paying the some 110 full-time and more than 400 part-time student workers employed by USC Bookstores, and it's clear USC isn't exactly profiting off students' financial hardships.

"I really want to make the point that we're not gouging people," insists Dan Archer, director of the bookstore and a 20-year veteran of the textbook industry. "What we need to tell folks is I run a zero-balance budget. My job is to bring us back to zero."

So, if the bookstore isn't to blame for the skyrocketing costs, who is? It's no secret in the world of higher education that the textbook industry itself, which an advisory committee under the Department of Education lambasted as "structurally flawed" and "a market driven by supply rather than demand," is badly broken. Professors pick the books; the publishing industry, which retains 65 cents on the dollar for each book sold, sets the prices; and students are stuck footing the bill, with essentially no say in the process. Publishers say the soaring costs result from issuing "new and improved" editions of texts and introducing new digital features and additions. Although that can benefit students’ learning, it makes it difficult for students and professors to reuse last year’s less-expensive versions.

"You wonder: are they making the changes to keep competitive or thwart the used-book industry?" Archer says. "I've been in the industry since 1987 and the topic [has always been]: 'Why do you have to have an edition every year?'"

There are a lot of Big Lofty Ideas floating around these days about how to lower the cost of textbooks. Though most of these ideas are good spirited, they lack the punch or practicality to lower prices across the board. Student PIRGs, including USC’s chapter, have rallied around the adoption of open-source textbooks, a wiki-like approach to circumventing the cash-driven claws of the publishing industry by providing materials to the academic community for free. More than 100 legislative fixes aimed at providing more transparency to the process have been proposed on the state and federal levels. Here on campus, one student group has discussed with campus administrators the possibility of creating an alumni-funded textbook endowment to subsidize the cost of materials for future Trojans.

Sadly, none of these ideas have gained enough traction or proved effective enough to put a dent in the actual dollar amount students shell out each year — leading about one-quarter of students nationwide to look for better book deals online.

Archer points to several short-term local solutions that, if pursued properly, could lower the costs at USC. For example, professors can submit their book lists on time to give the bookstore the opportunity to maximize its patronage of the used book market.

Archer encourages faculty to use available resources and ask textbook company sales representatives directly about the changes between editions to see if it is really necessary to "upgrade" each year. He also suggests increasing the use of course readers — compilations of excerpts from various texts — to give students more bang for their buck. "It's better to have one $80 course reader that you are going to use 100 percent than three or four books that you just use 10 or 15 percent of," he said.

The enduring battle between students and the textbook publishing industry continues to resemble a David and Goliath scenario — how do you get a 200-year-old, incredibly profitable industry to change? That’s the $64,000 question, Archer said, and it’s fairly clear that without significant reforms within the industry and in the way textbook sales are regulated, those changes aren’t going to come anytime soon.

When I asked the head of USC CalPIRG's textbook prices campaign whether she thought the industry would ever take any steps to actually lower prices on its own, her answer embodied the challenge with lowering textbook prices at its core.

"If you put yourself in their shoes, why would they change something that’s been working for them since before they were born?" she asked with a laugh. "If I was one of them and profiting, I would probably be doing the exact same thing."


College textbook issue again--studies

Free digital texts...a start

Deceased--James C. Warf

James C. Warf
September 1st, 1917 to November 7th, 2008

And yet another participant of the Manhattan Project passes.

"James C. Warf dies at 91; Manhattan Project chemist became peace activist, USC professor"

by

Claire Noland

November 9th, 2008

Los Angeles Times

James C. Warf, a retired USC chemistry professor who became a peace activist after studying nuclear energy and the effects of radiation, died Friday at his home in Silver Lake. He was 91.

A member of the USC faculty for 40 years, he had been diagnosed with cancer of the spine in June, his daughter, Sandy, said Saturday.

While working on his doctorate in inorganic chemistry at Iowa State University in the 1940s, Warf headed the analytical chemistry section of the Manhattan Project that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II.

"I was gratified that it was a success," he said of the U.S. strike against Hiroshima in 1945 that effectively ended the war. "At the time, I was in favor of it."

"After the war, I was all gung-ho for things nuclear," he added in a 1991 interview with the Oklahoma newspaper Tulsa World.

But as the decades passed, Warf's views evolved. He began sounding alarms about the effects of radiation after studying data collected over many years from residents near a nuclear test site in Kazakhstan and from victims of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

Warf also held patents for the process of separating plutonium from high-level nuclear waste, the result of his work on the Manhattan Project.

"This was a matter of some regret to him because the technology was then used to proliferate nuclear weapons worldwide," Dan Hirsch, founder of the nuclear policy group Committee to Bridge the Gap, told The Times on Saturday. "He spent much of his life trying to reduce the risks that erupted when the genie was let out of the bottle."

Warf traveled widely to lecture on nuclear disarmament, testified before congressional hearings and served on independent review panels that surveyed safety and storage methods at nuclear power plants.

He also continued to advocate for nuclear technology applied to peacetime uses, such as energy and medicine.

"He generally supported nuclear power in the abstract," Hirsch said. "He believed well-run nuclear power plants could be acceptably safe. But every time he looked at a particular project, he came away astonished that they were horrendously run and dangerous."

In 1989, Warf published the book "All Things Nuclear," a comprehensive overview of the uses of nuclear technology.

"That's like a bible on the nuclear phenomenon," said Sheldon Plotkin, a systems and safety engineer and, like Warf, a member of the Southern California Federation of Scientists. "It's the kitchen sink."

Warf also wrote several chemistry textbooks, including six in Indonesian, or Malay, after having taught at various universities in Southeast Asia while on sabbatical from USC.

James Curren Warf Jr. was born Sept. 1, 1917, in Nashville and grew up in Tulsa. His mother was a homemaker and schoolteacher, and his father was a fire marshal and arson investigator. He earned his bachelor's degree in 1939 at the University of Tulsa, where in a psychology class he met Lee Walker, who would become his first wife.

Warf worked at Phillips Petroleum in Oklahoma and taught chemistry at his alma mater before working on the Manhattan Project from 1942 to 1947.

He studied for a year in Switzerland on a Guggenheim fellowship and arrived at USC in 1948. He taught there for 40 years, specializing in rare-earth metals, and retired in 1988.

Warf is survived by his wife of 42 years, Kyoko Sato Warf; three children from his first marriage, daughter Sandy of Seal Beach and sons Curren of Silver Lake and Barney of Lawrence, Kan.; three grandchildren; and a great-grandchild. His first wife died in 1959.

A memorial service is planned for 2 p.m. Dec. 13 in the Vineyard Room at USC's Davidson Conference Center.

For 40 years, Warf read chemistry texts for Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic. His family suggests contributions in his name to that organization....


James C. Warf's home page


Assorted papers

Disposal of High-Level Nuclear Waste

The Future of Nuclear Power

All Things Nuclear

by

James C. Warf

ISBN-10: 193280000X
ISBN-13: 978-1932800005

Review:

Everyone needs a copy. . . . Professor Warf has made a major contribution to the science education of us all. Sheldon C. Plotkin, Ph.D., P.E. (All Things Nuclear) is concise, clearly written, comprehensive, and ideally suited for both a general and an academic audience. It is especially valuable in providing a scientifically sound foundation for the many social concerns unleashed by nuclear technology. Roger Dittman, Ph,D., Professor of Physics Emeritus, California State University, Fullerton For some years now, I have used . . . All Things Nuclear as a required text in my course. . . . In this course, I attempt to cover for the lay person the basic physics and engineering of nuclear energy, including reactors, nuclear weapons and warfare, accidents, and applications in medicine and industry. (The) book covers all of these, and in an excellent and balanced fashion. I find it well written, comprehensive, and easy to use. Charles Shapiro San Francisco State University

Universities and money lenders...good idea?

I cannot say that I approve of this not illegal but somewhat unethical relationship between universities and money lenders. It is bad enough dealing with all of the high costs of higher education and now the temptation of convenience and status and being a victim of money lender's marketing schemes.

The USC Daily Trojan reported the following...

"For 'SC, cash windfall from credit card deal"

USC receives a cut of transactions made with affinity cards, can release student information

by

Daniel Doperlaski

September 23rd, 2008

Daily Trojan

As the nation grapples with its credit crisis, the agreements credit card companies make with universities - including USC - are highlighting the complex relationship between schools and these companies and the difficult time students can have navigating the credit game.

The deals allow banks and credit card companies to pay millions of dollars to universities in exchange for student and alumni information, exclusive rights to market on campus and access to school logos and trademarks.

USC has a similar agreement with Bank of America, which offers a USC-themed affinity card geared toward members of the USC community. In exchange for the right to use the USC name and logo, the university gets a share of the revenue generated from the card.

"There is compensation generated from the cards and their use, such as merchants who are charged fees to accept credit cards," said Elizabeth Kennedy, director of USC trademarks and licensing services.

Kennedy would not say whether USC gets a share of other fees, such as late fees or interest generated when cardholders spend beyond their means.

"[Transactions fees] are one example of a revenue stream. There are others," she said.

It is also unclear whether Bank of America paid a hefty premium for exclusive rights to the USC community.

"I can tell you that typically all the agreements USC has that use our name in products, there is some aspect of that," she said.

Kennedy stressed the card is geared toward alumni and fans, but she said Bank of America does have limited rights to market to students on campus as well as the right to request student addresses for promotional mailings.

"The affinity card is not geared toward students, but it is possible a student would sign up for a card at a football game," she said.

USC professor Raphael Bostic, an expert on fair trade and lending, explained that affinity cards are just one part of the long-term marketing strategies employed by credit card companies. But Bostic also said the deals raise questions about whether schools are encouraging students to obtain credit cards that could later land them in financial trouble.

"What credit card companies are trying to do is get students affiliated with their products early and they hope those relationships are enduring," Bostic said. "It is a question of, does this benefit the students as much as it benefits the company?"

Bank of America offers "premiums" or giveaways for students or alumni who fill out a card application. Last year's applicants received a free USC blanket. These giveaways are a point of contention for critics who say young people are easily lured by free merchandise but do not understand the risks associated with credit cards.

Last spring the USC chapter of CalPIRG ran a satirical campaign intended to educate students on the marketing tactics credit card companies use to attract new customers. One sign offered a fictitious credit card, called a FEESA card, with the headline, "Free gifts now. Huge fees later."

USC CalPIRG President Nelson Chen, a senior majoring in political science and environmental studies, said he has seen credit card companies using giveaways to market to students on campus.

"They used to give out free Subway sandwiches if you signed up for a card," Chen said.

Though promotions such as these have become less visible on campus, Bank of America is still allowed to market the affinity card at events with a large alumni following - such as football games and during homecoming.

Hannah Bayer, a senior majoring in business administration, said she understands the potential pitfalls that can occur if credit is misused. Last year she found herself low on spending money during the last week of school and decided to use her credit card to charge things she would normally have paid for with cash.

"Once I started spending money that I didn't have instead of spending like I would have, I would spend $5 or $10 here or there and pretty soon I owed $100."

Bayer was also forced to rely on her credit card when her identity was stolen. She used her card to buy necessities until the bank could sort out the charges on her debit card.

"I had to use my credit card after my identity got stolen. In that sense it helped me," she said.

Credit can help college students build up their credit score, said Lynn Strang, vice president for American Financial Services Association, a trade association that represents the interests of major credit card companies in Washington, D.C. But Strang also warned students to be careful about incurring bad credit so early in their financial careers.

"Once you get out of school, you are going to need a car and you may want to buy a house and take out a loan," she said. "Having access to credit as a young adult is an opportunity to establish a credit history and prove you can handle credit responsibly."

She does, however, advise students to be aware of their spending habits and recommends young adults keep a close eye on their credit score.

"If somebody files for bankruptcy, it can stay on your credit history for ten years. If it is other negative information it can stay on there for several years. If [the information] is accurate the only thing that is going to clear it up is time," Strang said.