Despite concerted efforts from our educators, administrators, and government, American education continues to struggle. The author of this work argues that the decline can be traced to censored curricula, inaccurate textbooks, test-driven evaluations, and increasing poverty among the student population. Under the definition of "failure" specified in the No Child Left Behind Act, more than 80 percent of American schools could currently be labeled as failing, while the quality of American education overall and our students' performance continue to rank unfavorably against international competition. This book examines the crisis in American education and identifies how weaknesses in textbooks, teaching, and testing have created the crisis facing American education-a topic that dramatically affects students, teachers, and parents. Author Herbert N. Foerstel exposes the textbook "wars" that began a century ago and rage on with even more venom today. His book traces the legal basis for curricular censorship that dates back 75 years; identifies the bizarre process by which shoddy textbooks have been written, published, and come to be widely accepted; and documents the disastrous effect that reliance on these materials has had on the curriculum. Foerstel also supplies a careful assessment of the current political debate over education reform and of the proposed solutions to these problems.

This book presents a comprehensive analysis of the contentious relationship between the White House and the scientific community from the FDR administration to the Obama administration. Toxic Mix?: A Handbook of Science and Politics takes a topic very much in the center of public debate in the last decade and places it in a revealing historical context. It follows the often contentious relationship of science and politics from the FDR era to the current Obama administration, highlighting the many highly charged moments when the two were in conflict. Toxic Mix? ranges across the major areas of scientific inquiry with public policy implications, including atomic energy, space science, public health, stem cells, sexual reproduction, environmental science, global warming, and evolution, to examine important events where political imperatives and scientific research were at odds. In addition, the book looks at another important area where politics and science are at cross purposes; immigration-as many of our most accomplished degree earners are foreign born and are unable to stay and work in the United States. A final chapter analyzes the attempts by the early Obama administration to build public policy that embraces science rather than manipulates it. Includes interviews with scientists and science experts Presents photographs of scientists, politicians, and scientific accomplishments Provides a bibliography of print and online resources for further reading Outlines an annotated list of private organizations whose work relates to science and politics

This easy-to-use core reference takes on the biggest issue of our day: freedom of speech in post-9/11 America. No issue is more important to Americans--and especially to librarians--than the Patriot Act. The Patriot Act is one of the longest, broadest, most sweeping pieces of legislation in American history. It introduced a vast edifice of domestic surveillance that has defined the post-9/11 world. But the legislation itself is so massive and technical that both supporters and critics have been free to interpret it loosely and in partisan fashion. Supporters of the Patriot Act believe that 9/11 irreversibly changed American politics and law enforcement, forcing every citizen to cede some traditional civil liberties in order to protect the nation from terrorism. Critics respond that many provisions of the Patriot Act were simply resurrected from old FBI wish lists, having no relevance to the war on terror and providing little security in exchange for precious liberties. This book will not silence the raging debate over the Patriot Act, but by presenting relevant source documents, analyzed and placed in context, it may provide a more reliable basis for the ongoing debate.

Killing the Messenger reveals the dangerous new face of war and journalism. Covering armed conflicts has always been dangerous business, but in the past, press heroes like Ernie Pyle and Edward R. Murrow faced only the danger of random bullets or bombs. Today's war correspondent is actually in the cross hairs, a target of combatants on all sides of conflicts. In their own words, correspondents describe the new dangers they face and attempt to explain why they are targeted. Killing the Messenger reveals the dangerous new face of war and journalism. Covering armed conflicts has always been dangerous business, but in the past, press heroes like Ernie Pyle and Edward R. Murrow faced only the danger of random bullets or bombs. Today's war correspondent is actually in the cross hairs, a target of combatants on all sides of conflicts. In this book, correspondents describe the new dangers they face, and attempt to explain why they are targeted. Is it simply that modern combatants are more brutal than in the past, or has journalism changed, making correspondents players, rather than observers, in modern warfare? Extended interviews with correspondents who have been abducted and tortured during Middle East conflicts shed chilling light on this new face of war. These journalists, who have paid dearly to bring first-hand images of war to the public, offer some surprising insights into the nature and motivation of their kidnappers, and the reasons why reporters are targeted. They display no self-pity and little inclination to blame anyone other than themselves. At the same time, they are candid in describing the violence within Iraq and without. Ways to reduce the risks for reporters are discussed, but these editors and correspondents suggest that, short of withdrawing into isolated and protected enclaves, they may be facing an indefinite escalation of violence against journalists.

Since the first edition was published to acclaim and awards in 1994, librarians have relied on the work of noted intellectual freedom authority Herbert N. Foerstel. This expanded edition presents a thorough analysis of the current state of book banning in schools and public libraries, offering ready reference material on major incidents, legal cases, and annotated entries on the most frequently challenged books. Every section of this work has been significantly rewritten, updated, or expanded to reflect those developments. In-depth accounts of three new landmark book banning incidents are featured, along with a discussion of recent Supreme Court decisions involving censorship on the Internet and in book publishing, and a consideration of their implications for book banning in schools and public libraries.

Two new interviews with authors of banned books--David Guterson and Leslea Newman--join the interviews with authors profiled in the first edition, many of which have been updated. The heart of the book is a Survey of Banned Books, revised with annotated entries on the 50 most frequently challenged books for 1996 through 2000; the Harry Potter series tops the list. Finally, all new appendixes feature an updated ALA list of Most Frequently Challenged Books and Authors Through 2000 and graphs that help to clarify key information.

Students of media, journalism, and social issues classes will use this book to identify the ten most controversial issues facing the media profession today. Topics include the ever-increasing monopolistic control of the media by conglomerates, tabloid journalism and its impact on the news and plagiarism. Foerstel presents the history of each controversy, important media personalities, and relevant legislation. Students can examine the current status of the controversy and apply critical thinking skills to make predictions on possible future outcomes.

From the paparazzi to Internet censorship, Foerstel highlights significant controversy in modern journalism and the media, specifically noting recent public outcry over the press' abuse of the private lives of celebrities, including the death of Princess Diana, and problems with plagiarism and the excessive use of anonymous sources. Perhaps the most controversial of all media subjects--the battle over First Amendment rights on the electronic frontier of the Internet--is discussed in depth. With the detail Foerstel offers, students receive an up-to-date look at the struggle between those who advocate censorship of material they deem harmful to minors and those who defend intellectual freedom.

This examination of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) traces the American origins of the belief that the citizens of a democracy have a natural right to know about the workings of their government. The issue began in the colonies and came to a head in the 1950s when escalating government secrecy led the press to demand open government. Declaring that the public business is the public's business, a series of crusading newspaper editors aroused public support for the Freedom of Information Act which was passed in 1966.

The book features in-depth interviews with the architects of the FOIA, the FOIA staff in the major federal agencies, and the most prominent FOIA users throughout the country. The concluding chapter examines current impediments to the full realization of the people's right to know.

From colonial times to the present, the media in America has been subject to censorship challenges and regulations. This comprehensive reference guide to media censorship provides in-depth coverage of each media format--newspapers, magazines, motion pictures, radio, television, and the Internet--all of which have been, and continue to be, battlegrounds for First Amendment issues. Each media format is examined in-depth, from its origins and history through its modern development, and features discussion of landmark incidents and cases. Foerstel, author of Banned in the U.S.A., the acclaimed reference guide to book censorship in schools and public libraries, offers a brief history of media censorship, examines in-depth the drama of seven landmark incidents, and includes 31 relevant court cases. Complementing the volume are personal interviews with prominent victims of media censorship, who give human voice to the struggle of the media to remain free, and an examination of censorship of the student press. Fascinating examples of media censorship abound, from Peter Zenger's prerevolutionary trial for "seditious libel" to the modern tobacco industry's invocation of "tortious interference" to silence television news and the current rash of Internet censorship incidents. Chapter 1 offers a brief history of censorship of each of the media types. Chapter 2 features indepth analysis of seven landmark media censorship incidents: the trial of John Peter Zenger, H. L. Mencken and the hatrack case, John Henry Faulk and the radio blacklist, Progressive magazine's expose on the H-bomb "secret," government labeling of three documentary films as "political propaganda," television's tobacco wars, andCarnegie Mellon's attempt to censor students' access to the Internet. Chapter 3 examines 31 media censorship court cases from 1735 to 1997. Chapter 4 features exclusive interviews with media figures involved in censorship issues or cases--Paul Jarrico, Howard Morland, Peter Sussman, Daniel Schorr, Walter Cronkite, and Jerry Berman. Appendix A takes a look at censorship and response regarding the student press during the 1990s, after the landmark Hazelwood decision in 1988--an important topic for students in every high school. Appendix B contains a resource list of media advocacy and censorship organizations. A selected bibliography of books and electronic resources completes the text. This volume is of interest to high school and college students, teachers, librarians and scholars, and all those who are affected by these crucial First Amendment issues.

Despite the end of the Cold War, America's national security apparatus for controlling information has remained in place. However, sex and secularism are emerging as the major targets of censorship. Federal decency standards have been imposed on art, the broadcast media, and the Internet. Virtually every major political issue of the 1990s (abortion, campaign finance, violence on TV, homosexuality, indecency on the Internet) has First Amendment implications, and all are included in this comprehensive encyclopedia. This work covers the full history of America's struggle for free expression, as well as the contemporary dynamics represented by pop figures like Frank Zappa, Howard Stern, and Danny Goldberg and politicians like Jesse Helms and Don Edwards. It goes beyond other academic works of its kind by recognizing the primacy of the mass media and the Internet in defining the modern contours of the First Amendment.

Climbing the Hill explores the history and current status of women members and staff on Capitol Hill. It traces the difficult history of women in Congress, their slow and painful path to political power, and their hopes and fears of today. It presents a comprehensive analysis of women's success at the polls and within the congressional hierarchy - legislatively, politically, and socially. Through in-depth research and extensive personal interviews, the authors reveal the deep-rooted sexual divisions within the U.S. Congress and the continuing struggle of women to break into the "old boy" network. The book's comprehensive coverage is unique and up-to-date and will be of interest to scholars, students, and interested layreaders.

This book is a plea for scientific openness and free access to information. It demonstrates the futility of scientific secrecy and the weakness of national arguments against open communication. From the restriction of technologically advanced exports, to the classification of research as restricted or secret, to the monitoring (and censoring) of scientific publications and library collections, to the pre-emption by the Pentagon of scientific and technological research, the U.S. federal government has achieved a state of unprecedented control over American science and technology. This, despite the end of the Cold War. Foerstel examines this continuing trend toward the state as chief sponsor, promoter, and supervisor of scientific research and its unsettling ramifications.

Foerstel concludes that scientific secrecy is counterproductive to American interests, particularly in an era when economics has come to define national security. His controversial analysis will be of interest to scientists, historians, and students of government alike.

Foerstel, himself one of the leaders in the effort to expose the FBI's notorious `spies in the stacks' program, writes as a partisan of privacy rights with a well-earned distrust of the FBI's efforts to excuse itself from observing those rights. In fairness to the other side, however, he also gives full play to the arguments of national security and for the prevention of the flow of `sensitive' information into foriegn hands. In this extensively documented and thoroughly researched tale, he offers many stories of the courage and fortitude of librarians opposed to this program, from the jailing of Zoia Horn to the eloquent indignation of Columbia University's Paula Kaufman and the tenacious Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Committee. Less happy is his picture of the heavily politicized National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) and others who have acquiesced to the spying. The chapters on the political ramifications of the program and the legal context of library confidentiality are also valuable--although it is possible to argue with some of Foerstel's conclusions. But this illuminating, cautionary work is bound to remain an authoritative source on a vitally important subject. Library Journal . . . the book can be compelling and even, melodramatic as it may sound, frightening reading. Booklist As part of its Library Awareness Program, the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted numerous counterintelligence activities in libraries, including requesting confidential information on library users based solely on their nationality. Written by a librarian whose own institution was the target of such intrusions and who later helped to develop confidentiality legislation, Surveillance in the Stacks is the first book to document and analyze the FBI's wide-ranging surveillance of libraries. Relying heavily on previously classified FBI reports, the book traces the recent history of federal library surveillance, documents the media and congressional response to the Library Awareness Program, and discusses the professional and legislative moves that have been taken to safeguard library confidentiality. Following a brief introduction, Herbert N. Foerstel begins his study with an overview of library surveillance, its background and significant examples, and a detailed analysis of the Library Awareness Program. Chapter 2 looks at the FBI's documented activities in libraries, including their visits to Columbia University, New York University, the University of Maryland, and the New York Public Library. The role of librarians in surveillance is addressed in chapter 3, which includes discussions of librarians as information filters, as assets, and as potential KGB agents. The final chapter on law and library surveillance, explores the issues of free speech and inquiry, state confidentiality laws, and attempts at legal restraints. The book also surveys the confrontation between the FBI and the library profession and relates the content of numerous disturbing FBI documents, including one that reveals an extended investigation of librarians who criticized the Bureau's program. This timely work will be an essential addition to the collections of both public and academic libraries, as well as a useful resource for courses in special libraries, library ethics, and first amendment issues.