An in-depth and multiperspectival look at the Astros' sign-stealing scandal and its roots in the culture of baseball fandom. In 2017 the Houston Astros won their first World Series title, a particularly uplifting victory for the city following Hurricane Harvey. But two years later, the feel-good energy was gone after The Athletic revealed that the Astros had stolen signs from opposing catchers during their championship season, perhaps even during the playoffs and World Series. Their methods were at once high-tech and crude: staff took video of opponents' pitching signals and transmitted the footage in real time to the Astros' dugout, where players banged on trash cans to signal to their teammates at bat which pitches were coming their way. Wry observers labeled them the Asterisks, pointing to the title that no longer seemed so earned. Astros and Asterisks examines the scandal from historical, journalistic, legal, ethical, and cultural perspectives. Authors delve into the Astros' winning-above-all attitude, cultivated by a former McKinsey consultant; the significance of hiring a pitcher recently suspended for domestic abuse; the career-ending effects of the Astros' transgression on opposing players; and the ethically fraught choices necessary to participate in sign-stealing. Ultimately, it links the Astros' choices to the sporting world's obsession with analytics. What emerges is a sobering tale about the impact of new technology on a game whose romanticized image feels increasingly incongruous with its reality in the era of big data and video.

This book and its companion, Skills for Communicating with Patients, Second Edition, provide a comprehensive approach to improving communication in medicine. Fully updated and revised, and greatly expanded, this new edition examines how to construct a skills curricular at all levels of medical education and across specialties, documents the individuals skills that form the core content of communication skills teaching programmes, and explores in depth the specific teaching, learning and assessment methods that are currently used within medical education. Since their publication, the first edition of this book and its companionSkills for Communicating with Patients, have become standards texts in teaching communication skills throughout the world, 'the first entirely evidence-based textbooks on medical interviewing. It is essential reading for course organizers, those who teach or model communication skills, and program administrators.

This book offers an evidence-based delineation of the skills that make a difference in communicating with patients. It provides a comprehensive approach to teaching and learning communication throughout the medical education and in both specialist and family medicine.

An in-depth and multiperspectival look at the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal and its roots in the culture of baseball fandom. In 2017 the Houston Astros won their first World Series title, a particularly uplifting victory for the city following Hurricane Harvey. But two years later, the feel-good energy was gone after The Athletic revealed that the Astros had stolen signs from opposing catchers during their championship season, perhaps even during the playoffs and World Series. Their methods were at once high-tech and crude: staff took video of opponents’ pitching signals and transmitted the footage in real time to the Astros’ dugout, where players banged on trash cans to signal to their teammates at bat which pitches were coming their way. Wry observers labeled them the Asterisks, pointing to the title that no longer seemed so earned. Astros and Asterisks examines the scandal from historical, journalistic, legal, ethical, and cultural perspectives. Authors delve into the Astros’ winning-above-all attitude, cultivated by a former McKinsey consultant; the significance of hiring a pitcher recently suspended for domestic abuse; the career-ending effects of the Astros’ transgression on opposing players; and the ethically fraught choices necessary to participate in sign-stealing. Ultimately, it links the Astros’ choices to the sporting world’s obsession with analytics. What emerges is a sobering tale about the impact of new technology on a game whose romanticized image feels increasingly incongruous with its reality in the era of big data and video.

This book and its companion, Skills for Communicating with Patients, Second Edition, provide a comprehensive approach to improving communication in medicine. Fully updated and revised, and greatly expanded, this new edition examines how to construct a skills curricular at all levels of medical education and across specialties, documents the individuals skills that form the core content of communication skills teaching programmes, and explores in depth the specific teaching, learning and assessment methods that are currently used within medical education. Since their publication, the first edition of this book and its companionSkills for Communicating with Patients, have become standards texts in teaching communication skills throughout the world, 'the first entirely evidence-based textbooks on medical interviewing. It is essential reading for course organizers, those who teach or model communication skills, and program administrators.

Skills for Communicating with Patients, Third Edition is one of two companion books on improving communication in medicine which together provide a comprehensive approach to teaching and learning communication skills throughout all levels of medical education in both specialist and family medicine. Since their publication, the first edition of this book and its companion, Teaching and Learning Communication Skills in Medicine, have become established standard texts in communication skills teaching throughout the world. This substantially expanded third edition has been fully updated in relation to the current literature and revised to reflect the explosion of research on healthcare communication since the second edition was published in 2004. It incorporates considerable evidence in support of the skills of the Calgary-Cambridge Guides, offering a comprehensive and now even more evidence-based delineation of the skills that make a difference when communicating with patients. It explores the specific skills of doctor-patient communication and provides wide-ranging evidence of the improvement that those skills can make to health outcome and everyday clinical practice. It is unique in providing a secure platform of core skills which represent the foundations of doctor-patient communication. Skills for Communicating with Patients, Third Edition is essential reading for healthcare professionals at all levels, course organisers, facilitators and programme directors.

The World Is a Text is a popular composition textbook devoted to helping students to understand a variety of non-traditional texts and develop their skills as creators of texts. It teaches critical reading, writing, and argument in the context of pop-culture and visual examples, showing students how to "read" everyday objects and visual texts. The book shows show how texts of all kinds, from a painting to a university building to a pair of sneakers, make complex arguments through their use of semiotics, and shows students how to make these arguments in their own essays. This new compact edition is rich with images, real-world examples, writing and discussion prompts, and examples of student writing. New to the edition are chapters on fashion, sports, and nature and the environment.

The structures and landscapes of colleges both radiate and absorb the values of the cultures in which they were created. As economic and political forces exert pressure on administrators and as our understanding of higher education shifts, these spaces can transform dramatically. Focusing on the utopian visions and dystopian realities of American campus life, this collection of new essays examines the university architecture from the perspective of faculty and students. Topics include disability, sustainability, first-year writing, underrepresented groups on campus, online education, adjunct labor, and how funding works to physically shape colleges and university.