Gap Narrowing between Women's and Men's Income

Women whose careers began last year found that they were paid 93% of what men received, based on a study from the Pew Research Center. This figure is in stark contrast to 1980 where women only made 67% of men's salaries ("Salaries of ‘Millennial’ Women Reach 93 Percent of Men’s," Bloomberg News, December 10, 2013). This report was released in the same week that General Motors announced that Mary Barra would become their first female CEO in January 2014.

Review selected library titles related to women and wages at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a listed item, select the "Request" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to reserve for pick up at the library.

Use these subject words and phrases to find more in the library catalog:

• equal pay for equal work
• pay equity
• wages women
• women executives

Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg with Nell Scovell - Knopf, 2013.
call number: 306.848 Pie
"Sandberg's awareness of how few women hold positions of power in today's companies has increased her determination to help women advance. This book offers her take on ways for women to improve their situation, such as being more self-confident, acquiring a mentor, remaining engaged, getting more help at home, etc."  - Library Journal review excerpt

Fifty Years after the Equal Pay Act: Assessing the Past,Taking Stock of the Future - National Equal Pay Task Force, 2013. call number: online government document
"After reviewing five decades of data, the report addresses the status of equal pay for women today, the pay gap and other persistent challenges that remain in light of the fact that continued momentum has stalled in recent years. In  the final section entitled,  “2010 and Beyond,” the report reflects on the efforts of President Barack Obama’s Administration to eliminate the pay gap and on the federal equal pay agenda moving forward." - report excerpt

New Jersey Becomes 14th State to Allow Same-Sex Marriage

Governor Chris Christie withdrew his appeal to the New Jersey Supreme Court, which allowed same-sex marriages to be legal in his state beginning at midnight on October 21. Fourteen states now permit such unions.  ("NJ Gov. Christie Drops Gay Marriage Case, Risking Some Republican Ire," Reuters, October 21, 2013).

Review selected library titles related to the same-sex marriage at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a listed item, select the "Request" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to reserve for pick up at the library.

Use these subject words and phrases to find more in the library catalog:

• civil unions
• gay couples
• gay rights
• same-sex marriage

Same-Sex Marriage in the United States: The Road to the Supreme Court by Jason Pierceson - Rowman and Littlefield, 2013. call number: 306.848 Pie
"Pierceson (political science, Univ. of Illinois, Springfield) . . . examines legislative and judicial action on the matter as it has arisen in state after state, producing an excellent survey of the litigation and legislation related to same-sex marriage."  - Library Journal review excerpt

From the Closet to the Altar: Courts, Backlash, and the Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage by Michael J. Klarman  - Oxford, 2013. call number: 346.73 Kla
"Harvard Law School's Klarman does a remarkable job using the debate over gay marriage as a lens for examining the factors that will go into the Court's inevitable engagement with the issue. . . (He) effectively conveys the history of the issue, from the 1950s to 2012, and provides just enough detail to allow lay readers to emerge with an informed understanding of the twisted path same-sex marriage has taken." - Publishers Weekly review excerpt

Government Shutdown Crisis and the Tea Party Movement

What's next for Ted Cruz and The Tea Party since the government shutdown came to an end? He met with House and Senate Democrats and Republicans from Texas to discuss how to work on issues important to the state.  ("Tea Party Senator Not Sorry for His Role in Budget Impasse," The (Toronto) Globe and Mail, October 16, 2013).

Review selected library titles related to the Tea Party and conservatism at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a listed item, select the "Request" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to reserve for pick up at the library.

Use these subject words and phrases to find more in the library catalog:

• Tea Party movement
• conservatism
• United States politics

The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism by Theda Skocpol and Vanessa Williamson - Oxford, 2012. call number: 320.52 Sko
"(The authors) conducted interviews with Tea Party members to explain the forces giving rise to the movement and its impact on the GOP and the U.S. political system. Aptly demonstrated are the Tea Party's overriding desires to remove President Obama from office and, as important, move the GOP, seen by the Tea Party as too moderate, to the extreme right."  - Library Journal review excerpt

Covenant of Liberty: The Ideological Origins of the Tea Party Movement by Michael Patrick Leahy  - Broadside Books, 2012.
call number: 320.52 Lea
"Leahy, an early activist and new media champion of the Tea Party, systematically and reasonably defends the movement as more than a flash in the pan, and suggests that it has its roots in the limited government ethos of Jefferson and the founding fathers. According to Leahy, the federal government has historically broken four key promises that the founders agreed to in principle: to abide by the written words of the Constitution; refrain from interfering with free markets; uphold the traditions and customs of the "fiscal constitution"; and commit to thoughtful deliberation in Congress." - Publishers Weekly review excerpt

China-U.S. Greenhouse Gas/Climate Change Agreement

China and the U.S. joined forces to develop projects that collect carbon dioxide and take other steps to deal with greenhouse gases that are linked to global warming ("U.S., China Agree on Climate Steps to Curb Emissions," The Washington Post, July 10, 2013).

Review selected library titles related to greenhouse gases and climate change at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a listed item, select the "Request" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to reserve for pick up at the library.

Use these subject words and phrases to find more in the library catalog:

• climate change mitigation
• climatic changes
• energy policy
• environmental policy
• global environmental change
• global warming
• greenhouse gas mitigation

Earthmasters: The Dawn of the Age of Climate Engineering by Clive Hamilton - Yale, 2013. call number: 551.68 Ham
"This book goes to the heart of the unfolding reality of the twenty-first century: international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have all failed, and before the end of the century Earth is projected to be warmer than it has been for 15 million years. . . He (Hamilton) lays out the arguments for and against climate engineering, and reveals the extent of vested interests linking researchers, venture capitalists, and corporations."  - publishers summary excerpt

Climate Change edited by Arthur Gillard - Greenhaven, 2011.
call number: Gale Virtual Reference Library database
Note: Login with your Lone Star College ID/library card barcode number to view the eBook off campus. "Humans are causing catastrophic climate change / James Lovelock -- Climate change skeptics are deceiving the public / Jeffrey Sachs -- Climate change scientists are to blame for increasing public doubt / Anne McElvoy -- A Drastic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is needed to prevent climate change / Ronnie Cummins & Will Allen -- An emission reduction strategy would cause more harm than climate change" - table of contents excerpt