Use of Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Baseball

Add two more Major League Baseball players, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, to the 2003 performance-enhancing drugs positive test list based on word from attorneys who disclosed the information anonymously ("Ortiz and Ramirez Said to Be on 2003 Doping List" - New York Times, July 30, 2009). The latest report chronicles baseball's first steroid test in 2003, where the results eventually became part of a federal investigation against the wishes of the baseball players union. Ramirez recently concluded a "50-game suspension for violating baseball’s drug policy." Other players including Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, and Alex Rodriguez have been mentioned as testing positive in 2003 as well.

Review selected library titles related to performance-enhancing drugs and baseball at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a book, 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. Call the library at 281-290-3219 to check your PIN if you do not remember it. Use these subject words and phrases to find more in the library catalog:

• baseball players drug use
• steroids
  
• doping in sports
• athletes drug use

American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids America's Pastime by the New York Daily News Sports Investigative Team - Knopf, 2009.
call number: 796.357 Ame
"Relying on hundreds of on- and off-the-record interviews and access to public and private documents, this is an intricate and compelling case in which there are no heroes, but a notable villain-the League itself-whose lax approach to the issue ensures baseball's steroids era isn't over." - Publishers Weekly review excerpt

Bases Loaded: The Inside Story of the Steroid Era in Baseball by the Central Figure in the Mitchell Report by Kirk Radomski - Hudson Street Press, 2009.
call number: 796.357 Rad
"Radomski, a former New York Mets employee, pleaded guilty to distributing anabolic steroids to dozens of major league players between 1995 and 2005." - publisher's summary excerpt

Performance Enhancing Drugs edited by Louise Gerdes - Greenhaven Press, 2008.
call number: 362.29 Per
Includes chapters on antidoping policies, drug testing programs, and teen athlete use of performance enhancing drugs - publisher's table of contents excerpt

Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars, and the Battle to Save Baseball by Jose Canseco - Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2008.
call number: B Cansec
"He talks candidly about what the Mitchell Report did -- and didn't -- get right, why steroid use became so rampant, and how his life has changed since he tore the lid off Pandora's box." - publisher's summary excerpt

Can Processed Food Actually Curb Hunger?

Processed food can be altered with an additive to slow the rate that food leaves the stomach, keeping eaters feeling satisfied longer ("Foods May Soon Be Modified 'To Make You Feel Full for Twice as Long'" - Daily Telegraph (UK), June 3, 2009). The Institute of Food Research and Nottingham University discovered that this satiation of hunger can be achieved with an existing stabilizer, Tween 60. Research subjects said the addition of Tween 60 made them "feel fuller, less hungry and have less appetite" in contrast to another stabilizer that separated water and oil in their stomachs.

Review selected library titles related to food processing and obesity at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a book, 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. Call the library at 281-290-3219 to check your PIN if you do not remember it. Use these subject words and phrases to find more in the library catalog:

• food habits
• food industry and trade
  
• food marketing
  
• obesity

Stuffed: An Insider's Look at Who's (Really) Making America Fat by Hank Cardello - Ecco Press, 2009
call number: 616.398 Car
"The obesity epidemic in particular, he argues, is connected to food businesses that control 'almost everything the average American eats.' Although the tone ranges from finger-wagging polemic to reformist optimism, the author does sketch out several solutions." - Publishers Weekly review excerpt

The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite by David A. Kessler - Rodale: distributed to the trade by Macmillan, 2009
call number: 613.2 Kes
"Although not everyone succumbs, more people of all ages are being set up for a lifetime of food obsession due to the ever-present availability of foods laden with salt, fat and sugar. A gentle though urgent plea for reform, Kessler's book provides a simple "food rehab" program to fight back against the industry's relentless quest for profits while an entire country of people gain weight and get sick." - Publishers Weekly review excerpt

The Fattening of America: How the Economy Makes Us Fat, If It Matters, and What to Do about It by Eric Finkelstein and Laurie Zuckerman - Wiley, 2008
call number: 362.196 Fin
"Along with health-care writer Zuckerman, researcher Finkelstein delves into how modern technology reduces the cost of producing higher-calorie processed goods, decreases our activity level and puts our health in danger." - Publishers Weekly review excerpt

North Korea's Missile Tests Escalate War of Words

Diplomacy with allies failed to produce a resolution of North Korea's nuclear build up, so the U.S. is looking at defensive tactics against missile testing sanctioned by Pyongyang ("U.S., Allies Prepare for Tougher Response to N. Korea" - Reuters, May 31, 2009). While Japan, China, Russia and South Korea continue to work with the United States for a peaceful agreement with North Korea, the U.N. Security Council called for "strict enforcement of sanctions imposed after the North's first atomic test in October 2006." Meanwhile, North Korea said that they nullified the truce after the Korean War and retaliation against South Korea is possible.

Review selected library titles related to North Korean nuclear power and foreign relations at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a book, 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. Call the library at 281-290-3219 to check your PIN if you do not remember it. Use these subject words and phrases to find more in the library catalog:

• North Korea foreign relations
  
• North Korea nuclear weapons
• North Korea nuclear nonproliferation

Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis by Mike Chinoy - St. Martin's Press, 2008.
call number: 327.73 Chi
"Fine, insightful diplomatic history of a dire confrontation and a hard-hitting critique of the Bush administration's foreign policy." - Publishers Weekly review excerpt

North & South Korea edited by Louise I. Gerdes - Greenhaven, 2007.
call number: 327.73 Nor
"Explores both sides of issues related to Korea and its relationship with the United States, including the military threat from North Korea." - publisher's summary excerpt

Worst of the Worst: Dealing with Repressive and Rogue Nations - Brookings Institution Press, 2007.
call number: 323.49 Wor (NOTE: p. 89 begins a chapter on North Korea: The Tyranny of Deprivation)
"Identifies and characterizes the most repressive states and singles out which are aggressive" - publisher's summary excerpt

Inside North Korea [videorecording] produced by Pangloss Films for National Geographic Television & Film (distributed by Warner Home Video), 2007.
call number: DVD Nonfiction 951.93 Ins
"A comprehensive look at . . . the tense world of the Demilitarized Zone to the surreal life of the Dear Leader Kim Jong II." - publishers summary excerpt