The James Logan Courier

By Bay Fang
Chicago Tribune (MCT)

NEW YORK — Confronted by withering criticism from his host and protests on the streets, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed back in a speech at Columbia University on Monday, defending his country's human-rights record and denouncing the Bush administration for limiting his country's nuclear ambitions.

In his introduction, Columbia President Lee Bollinger explained his controversial decision to give Ahmadinejad a platform, saying this was a chance to "confront the mind of evil." He then turned to Ahmadinejad, saying, "Let's then be clear at the beginning, Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator."

By VOA News
Witnesses in Burma say security forces have raided two Buddhist monasteries in the main city Rangoon and arrested at least 100 monks accused of organizing anti-government protests.

Military forces are reported to have stormed the monasteries early Thursday morning, beating some of the maroon-robed monks.

Monks, who are highly revered in the Buddhist country, have been leading pro-democracy marches in Burma, posing the greatest challenge to the military-government in two decades.

Government troops opened fire on the monks and other protesters in Rangoon Wednesday in an effort to stop the week-long protests.

The Burmese government says one person was killed, but witnesses say at least five people died in the violence. Witnesses said more than 100 people were arrested and hundreds more injured when police beat activists and sprayed the crowd with tear gas.

By Rick Popely
Chicago Tribune (MCT)

DETROIT — The United Auto Workers union reached agreement early Wednesday on a historic four-year contract with General Motors Corp., ending a two-day strike and shifting a $51 billion liability for retiree health care to a union-run trust fund.

GM shares rose as much as 7 percent on the news Wednesday morning, on the New York Stock Exchange.

GM has carried that liability, but the UAW will now manage it in a voluntary employee beneficiary association, or VEBA, assuming future risks of rising health-care costs.

Details of the contract weren't released, but sources familiar with the terms said it includes lump-sum bonuses instead of annual wage increases, assurances that GM will preserve UAW jobs at U.S. plants and lower pay for new hires and workers who perform non-production related jobs such as janitorial duty.

By Krystal Henderson, Courier Staff Writer

More than two dozen Logan students met at the flag pole this morning to pray as part of the national "See You at the Pole" day to promote prayer.

According to the organizers' website, syatp.com, "See You at the Pole™ is a student-led, student-initiated movement of prayer that revolves around students praying together on the fourth Wednesday of September, usually before school and usually at the school’s flagpole. It involves students in elementary schools, middle/junior high schools, high schools, and colleges/ universities all over the world. Adults often pray in support of the students on campus by gathering nearby, at their places of work or worship, or at city
halls."

McClatchy-Tribune News Service
(MCT)

Here are the best-sellers for the week that ended Saturday, Sept. 15, compiled from data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide.

(Reprinted from Publishers Weekly, published by Cahners Publishing Co., a division of Reed Elsevier, USA. (c) 2007 by Reed Elsevier, USA)

HARDCOVER FICTION
1. You've Been Warned. James Patterson & Howard Roughan. Little, Brown, $27.99
Last Week: -; Weeks on List: 1
2. A Thousand Splendid Suns. Khaled Hosseini. Riverhead, $25.95
Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 17
3. Pontoon. Garrison Keillor. Viking, $25.95
Last Week: -; Weeks on List: 1
4. The Wheel of Darkness. Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. Grand Central, $25.99
Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 3
5. Bones to Ashes. Kathy Reichs. Scribner, $25.95
Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 3
6. The Quickie. James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge. Little, Brown, $27.99
Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 11
7. Dark Possession. Christine Feehan. Berkley, $24.95
Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 3
8. The Elves of Cintra. Terry Brooks. Del Rey, $26.95
Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 3
9. Garden Spells. Sarah Addison Allen. Bantam, $20
Last Week: 14; Weeks on List: 2
10. HeartSick. Chelsea Cain. St. Martin's Minotaur, $23.95
Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 2

Note: Each week, The Courier spotlights books newly arrived, or expected to arrive, in the James Logan Media Center.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 784 pages
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books; 1st edition (July 21, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0545010225
ISBN-13: 978-0545010221

From wikipedia:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the seventh and final book of Harry Potter novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The book was released on July 21, 2007, ending the series that began in 1997 with the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. This book chronicles the events directly following Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005), and leads to the long-awaited final confrontation between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort.

Reviewed by Abhishek Saluja, Courier Book Reviewer

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson
Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: Signet Classics (September 2, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0451528956
ISBN-13: 978-0451528957

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, is a novel about the dual personality of a doctor, who creates a potion which allows him to separate completely his good and bad personalities.

Read The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, one of 60 of his works available free from Project Gutenberg.

From wikipedia:
Edith Abbott (September 26, 1876 – July 28, 1957) was a social worker, educator, and author. Abbott was born in Grand Island, Nebraska. Her younger sister was Grace Abbott.

In 1893, Abbott graduated from Brownell Hall, a girls' boarding school in Omaha. However, her family could not afford to send her to college, so she began teaching high school in Grand Island. She took correspondence courses and attended summer sessions until she earned a degree from the University of Nebraska in 1901. After two more years as a teacher, Abbott attended the University of Chicago and received a Ph.D. in economics in 1905.

Read Women in industry: a study in American economic history by Edith Abbott, one of five of her articles available free from Harvard University.