Rutgers University Press Blog

Meet Kim Fellner, author of "Wrestling with Starbucks"

Kim Fellner, Wrestling with Starbucks
Friday, December 5
12:30 - 2 p.m.
Presidents Room
AFL-CIO
815 16th St. N.W., Washington, D.C

Bring your lunch.  We'll provide the coffee.  There'll be books to buy—perfect holiday gifts for the caffeinistas in our midst. Please RSVP to kfellner@workingamerica.org.

A GRANDE READ with that Cup of Java, Barista Please …

Recently Starbucks announced a net income drop 97 percent.  As the New York Times reported, “It may be painful for Starbucks investors to remember, but the company, based in Seattle, was once associated with predictable growth and cultural relevance.”

“Judging by its most recent quarterly results, Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) has a ways to go before it can turn things around. What better way to pass the time than by finding a comfy chair, kicking back with a latte, and reading a book on Starbucks? (Wrestling with Starbucks: Conscience, Capital, Cappuccino), by Kim Fellner, takes an insightful and impressively balanced look at the global face of premium coffee.  Fellner comes to the subject from a liberal background, complete with union work. This may not sound like the makings of a relevant book for investors, but I found her tome a compelling read.” – Alyce Lomax, The Motley Fool

More Q&A with Duane Nickell

(RUP)
But, I have to ask you, are there really aliens among us?

(DSN)
Hah … you must be referring to the picture here of me at Roswell. Well, let me just say I do detail some terrific “Out-of-This-World Experiences.” The last chapter is devoted to the top ten space-related experiences – you can help search for E.T., book a stay at a telescope hotel, actually live in an astronomy village, attend a star party with amateur astronomers at a remote location, train like an astronaut, and more.

       Author Duane Nickell in Roswell.

(RUP)
Well, now that you’ve taken your own leap into outer space, and invited readers to accompany you, what next?

(DSN)
Well, as you know, this is the first book in RUP’s new Scientific Traveler series.  Each book coming will continue to highlight places to visit that will interest teachers, like me, vacationers, and science enthusiasts, with stories and details behind the sites, museums, attractions. Right now I’m working on the second book in the series focusing on the disciplines of physics and chemistry. Chapters will include the people who do physics and chemistry, the places they do their work, and some of the results of their efforts -- nuclear weapons and energy, for example, very timely topics.

(RUP)
Thanks Duane – you’ve just given readers of Guidebook for the Scientific Traveler lots to look forward to – best of success in your scientific travels!

Q&A with Duane S. Nickell

“Do you love visiting the planetarium? Are you fascinated by the history of NASA? Is seeing the Northern Lights on your life list?  If so, Guidebook for the Scientific Traveler: Visiting Astronomy and Space Exploration Sites Across America by Duane S. Nickell (Rutgers University Press, $21.95) can help you plan your next trips.”
—Associated Press

An Interview with Duane S. Nickell (DSN), author of Guidebook for the Scientific Traveler

(RUP)
Guidebook for the Scientific Traveler is a terrific concept. Not only does it identify more than 50 of the most important and intriguing astronomical and space-related sites across the United States, but to top it off you provide readers with an informative histories, back-stories, and visiting information … how did you think of it?

(DSN)
My inspiration for Guidebook for the Scientific Traveler came about as a result of a “scientific” tour of Europe I took back about five years ago, funded by a Teacher Creativity Fellowship from the Lilly Endowment.

Whenever I go on a trip, I always carry with me several travel guides to help me find a good (and cheap) place to stay, decent (and cheap) food to eat, and, most importantly, to ensure that I don’t miss anything at my destination or along the way. What a disappointment it is to visit someplace, return home, only to find out there was some site or event of extreme interest to you that you missed out on.

A few years ago on a trip to Europe I had with me an unusual book geared to science enthusists.  After returning home, at some point it occurred to me that, as far as I was aware, no such scientific guidebook existed for the United States.

Obamanitos

Morley Winograd and Mike Hais, authors of Millennial Makeover, were interviewed yesterday by MSNBC.COM about young people and President Obama:

Through a steady stream of texts and Twitters, experts agree Obama has managed to excite young voters by meeting them where they live — online.

“This is a group of people who are constantly checking in with everybody else in their circle to make a decision,” says Morley Winograd, the co-author of “Millennial Makeover: MySpace, YouTube, and the Future of American Politics” and a former adviser to Vice President Al Gore. He defines Millennials as ages 18 to 26.

“This is a generation that doesn't tend to think about asking experts for opinion," Winograd says. "They tend to ask each other, and then that becomes the truth."

Watch Morley and Mike at VROMAN'S in Los Angeles, courtesy of CSPAN'S BOOK TV:

Ed Brooke, Barack Obama, and the Color of American Politics

Jason Sokol, writing on the site HISTORY NEWS NETWORK, compares Barack Obama to Edward Brooke, author of Bridging the Divide :

Obama faces a taller task than Brooke, and a much different one. Obama’s message must resonate beyond Massachusetts – below the Mason-Dixon line and west of the Mississippi River. And although 2008 presents us with a very different political and racial world than 1966, Brooke’s campaign anticipated Obama’s in some crucial ways: from the prodigious obstacles Brooke confronted to his unique interracial appeal.

Below, Senator Brooke with Rutgers University Press Director Marlie Wasserman at the Eagleton Institute of Politics last February.

New Website

Rutgers University Press has unveiled a new website! Check it out here.