Students’ Verses Tug at Hearts in Competitive Poetry Slam

Declared ‘life-changing’ by spectators, the popular Poetry Slam delighted a packed audience and offered thoughtful reflection on issues dear to students

Making the Most of Your Research: Advice from Historical Authors

From immersing oneself in timely customs to the pain of parting with a compelling anecdote, historical writers detail their research and writing methods

Novelist Examines the Private Life of a Public Figure with Abraham Lincoln

Writer-in-residence Adam Braver revisits his inspiration and writing process for his 2009 novel, Mr. Lincoln’s Wars, as part of traveling Lincoln exhibition at RWU Library

J.R.R. Tolkien and his Influence on Modern Fantasy Writer Tamora Pierce

Tolkien’s writing of female and racial minority characters has been criticized as misogynistic and racist by many critics of Tolkien. However, these critics come to these conclusions due to the limited quantity of these characters overall, especially those of the female sex, and their involvement in the overall story’s plot. Tolkien uses women sparingly and because of this, each one has important characteristics and roles that they play. Therefore, if not invalidating the critics position on his supposed misogynistic views, then, at least, dissolving some of their support platforms. However, the roles that the women play are important in understanding Tolkien’s true moral and world view points. We are able to more clearly see these subtle aspects in Tolkien’s writing when we separate it from the moral overarching story of the One Ring. However, in order to do that, it helps to analyze these characters along with a mirror character that modern fantasy authors have created. Tamora Pierce is such a writer, and her characters in her first series align very succinctly with the characters in Tolkien’s series. Through a close character analysis, we are able to see that the criticisms lobbed at Tolkien for his treatment of Arwen and Éowyn are not as substantiated as some would believe

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Comparing Disinfection Options for Drinking Water Treatment

Drinking water treatment is essential to obtain a healthy source of water that can be distributed throughout a community. There are various methods to disinfect water, and all have trade-offs regarding public health and the environment. For example, chemical disinfectants that use chlorine can produce disinfection by-products within treated drinking water. The Environmental Protection Agency regulates these disinfection by-products because of their potential to cause cancer. Ultraviolet (UV) light is a physical disinfection method that does not produce these disinfection by-products, which is why it is becoming a preferred method for water treatment. For this research, I conducted a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) for chemical and physical disinfection methods. The main factors considered within this LCA were energy consumption and human toxicity risk. The results from my research support my original hypothesis that the assessed chemical disinfection method had less energy consumption and a higher human toxicity risk compared to the assessed physical disinfection method. The results show that each method has trade-offs and that this LCA can provide extensive knowledge on which disinfection method would work best for the Bethlehem, New Hampshire community based on the stakeholders’ priorities

King Cotton and the Rising Sun: The Japanese Navy’s Confederate Ironclad

When the American Civil War ended in 1865, the United States government sold off naval vessels as the country transitioned to Reconstruction. One of those vessels, the CSS Stonewall, traveled to countless and unexpected locations. The CSS Stonewall never fought in the American Civil War as it was intended to do, but instead was destined to fight in the civil war between the Japanese shogunate and emperor as the first ironclad warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy

Of the Human Heart : Personal Significance and the Key to Interpretation

About seven months ago, I was asked during an interview for my current internship what I thought the National Park Service could do to gain the interest of more millennials. This question was posed to me in light of the fact that I am a member of the millennial generation. And what was my incredibly insightful answer, you may ask? “I don’t know.” There were some rambling and incoherent sentences before I finally delivered that bombshell of a response, but that was my final answer, much to my embarrassment. Now that I am almost a month into my second National Park Service Internship at Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord, Massachusetts, I feel like I can answer that question, even if I am seven months late. [excerpt