The University of Maryland’s Art Library is scheduled to close and be absorbed into the McKeldin Library collection. Dean of Libraries, Patricia Steele announced this decision during the summer, while faculty and students were away from campus, without any consultation with the Department of Art or the Department of Art History & Archaeology, whose students and faculty rely on the Art Library’s collections for their research and teaching. At more than 100,000 volumes, the Art Library houses one of the most comprehensive collections of art historical resources in the area. The Architecture Library was slated to close before the beginning of fall semester, but that closure has been delayed, in part as a result of the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation’s petition and letter-writing campaign. Both libraries are currently still open but the hours have been cut back substantially. During the fall semester, the Art Library will be open only from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. The current hours will make it very difficult for faculty and graduate students to use the collections, since they are teaching and/or taking classes during these times. Despite university budget crises in recent years, top art history programs around the country have maintained dedicated art libraries. These libraries are not only essential for the research and teaching of faculty and graduate students—they also factor into national rankings. The university library system serves several user populations with differing needs, and branch libraries are particularly important to the graduate and faculty communities. The University of Maryland should strive to support not only undergraduate students, but also the graduate students and faculty whose research endeavors uphold the University’s status as a prominent research institution. A counter-argument will probably be made by UMD Libraries that moving these two satellite libraries' collections to McKeldin will make them more accessible to students during the long hours that McKeldin is open. However, McKeldin's stacks are already quite crowded as it is and last year many books on the fifth floor were damaged by mold caused by a faulty HVAC system and were discarded. Although we do not know this to be certain, there is concern that many of the books could be moved to offsite storage, making them even less accessible to students and faculty. A major concern within the Department of Art History, among other things, is that the closure of the Art Library will make research much more difficult for current faculty and students and will diminish the attractiveness of our program to prospective students and future faculty members. Please help save the University of Maryland’s Art Library by signing our petition and sharing it with friends and family who understand the importance of this academic resource for the University at large.

A ball carrier in football needs to be held accountable for stiff arms to the face mask. Not only is it dangerous for the defender, but it also creates a unique, unfair advantage for the runner. There is consequence for "grabbing" the face mask but simply pushing a defensive player's face mask while carrying the ball is completely legal under the current NFL rules. Ball carriers need to be held to the same standards as their would-be tacklers. I say throw a flag and take this play out of a ball-carrier's arsenal!

I am disgusted that this country allows military dogs to go overseas and do our bidding but then are abandoned there and tagged as "unneeded equipment". Our cargo planes come home half empty and there is no excuse for abandoning these heroes overseas. There are plenty of soldiers and organizations that would help find these canine heroes good and loving homes.

Charter corporations are competing to take over York City schools and profit from our kids. If that happens, our tax dollars will go to a private corporation to run our schools without the same oversight or accountability we now have. Charter CEOs will make a killing, but you will lose your say in how neighborhood schools are run. Local taxpayers and elected officials should be making decisions about our children's education. Help us stop the corporate takeover of York City schools!

I as well as many other students think that it is unfair to us that the Mackenzie Complex and the Main Gate Complexes no longer have cleaners while all of the other buildings have cleaners. I have gone to this school for 3 years now and this is the first semester that I have had to clean my own bathroom. I as well as the other students think that if you are going to cut our cleaners then you should reduce the amount that we have to pay to go to Alfred State.

Inflating tuition, inflating debt and inflating administrative pockets According to a study by The Institute for Policy Studies [IPS] institutions with higher paid presidents showed a correlation to declining permanent faculty, greater than national average student loan debt increases, and non-benefited part-time faculty grew significantly faster under these inflated administrations. The most inflated administrative salary institutions boasted twice as much spending on administrative salaries as funding for student scholarships! Our taxes should fund the education of the population. The expensive board-members, presidents, principals, and superintendents have profited for too long cutting funds by decreasing scholarships, limiting offered classes and extra-curricular and siphoning money away from the faculty. If the highest paid coach, principal, president, board-member was limited to the 95th highest percentile salary of faculty members, either faculty wages must increase or administrative bodies must allocate their salaries elsewhere. The Huffington Post reported numerous public college presidents take home over 500,000 up to millions a year in salary; the equivalent of 50 student's tuition or 8 full time faculty.

There have been to many incidents where dogs have been severely injured or killed while performing the duties of protecting their home. In some cases, non-reactive dogs have been killed as well. A dog by the name Kilo Stray "Papa Bear" was recently tased and euthanized because officers entered a home and would not let the responsible adult put him away. This petition calls upon the Senate to pass a law that states if there are posted signs at all entries saying that there are dogs inside, officers are required to bring a person from the animal control department to safely restrain any dogs, so the officers may focus on executing their duties without hurting any human companions in the process.

In 2012, the State suspended the voter-elected Board of Trustees of City College of San Francisco, even though the Board passed a balanced budget and an accreditation plan that is now mostly completed. Decisions are now made in back rooms without public oversight, resulting in sky-rocketing administrators' salaries. It's time to put the public back in control of City College and other California Community Colleges.

The U.S. Senate just voted 79-18 to advance Senate Joint Resolution 19, the Democracy for All constitutional amendment that would overturn Citizens United, to a vote on Thursday! This is a momentous opportunity to get Senators on record whether or not they think money is speech. SJR 19 would make history if a majority of the Senate votes for it, even if it doesn’t get the 2/3 needed to pass. Plus, it will show exactly which senators stand with voters -- and which stand with the wealthy interests who want to buy elections with unlimited money. Sign the petition thanking Senators Boxer and Feinstein for co-sponsoring and urging them to fight for it now.

My niece Gabriela just transferred to Science Park H.S. It's a great opportunity she couldn't miss. Unfortunately she lives about 3 miles from the school and her parents can't take her. The school offers free tickets to take NJTransit but family members don't feel safe enough letting this 7th grade girl going by herself. Children safety should be a big priority in the city of Newark, especially with so many sex offenders living in this city. There are hundreds of other parents struggling with the same issue.

I am tired of children who bully ASD children getting slaps on the wrists. These are hate crimes and should be treated as such.

I grew up in NYC and saw homeless people living on the streets. As a child I wondered, why don't we give them a home? As an adult I know that we have the answers, but first, we need to pass a bill that acknowledges that 'shelter is a basic human right.'