In his first nine years as a teacher, Brendan Halpin goes from wide-eyed idealist to cynical, heartbroken idealist. Unique among teaching memoirs, Losing My Faculties is not the story of a heroic teacher who transforms the lives of his hardbitten students; rather, it’s the inspirational and often unpretty truth about people who choose to get up ridiculously early day after day and year after year to go stand in front of teenagers. It’s also a rarely-seen, all-access view of both suburban and urban education, including the ugly truth behind the mythology at a much-hyped charter school.

Until very recently, American universities were led mainly by their faculties, which viewed intellectual production and pedagogy as the core missions of higher education. Today, as Benjamin Ginsberg warns in this eye-opening, controversial book, "deanlets"--administrators and staffers often without serious academic backgrounds or experience--are setting the educational agenda.The Fall of the Faculty examines the fallout of rampant administrative blight that now plagues the nation's universities. In the past decade, universities have added layers of administrators and staffers to their payrolls every year even while laying off full-time faculty in increasing numbers--ostensibly because of budget cuts. In a further irony, many of the newly minted--and non-academic--administrators are career managers who downplay the importance of teaching and research, as evidenced by their tireless advocacy for a banal "life skills" curriculum. Consequently, students are denied a more enriching educational experience--one defined by intellectual rigor. Ginsberg also reveals how the legitimate grievances of minority groups and liberal activists, which were traditionally championed by faculty members, have, in the hands of administrators, been reduced to chess pieces in a game of power politics. By embracing initiatives such as affirmative action, the administration gained favor with these groups and legitimized a thinly cloaked gambit to bolster their power over the faculty.As troubling as this trend has become, there are ways to reverse it. The Fall of the Faculty outlines how we can revamp the system so that real educators can regain their voice in curriculum policy.

Enraged screams filled his head. Deadly shapes bore down. Animal and man driven by one single thought. Kill or be killed. Neither wanted to die. Falsely accused of a terrible crime, impetuous young aristocrat Lord Dallas Acheson is forced to flee his native Scotland, leaving behind the only woman he has ever loved–Lady Lorna de Iongh. From that day onwards, he must learn to live a different life in a land where danger is an ever-present partner. Fate takes him to southern Africa and the emerging seaport of Durban, from where he sets off to trade and hunt, seeking his fortune in the little-travelled midlands of Natal and the wilds of Zululand. Tested to the limit, Dallas discovers more than he could have imagined. Married to a woman he doesn't love, he yearns to abandon the restraints of nineteenth-century society to be with Lorna. And when the Zulu war breaks out, finds himself torn between old and new loyalties, required to be an enemy of the land that is now his true home.

Overstrand 1895. Lawrence Harpham and Violet Smith are witnesses to suicide while on holiday. Beneath the body, lies a bible belonging to a murdered man. Clues lead to the violent death of a bookseller and a chilling confession from the past. From Norfolk to Liverpool, investigations point to the unsolved murder of Fanny Nunn in the town of Diss. But how are the murders connected? Why do the parish registers contain so many unnatural deaths? As Lawrence and Violet close in on the killer, Lawrence discovers a long-kept secret about his wife's death. Can he overcome his demons, and will they stop the murders before more lives are lost?

Josefina B. Magno, M.D was the First Executive Director of the National Hospice Organization of the United States (NHO). During her lifetime, hospices and palliative care services grew to over 8000 in 100 countries - many with her help. "Jo" Magno recalls for us the inspiring stories of her childhood, marriage, becoming a widow, and surviving cancer - all steps leading her to become a hospice physician. She remembers her first patients - Ruth, Florence, Eugene and others. She recounts the struggles and obstacles she overcame with the wonderful volunteers and staff and friends she worked with in Northern Virginia, Michigan, Texas, and around the world to pioneer changes in care for the terminally ill. Jo's Catholic faith sustained her and gave her courage in her work and personal life. She attributed any success to God and the inspiration of the saints she loved- Saint Josemaria Escriva and Saint Joseph - to whom she dedicated all her work. "What an amazing story of faith and accomplishment. On Capital Hospice's 30th anniversary and on behalf of the over 50,000 patients cared for, we celebrate and appreciate Jo's inspiration." -Malene Davis, President and CEO of Capital Hospice