By the turn of the twentieth century, academic nativism had taken root in elite American colleges—specifically, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant hegemony was endangered by new kinds of student, many of them Catholic and Jewish immigrants. The newcomers threatened to displace native-born Americans by raising academic standards and winning a disproportionate share of the scholarships. The Half-Opened Door analyzes the role of these institutions, casting light on their place in class structure and values in the United States. It details the origins, history, and demise of discriminatory admissions processes and depicts how the entrenched position of the upper class was successfully challenged. The educational, and hence economic, mobility of Catholics and Jews has shown other groups—for example, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Spanish-speaking Americans—not only the difficulties that these earlier aspirants had in overcoming class and ethnic barriers, but the fact that it can be done. One of the ironies of the history of higher education in the United States is the use of quotas by admissions committees. Restrictive measures were imposed on Jews because they were so successful, whereas benign quotas are currently used to encourage underrepresented minorities to enter colleges and professional schools. The competing claims of both the older and the newer minorities continue to be the subject of controversy, editorial comments, and court cases—and will be for years to come.

Originally published: Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1979.

"Powerful . . . well-documented, well-written, and most informative, ("Calculated Kindness") is . . . for all Americans who wish to better understand the often competing policies and principles that have regulated immigrations practices in the United States".--(Rev.) Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., President, University of Notre Dame.

The contemporary Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer has a prestigious worldwide reputation-- many expect that he will someday win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Robert Bly, a longtime friend and confidant of Tranströmer’s, as well as one of his first translators, has carefully chosen and translated the finest of Tranströmer’s poems to create this collection.

A “funny and sweetly oddball” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) novel about an odd-couple friendship formed by a mission to make their high school to suck less, for readers “seeking doors to the universe" (Booklist, starred review) and a razor sharp, moving, and outrageously funny read. Cliff Hubbard is a huge loser. Literally. His nickname at Happy Valley High School is Neanderthal because he’s so enormous—6’6” and 250 pounds to be exact. He has nobody at school, and life in his trailer-park home has gone from bad to worse ever since his older brother’s suicide. And there’s no one Cliff hates more than the nauseatingly cool quarterback Aaron Zimmerman, who after a near-death experience claims God gave him a list of things to do to make Happy Valley High suck less. And God said there’s only one person who can help: Neanderthal. To his own surprise, Cliff says he’s in. As he and Aaron make their way through the List, which involves a vindictive English teacher, a mysterious computer hacker, a decidedly unchristian cult of Jesus Teens, the local drug dealers, and the meanest bully at HVHS, Cliff feels like he’s part of something for the first time since losing his brother. But fixing a broken school isn’t as simple as it seems, and just when Cliff thinks they’ve completed the List, he realizes their mission hits closer to home than he ever imagined.

"They believed they had come to the last turning of the wheel." When the Bloodmoon rose, death came rushing into the world. Now the water is bitter, blight consumes everything, and the Crone haunts the hills. While the Druid of Blackthorn searches desperately for hope, the Ovate returns from the underworld bringing omens of despair. But Idris, the young bard, Keeper of the Sacred Word, will walk through fire and iron to uncover a question no one has ever dared to ask--a question that carries a world of answers on its back, a question that can change everything. But his time is short. The land is dying. And the Bloodmoon is rising again.