Information Resource Centers
About the USA - Virtual Classroom Newsletter
April 2007
Earth Day - April 22, 2007
The first Earth Day, April 22, 1970, was one of the events that launched the modern environmental movement. Senator Gaylord Nelson called for an Environmental Teach-in or Earth Day to be held on April 22, 1970. He took a leading role in organizing the celebration, in which over 20 million people across the United States participated calling on the government to adopt policies to clean up and protect the environment. U.S. government officials responded: Congress enacted laws to clean the air and protect drinking water, wildlife habitats, and the ocean. Congress also created the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, to oversee the nation's progress on the environment. Currently the EPA spends most of its 7.5 billion dollar yearly budget on research and technology to reduce the threat of climate change. In recent years, climate change has become a major focus of Earth Day activities.
New Publication: Rachel Carson, 1907–1964
A shy, unassuming scientist and former civil servant, Rachel Carson seemed an unlikely candidate to become one of the most influential women in modern America. But Carson had two lifelong passions — a love of nature and a love of writing — that compelled her in 1962 to publish Silent Spring, the book that awakened environmental consciousness in the American public and led to an unprecedented national effort to safeguard the natural world from chemical destruction.
EU/US Summits 1990- 2007
The United States will host the next annual U.S.-EU Summit in Washington, D.C., on April 30, 2007. Regular U.S.-EU summit meetings have taken place since 1990. The 1990 U.S.-EU Transatlantic Declaration set out principles for greater consultation, and established regular summit and ministerial meetings.
Teaching Literature: "Holes" by Louis Sachar
This award-winning novel explores themes of poverty, homelessness and illiteracy, along with issues of family, destiny, race, bullying and teenage alienation, without being condescending, through its strong and strangely humorous narrative.
This Month: National Poetry Month
Inaugurated by the Academy in April 1996, National Poetry Month (NPM) brings together publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools, and poets around the country to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture.
This Month: Jazz Appreciation Month
Jazz Appreciation Month (or JAM) is intended to draw public attention to the glories of jazz as both an historical and a living treasure. Initiated by the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, JAM aims to focus public attention on the music, and on the many talented composers, musicians and other contributors to "the sound."
Talking About Media
The New Media Age: End of the Written Word?
Futurist, March-April 2007, v41, #2
In a series of articles, experts compare the evidence that the "mid-21st century will bring a post-literate society where digital technologies will have rendered the written word obsolete."
Webchat Station
Muslim Women in America - April 16 - 15:00
Studying and Working in the U.S. - April 16 - 15:00 | May 14 – 15:00
Doing Business with and in the U.S. - April 24, 11:00
How to register for webchats
