First Class

When Sharon Hanley Disher entered the U.S. Naval Academy with eighty other young women in 1976, she helped end a 131-year all-male tradition at Annapolis. Her entertaining and shocking account of the women's four-year effort to join the academy's elite fraternity and become commissioned naval officers is a valuable chronicle of the times, and her insights have been credited with helping us understand the challenges of integrating women into the military services. From the punishing crucible of plebe summer to the triumph of graduation, she describes their search for ways to survive the mental and physical hurdles they had to overcome. Unflinchingly frank, she freely discusses the prejudice and abuse they encountered that often went unpunished or unreported. A loyal Navy supporter, nevertheless, Disher provides a balanced account of life behind the academy's storied walls for that first group of teenaged women who charted the way for future female midshipmen. Lively, well researched, and amazingly good humored, the book seems as fresh today as it was when first published in hardcover in 1998.

Did you know that in the United States alone, more than one in four children live in a home without a father? When Alec Lace recognized this crisis and launched his parenting podcast 2018, his mission was simple: to give dads an opportunity to encourage others, by sharing the experiences and wisdom they’ve gained during their respective journeys. A few years and hundreds of interviews later--including with many high-profile dads from sports, media, politics, the military, and other industries--Alec has curated a rich collection of anecdotes that provides guidance and inspiration on a wide array of topics, including but not limited to Advice for about-to-be or new dads Finance and education Discipline Dating and social life Faith, values, and service Fitness and health, for both children and fathers How to be a fatherhood ambassador First Class Fatherhood will engage the reader with thought-provoking ideas and realistic solutions from fathers who have been through it all. Alec believes that being a father is the most important role a man can play in the game of life. And his hope is that this book will help change the narrative of fatherhood and family life, and greatly reduce the number of children growing up without a father in the home.

People travel as never before. However, anthropological research has tended to focus primarily on either labor migration or on tourism. In contrast, this collection of essays explores a diversity of circumstances and impetuses towards contemporary mobility. It ranges from expatriates to peripatetic professionals to middle class migrants in search of extended educational and career opportunities to people seeking self development through travel, either by moving after retirement or visiting educational retreats. These situations, however, converge in the significant resources, variously of finances, time, credentials or skills, which these voyagers are able to call on in embarking on their respective journeys. Accordingly, this volume seeks to tease out the scope and implications of the relatively privileged circumstances under which these voyages are being undertaken.

Combining a fascinating history of the first U.S. high school for African Americans with an unflinching analysis of urban public-school education today, First Class explores an underrepresented and largely unknown aspect of black history while opening a discussion on what it takes to make a public school successful. In 1870, in the wake of the Civil War, citizens of Washington, DC, opened the Preparatory High School for Colored Youth, the first black public high school in the United States; it would later be renamed Dunbar High and would flourish despite Jim Crow laws and segregation. Dunbar attracted an extraordinary faculty: its early principal was the first black graduate of Harvard, and at a time it had seven teachers with PhDs, a medical doctor, and a lawyer. During the school's first 80 years, these teachers would develop generations of highly educated, successful African Americans, and at its height in the 1940s and '50s, Dunbar High School sent 80 percent of its students to college. Today, as in too many failing urban public schools, the majority of Dunbar students are barely proficient in reading and math. Journalist and author Alison Stewart—whose parents were both Dunbar graduates—tells the story of the school's rise, fall, and possible resurgence as it looks to reopen its new, state-of-the-art campus in the fall of 2013.

Entertainer Jack Swersie, author of the Amazon.com eBook Opening Act, recounts his first foray into the world of local politics in his newest book, A First Class Township. As part of a grassroots group, Swersie documents the efforts of twenty residents of Pocono Township in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, unhappy with their local governance, as they challenged the local political and financial power elite. With focused leadership and against strong odds, this unlikely band of average, everyday folk managed to bring a brighter future to their community. It is Swersies hope that his historic documentation will serve not only as a blueprint, but as an inspiration for others looking to change their local governance for the better. It is truly amazing what the people can accomplish when they allow their voices to be heard.

Armin G Stromberg was arguably one of the founding fathers of the technique of stripping voltammetry frequently used in chemical analysis, yet he is virtually unheard of in Western scientific circles. He was a brilliant scientist, but due to his German ancestry he was interred in one of the NKVD GULAG camps at the outbreak of the Second World War. This semi-biographical history presents the complete set of 74 surviving letters written by Stromberg to his wife during this period. The letters provide both historians and the interested public with a rare and unique glimpse into the everyday living conditions of inmates in one of the GULAG labour camps. The book also traces Stromberg's life following his release. More importantly, it relates how he founded the thriving Tomsk school to the wider historical context of electroanalysis in the USSR, drawing conclusions about the rate of scientific development as compared to the West and showing how ‘wet analysis’ remained of vital importance to industry long after equivalent measurements were made elsewhere. Readers will also appreciate how Stromberg's invaluable contributions in the Tomsk School of Electroanalysis laid the foundations for the extensive metallurgical extraction and nuclear industries that dominated the entire Siberian region for many years. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the life and times of an important, yet often overlooked scientist of the Second World War. Contents:The Deportation of the Ethnic Populations of Russia'A Willow in Siberia': The Family History and Early Life of Armin G Stromberg Pre-1937Letters from the GULAG (March 1942–September 1943)Release, Work in Sverdlovsk and the Start of Polarography in the USSRThe Tomsk School of ElectroanalysisLife in Tomsk After Retirement Readership: Professional historians and general readership interested in the GULAG labour camps; chemists, electrochemists and other scientists interested in A G Stromberg. Keywords:Stromberg;Electrochemistry;Stripping Voltammetry;GULAG;USSR;Electroanalysis;RussiaKey Features:The complete biography of Armin Stromberg, one of Russia's most eminent and hugely influential electroanalytical chemists, is set against the historical backdrop of Russian history from the 17th–21st centuries, covering the fall of the Tsars and the October Revolution, the rise of Stalin, WW II and the nuclear arms race that followed during the Cold War, through to Perestroika in the 1990sThe book publishes the complete set of 74 letters written from the GULAG describing Stromberg's daily struggle for survival during his internmentProvides not only Stromberg's own insights into the amazing events that unfolded during his life, but also the first-hand recollections of his daughter, Elza, and several students (many of whom became influential Soviet analytical chemists in their own right) who graduated from the Tomsk School of Electroanalysis under Stromberg's tutelageReviews: “Compton's book exactly paints that picture of a great scientist and humanist. It can be read by anybody interested in getting a picture of USSR science, and the hard struggle of its people to reach world significance. It does not need special background knowledge in science, and it will be valuable for historians as well as for the science community.” Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry

When you're young, life can be like a travel adventure-everything is new and exciting. And hopefully, the trip takes you somewhere good. The same could be said for the excitement of dating, which can lead a young person to find a spouse that is \"first class\"-God's best for them in every way. But how does that happen? Young adults may be tempted to look for their one true love by dating early, or dating too many people. It can be easy to go along with the current model of casual hookups, or living together before marriage. And too many young adults finally arrive at marriage hurt, frustrated, and afraid to trust. Michael Thiessen began outlining this book as he took the night shift in the hospital beside his two-year-old son, Gabriel, who was receiving chemotherapy for cancer. In this difficult place, he realized how much he loved his wife, and he and Sarah would often say to each other, \"I can't imagine going through this without you.\" Thankfully, their son recovered, but later, Michael reflected on the power of their committed, Christ-centered marriage and was struck by its profound influence and strength. In Pursuing a First-Class Marriage, Michael shares godly and practical principles for young adults who are either just beginning to date, or who are ready to pursue a first-class marriage-one that will hold them and their families throughout life's often unexpected adventures.