New DVDs

Algebra I is one of the most critical courses that students take in high school. Not only does it introduce a powerful reasoning tool with applications in many different careers, it is a gateway to higher education. Because algebra involves a new way of thinking, it can be especially challenging. Professor Sellers begins with a review of fractions, decimals, percents, positive and negative numbers, and numbers raised to various powers. Variables are the building blocks of algebraic expressions, and after completing a carefully crafted series of gradually more challenging problems, students will be familiar with the terminology and symbolic nature of first-year algebra. Students will understand how to represent various types of functions (linear, quadratic, rational, and radical) using algebraic rules, tables of data, and graphs. They will also become acquainted with the types of problems that can be solved using such functions, with a particular eye toward solving various types of equations and inequalities.

Americans use 60,000 plastic bags every five minutes that we then throw away. But where is 'away'? Where do the bags and other plastics end up, and at what cost to our environment, marine life, and human health? Follow 'everyman' Jeb Berrier as he navigates our plastic world. Jeb is not a radical environmentalist, just an average American who decides to take a closer look at our cultural love affair with plastics.

Beloved by millions of children around the world, Elmo is an international icon. However, few people know the soft-spoken man behind the furry red monster : Kevin Clash. Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, "Being Elmo : A Puppeteer's Journey" follows Clash's remarkable career, while also offering a behind-the-scenes look at Sesame Street and the Jim Henson Workshop. As a teenager growing up in Baltimore in the 1970s, Clash had very different aspirations from his classmates -- he wanted to be a part of Henson's team, the creative force responsible for delivering the magic of Sesame Street on a daily basis. With a supportive family behind him, Kevin made his dreams come true.

This fascinating and heartwarming program, hosted by Betty White, transports you coast to coast and across the continents for unforgettable encounters with the amazing creatures with whom we share our planet and the people behind the scenes charged with their care, protection and maintenance. You'll visit America's precious national parks, world-class zoos, and aquariums to witness amazing sights tourists never get to see.

Provides basic understanding of economic matters that will help explain both the U.S. and global economies on the microeconomics and macroeconomics levels. Defines basics terms used in economics to help non-specialists develop and understanding of how market forces relate to one another and affect fiscal health.

"In the summer and early fall of 2009, 39 teens from all over Nassau County volunteered to participate in a plain, straight, uninhibited video about hate crime. Teens talking to teens about what a hate crime is and the real world ramifications of committing a hate crime. This video visually demonstrates that turning hateful thoughts about a group into action is Crossing the Line."--Container.

In his fascinating exploration of a triple homicide case in Conroe, Texas, master filmmaker Werner Herzog probes the human psyche to explore why people kill, and why a state kills. As he's so often done before, Herzog's investigation unveils layers of humanity, making an enlightening trip out of ominous territory.

The Band, one of rock's superstar groups, decided to call it quits after sixteen grueling years on the road. The group held this farewell concert on Thanksgiving Day, 1976, at San Francisco's Winterland, the site of their first performance.

As the most persuasive and pervasive force of communication in our culture, media is educating yet another generation that a woman's primary value lay in her youth, beauty and sexuality, and not in her capacity as a leader, making it difficult for women to obtain leadership positions and for girls to reach their full potential. The film accumulates startling facts and statistics that leave audiences shaken and armed with a new perspective.

National Geographic remembers the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic with a special collection of specials including the original classic 'Secrets of the Titanic' and the new special 'Save the Titanic' with Robert Ballard.

"Director Stanley Kubrick's career comes into sharp focus in this compelling and revealing documentary ... [including] fascinating footage of Kubrick in his early years, at work on film sets and at home, and via candid commentary from collaborators, colleagues and family."--Container.

An entertaining and revelatory 'secret history' of feminist art, !Women Art Revolution deftly illuminates the under-explored movement through conversations, observations, archival footage, and works of visionary artists, historians, curators, and critics. Starting from its roots in the 1960s antiwar and civil rights protests, the film details developments in women's art through the 1970s and explores how the pioneering artists created the most significant art movement of the late 20th century.

In 1986, the upstart United States Football League had the audacity to challenge the almighty NFL, signing three straight Heisman Trophy winners and future NFL stars Steve Young, Reggie White, and Doug Flutie. In its inaugural season, the 12-team league played before crowds that averaged 25,000 and garnered respectable TV ratings, winning over new fans with its aura of fun and flamboyance. But with success came expansion and new owners, including a high profile real estate baron whose vision was at odds with the league's founders. Soon, the USFL was reduced to waging a desperate anti-trust lawsuitagainst the NFL, which yeiled an ironic verdict that effectively forced the league out of business.

Iconic writer, director, actor, comedian, and musician Woody Allen allowed his life and creative process to be documented on-camera for the first time. With this unprecedented access, Emmy-winning, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Robert Weide followed the notoriously private film legend over a year and a half to create the ultimate film biography. Exploring the ultimate "independent filmmaker's" writing habits, casting, directing, and relationship with his actors, Weide traveled with Allen from the London set of You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger - a major coup "considering Woody has never allowed so much as an EPK [Electronic Press Kit] crew on his sets," claims Weide - to the Cannes premiere of Midnight in Paris this May. He also filmed Allen at home, in the editing room and touring his childhood haunts in the Midwood section of Brooklyn.

The National Archives has been responsible for the acquisition, preservation, and dissemination of permanent records of the United States government. Select materials have been assembled to produce War in the Pacific, representing an invaluable cenematicchronicle of the island battles and events leading up to ultimate Japanese surrender in 1945. Comprising thrilling newsreel footage, training films, and an Oscar-winning documentary from Hollywood director, John Ford, War in the Pacific spotlights astonishingly varied and emotional images culled from the millions of pieces making up the National Archives' popular holdings.