I’m weeding and sorting through gift books, which is exhausting but not actually interesting to post about.  And so, I bring you pictures of two common varieties of vetch.  Vetch is non-edible legume that is used for “green manure.”  It fixes nitrogen which becomes available for other plants to use when it’s turned back under.

It’s good looking and hard working.  What more could anyone ask from a bean?

Cow Vetch

Crown vetch

It’s so inspiring, the California University system is trying to boycott Nature Publishing Group, by not purchasing their journals and asking faculty to stop contributing articles.  According to the Chronicle, UC faculty have contributed 5,300 articles in the past six years!  And,

‘The system subscribes to almost 8,000 journals online, at an average cost of between $3,000 and $7,000 per journal, depending on the publication and the field. The current average cost for the Nature group’s journals is $4,465; under the 2011 pricing scheme, that would rise to more than $17,000 per journal, according to the California Digital Library”

Wouldn’t it be interesting to know these same figures for CUNY and SUNY.  How much are libraries paying to access the work our colleagues are publishing?