Archive for November, 2009

Does Your School Still Have Cafeteria Trays?

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

I know it’s an odd question, but i was reading a report today that states that many schools are getting rid of their cafeteria trays. Most likely there are some schools on sharenotes.com that have been effected by this trend. The schools have given different reasoning behind the decision, all of them surrounding the trimming down of costs and waste.

Some schools have cited a need to reduce the desire to reduce water consumption (both a green and financial decision) by reducing the strain on dish washing. Other schools have suggested that the lack of trays reduces the amount of wasted food. Still others have suggested that going trayless causes students to eat only what they need to fill themselves up, versus simply eating as much as possible. A healthier student body could be the result?

Whatever the reason I can say my personal opinion is that it seems silly. I can see some benefit coming from not having trays. Getting green and conserving is not necessarily a bad thing. But where does it end? How about we get rid of cups too and only drink what we can hold in our hands?

Reportedly, effected students are reduced to balancing their meals like Vegas entertainers or using their folders as substitute trays. Or for the very hungry student, multiple trips may be necessary. Luckily for me I haven’t really had to eat in the cafeteria too often so I wouldn’t have really noticed the lack of trays. But I know that many of you do eat on campus, so I’m wondering if you’ve noticed anything odd at your school?

I’m all for conservation and I feel like if colleges can reduce waste and unnecessary costs that would be a good thing in this economy. I’m certain all of us on sharenotes.com have seen efforts to reduce costs, waste etc… on our campuses, but I think there must be a better way? This one just seems silly to me. What are you thoughts? Leave your comments below with your opinions or experiences and join the discussion.

Congratulations! Susanna Fang, Uploading College Lecture Notes Earns Her First iPod Reward

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

sfangSusanna Fang, posts a nice collection of lecture notes and class notes for University of British Columbia! She reached 50,000 points by uploading, selling and sharing her college notes from University of British Columbia! We just sent Susanna a spanking new 8 gig iPod Nano to say ‘Thanks!’

Susanna had the following to say about us:

I love the idea of Sharenotes.com, it’s great to have a website where you can get notes before you actually take a course.  Whoever came up with this it is a genius. Thanks, Sharenotes!”

 

 

 

UC Schools rocked by tuition hike

Friday, November 20th, 2009

This increase will effect quite a number of students on sharenotes.com. The Board of Regents, the governing body of the UC system of public schools in California voted today to allow a 32% tuition hike which will go into effect next year. The Board has in tense discussions over the past 2 days on the UCLA campus, where many students have shown up to protest the proposed hikes.

Police in riot gear were on hand tp keep the peace while student participated in a peaceful demonstration, blocking the path for members of the Board of Regents as they left. The board defends its position stating that they simply have no money. After years of cut backs they feel as though they have no other place to look for money except the student body.

According to the board, students from households with sub 70,000 dollar incomes will be shielded from the increase and assured that financial aid would be available to bridge the gap. This however comes as little consolation to many students who are wondering if they can still afford their schools.

This is going to make life that is tough, already tougher for a great many of us. Some of us simply will not qualify for anymore loans to cover the difference. And quite frankly even if we do, do we really want to come out of college in THIS economy, with more debt? I feel for the UC student, tuition hikes seems to be effecting many students across the nation. I personally do understand the Boards decision, they are working with the money they have allocated to them. Given the situation of California and the deficit the government has been grappling with, it seem very unlikely that anything will get any better. At least not anytime soon.

How has this news effected your plans? We’d like to hear form the UC students out there on sharenotes.com who want to share their stories. Are you going to stick it out? Being forced to think about community college agin? Leave your comments below and share your thoughts with us.

Good News for Scrabble Players

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

Those of you avid gamers our there may appreciate this… avid board gamers that is. The Oxford Dictionary has decided that social media and it’s lexicon is more than a passing fad. Good news for scrabble players as you now have one more word in your arsenal. I think everyone on sharenotes.com is familiar with the term “unfriend”, we’ve all done it or perhaps had it done to us. If you’ve been living in suspended animation for the past few years I’ll enlighten you. Unfriending is simply the action by which you remove a so called “friend” from your friends list on any given social media site. The site du jour right now is of course, Facebook, but it’s applicable to any social media site.

The New Oxford American dictionary has deemed this term it’s “word of the year” beating out such contenders as the salacious “sexting” and the less exciting but none less used “netbook” for top honors. The term, a verb (exe: she made me mad so I unfriended her!) is probably one of the most used terms on college campuses, so some congratulations should go to us for bringing the term into the mainstream.

Most likely due to the rampant popularity of social sites these days, unfriend should have some major legs. While it’s not nearly as exciting as sexting it should be around to stay. In past years the focus on the word of the year was more oriented on a greener Earth, with terms like Hypermilers (people who squeeze obscene mileage out of their vehicles with modifications and driving techniques) and carbon-neutral (offsetting your carbon footprint). What the word will be next year is really anyone’s guess at this point. There’s a good bet though that the life styles of those of us on sharenotes.com will absolutely have some impact on where it may come from.

Thanks Andrew Ng from the University Of British Columbia for Sharing your Lecture Notes

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

andrew-fgAndrew Ng, posts a nice collection of lecture notes and class notes for University of British Columbia! He reached 100,000 points by uploading, selling and sharing his college notes from University of British Columbia! We just sent Andrew a spanking new 8 gig iPod Touch to say ‘Thanks!’

Andrew had the following to say about us:

I stumbled across Sharenotes.com through my friend’s friends. I instantly realized the potential of how useful this site was. From offering lecture notes to practice midterm and final exams. Sharenotes.com is great! The thing I like about sharing notes amongst students across the internet is that we are provided with information and notes for conceptualization in many different vantage points. For example, I am able to use this website as a selection tool for future courses and judge if the content is suitable for where I wish to go with my career. Lastly, I would like to thank the developers of Sharenotes.com for creating this educational atmosphere.

Thanks, Andrew Ng




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