Posts Tagged ‘college lecture note sharing.’

Odd College News

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

This story comes way south of the border, all the way down in fact in South America. Brazil to be exact. Probably not too many colleges on sharenotes.com but possibly some Brazilians attending schools in the states. If so feel free to comment. What I am going to do is simply post the headline first and see how that strikes you.

“Brazil student expelled after wearing mini-dress”

Now, am I the only one who finds this sentiment odd? I mean it does say Brazil right? Not BYU or some other conservative school? Brazil is the country famous for Carival. A country who prides themselves on a culture of scantily clan, tanned sun worshipers. They have a style of waxing named after them as well as a cut of bikini. This is a culture who is very secure with displays of sexuality. At least that is the way it is often portrayed.

That’s why I found it so odd to read that this girl nearly started a riot on her campus simply by wearing a oink mini dress. And not an “oh-my-god I can’t believe she’s wearing that!” kind of dress you find at a campus in california or Arizona. Odd.

What I have come to understand is that apparently college students tend to dress more conservative, jeans and t shirts for instance. I guess they keep the mini skirts and thongs on the beaches. Talk about a dichotomy! Still it makes little sense why a simple dress could cause such an uproar.

Although the schools initial reaction was to expel the student, a video of the incident made it’s way to youtube where it generated a lot of buzz. After some pressure by the government to explain their expulsion the school has since decided to reverse their decisions. So I guess all’s well that ends well.

It would be interesting if we’ve got any Brazilian’s on sharenotes.com that could perhaps explain the dichotomy that is Brazil in a little greater detail. If you have anything to add to the discussion please leave your comments below.

Credit Cards Rates / Fees Climbing

Friday, November 6th, 2009

Watch you wallets sharenotes.com your cards might be taking a bigger chunk out of your funds now more than ever. I’ve posted more than a few time on here warning about the dangers of getting in too deep with credit cards. I’ve also mentioned that in many ways they are a necessary evil, you do need to build / have credit.

The Obama admin passed legislation this year (may) that is aiming to reduce the amount of rate / fee hikes and tricky contracts the credit card companies use, however it does not go into effect until Feb of next year. Since the bills passing, many cards have hiked dramatically. Credit issuers relay that in this hard economy, even they are struggling and as they take on higher risk customers they must react in turn. Their version of reacting is to hike rates across the board.

You may want to watch your statements closely if you are a credit user because the younger / higher risk crowds such as college students are the most likely targets. You may be surprised to find out that your rates have increased and you didn’t even realize it. Cards that were once 4% can now be 15% or in some cases as high as 30%!! Yeow!

So if it happens what can you do? Well if you have a good credit score and you notice rates and or fees being hiked on your account, pick up the phone and call the issuer. More than likely they will see that you are a excellent customer whom they do not want to lose. If they are unwilling to reduce their fees, you can always do a card balance to a card that has 0% interest or at least a lower rate.

If you have have a lower score you can still haggle some and at the very least reduce your useage if it comes to it. I know that’s hard however you’ll want to live you life without credit as you crutch so better to break it off now before it gets really ugly. You don’t necessarily want to completely cancel a long standing account as doing so can sometimes effect your credit score further. If you can reduce the usage its certainly a start.

As everyone on sharenotes.com knows, we students are already heading into a world of debt and repayment with our student loans, anything you can do now to watch out for yourself will help ten fold down the road. I know it’s a chore but if you’ve got cards, break out those statements and look them over closely, you just might be surprised at what you find!

Unemployment may be here to stay

Monday, October 19th, 2009

I don’t think it would be a surprise to anyone on sharenotes.com if I were to say “unemployment is high”. Unless you’ve been living in a cave, even us college students know this much. The problem is, according to some economists, is that because we’ve lost some professions almost completely, a high rate of unemployment may not be going anywhere soon.

There are a few different reasons why this may be the case, most notably is the fact that some jobs are gone almost entirely. The auto industry is suffering massively as is the real estate / banking and constructions industries. These jobs which once were vital in motivating the economy are now most likely gone for good, or at best greatly reduced.

Unfortunately this massive joblessness causes the mother of all catch 22s. With fewer jobs, there are fewer incomes, and income = money. So less money into the economy to stimulate, may mean more layoffs. And so the cycle continues. Also those of us (not me!) that do have money are reticent to spend it. Retirement plans, investments and home equity are being obliterated as we speak. So those that probably can spend just won’t for fear of going broke. And rightly so, I’d probably hunker down too if I have any assets to protect!

So what does this all mean to us? Well luckily most people aren’t going to college with the aspirations of being in car sales, however we do need to more selective of what our future plans entail. We need to know the market we’ll be graduating into and perhaps the level of need and competition. For some of us changing majors are not necessarily an option, but as they say knowledge is power.

If we perhaps take stock of our situation, the economy and the joblessness vs. hiding our heads in the sand, we should have a fighting chance. I wonder though if anyone of you on sharenotes.com have been forced to 180 your professional plans based upon the flailing economy? I invite you to share your story here and further the discussion.

Cuts Making Degrees Take Longer

Monday, October 12th, 2009

I was reading an article today on MSNBC that reported that these hard times are having more adverse effects besides the more obvious ones like higher tuition. Schools, many of which that are within the sharenotes.com network, are facing cuts that are crippling the schools ability to efficiently guide students to matriculation. Teachers, particularly new and part time ones are being cut and the trickle down effect is that there are less classes and less room IN classes to sufficiently service the students needs.

Kids are being forced to crash (you all know what that means) classes at a much higher extent and many of us are not making it into those classes we need. You miss your classes, particularly when you are those are the only classes you need, and that means a delay to graduation.

Now I have been lucky, I haven’t had to crash a class all that often, and if a class is full, there’s usually an alternative I can take. But can see how that would be a problem for many students. And a cause of major frustration and stress. If you are forced to take classes you don’t really need, well you still have to pay for them. And if you don’t take enough classes, well you can lose your financial aid altogether. Plus many of us just want to be DONE and get out into the job market, even if it’s a bad one, just so we can start making some money vs borrowing it.

The bad news is simple though, tuition is up, schools have more students than ever, less teachers and even with larger classes (read: higher student : teacher ratio) not enough space. Some students simply cannot afford to delay their graduation. Perhaps opting to leave school all together rather than paying another year of tuition they simply cannot afford.

It’s scary to realize all the ways in which this tough economy can domino down the line to effect every facet of American life. So what’s happening in your school? Are you feeling the pinch, and watching your classes swell? Are you standing out side of a class you really need, figuring out the best way to beg the professor to let you in? Like I mentioned before I’ve been lucky, but thre are many students at many schools on sharenotes.com and I know that some of you are suffering the ill effects of budget cuts and high tuition.

We want to hear from you! Leave your comments below and join the discussion with your fellow students.

Penn State reaches out to raise funds

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

Hard times are being felt by all colleges right now. The Belt has been cinched and funds are drying up. Many of the students on sharenotes.com have unmet aid and it’s becoming harder for Colleges and Universities to meet that aid.

In a sense desperate times need desperate measures. In one such instance Penn State has initiated a fund raising campaign in which Students accepted into the prestigious Honors College wouldn’t mind donating back the $3,500 merit scholarship that comes with the acceptance. This plea of course is being asked in circumstances in which the financial aid is not necessarily needed for the student to attend, with the caveat that the aid money would then be used to meet the needs of needy students.

Surprisingly this program has worked to great success. Last year the appeal netted 228,000 dollars in money donated back to the school. Money that will in turn be used to assist unmet financial aid needs, helping students to enroll.

Penn state looks to increase the appeals given the success of the program thus far. Which in a sense is a good thing given that some schools are withdrawing from such merit programs as it directs scholarship money to students who may not necessarily be in financial need of such assistance. Creative alternatives such as the Penn program look to keep the Merit recognitions continuing while funneling much needed money to the most needy students. their program looks to be a pseudo symbiosis between the haves and the have not’s in which both parties can benefit.

If anyone on sharenotes.com attends Penn or any other school affected by such programs and would like to comment we’d love to hear your input.




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