Posts Tagged ‘college tips and advice’

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UW and The Dream Act

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

Recently the President of the University of Washington or U-Dub as it’s called by the locals, has publicly shown his support for the “Dream Act” which is being mulled over by members of congress. For those of you on sharenotes.com that don’t know, the Dream Act is a bill that would allow high school students who are in the country illegally a path to citizenship by attending college.

The bill would not allow the students to be eligible for federal aid, however it would allow the students to take out loans to pay for schooling. The school’s president Emmert says the DREAM Act would ensure “talented individuals stay in the United States legally,” which in turn would help the country’s economy.

Critics of the bill state that in a environment where immigration is largely uncontrolled, the bill encourages an activity that is after all, illegal. While I’m not totally convinced one way or another, it is a strange message to send. So say, this act is definitively illegal, however should you make it into the country, it’s cool if you go to our schools.

Supporters of the bill concede that immigrants, illegal or otherwise are here to stay. And they have always been a part of our society, if we can encourage them to become more vital members through eduction then that is a good thing.

Because the debate over immigration has always been hotly contested the bill has been stalled. Advocates are hopeful that this bill will be part of a larger immigration makeover that the Obama administration has been discussing. Of course given the state of our two wars, the economy and the health care debate it’s likely that any comprehensive revamp will be back burnered by law makers. At least for the time being.

We invite all the users of sharenotes.com to weigh in on this or any topic we discuss on the blog. Leave your comments below to join the discussion with your fellow students.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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