Posts Tagged ‘sharenotes.com’

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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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Presidential Pay

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

I read recently that public universities are finally trying to reign in the pay of chief executives. In this tough economy we have all had to make difficult decisions to make. Many of is here on sharenotes.com can’t even be sure that we can continue to afford college. So it’s nice to see executive pay fall in lockstep with the rest of us.

According to a survey released by the Chronicle of Higher Education, presidential pay packages are only now rising about 2.3 %. Compare that to over 10% in past years which was the rule rather than the exception. I for one do not know what goes into being a university president. I’ll admit it’s possible that they work for every single cent they make. However with government subsidies dwindling and tuition on the rise to compensate, it’s hard to see top execs of public institutions taking home bonuses and large increases.

According to the study 1 in 10 actually saw a decrease in pay and some even gave money back to the university. While I will agree it is nice to see, it’s also what you would expect. So for me it’s a little hard to pat someone on the back for doing the right thing. Let’s face it teachers are being cut, or furloughed, students who are already strapped are being charged more. So it’s only reasonable that the top dogs would feel the pinch as well.

Before you start feeling too badly for the presidents you should know that the average income in 08-09 was about 430K a year. Some earned as much as 700K and Ohio State’s Gordon Gee? 1.5 Million. Proponents of the educators salary would tell you that you get what you pay for. Top talent requires top pay while opponents would explain that the salary should match what is being asked of the students and faculty.

The bottom line I think is this, the big wigs at public schools are getting the message of public sentiment a lot better than wall street. Those of you on sharenotes.com at Ohio State can leave your comments and let us know if you feel like you’re getting what you pay for.

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Something you already know

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

A new study out of California has shown that five times as many students (including high school students) suffer anxiety and other mental health issues than past years… even from the Great Depression. I’m certain that this comes as no surprise to anyone on sharenotes.com as those of us in the trenches understand that anxiety all too well.

We are living in tough times, with high expectations for our lives during a recession that feels like it rivals the Great Depression in it’s magnitude and expanse. The study goes on to outline the specific areas of mental health that have increased over the years and if you really want to read it, the results will be published in a future issue of the Clinical Psychology Review. What I found most interesting however was that the authors of the study found strong, if not conclusive evidence that social factors had a major influence on the results.

In the past you knew only a handful of people, got only a handful of channels, no computers, no social media. Your list of people to compare yourself to was pretty limited to the neighbor’s kid or maybe someone you saw on TV. Now a days everyone’s everything is available to you 24/7. Your circle of friends can quite literally expand world wide and pop culture has made no secret that success and excess are valued commodities. We follow each others tweets about our successes and read Facebook updates “Johnny was accepted to Harvard Law!”. It’s no wonder that we’ve grown up with a heightened sense of competition and expectations.

Marry these high levels of “gotta go big” expectations, the need to show off and keep up with the joneses with the worst economic times in recent history and you’ve got a recipe for mental instability. Our failures are often reasonable, but in today’s transparent society it makes them even more disappointing. It feels like everyone can see every miss-step we take and that can start us down the path to anxiety and depression.

Studies such as this one aren’t necessarily meant to be filed in the “Captain Obvious” file, psychologists struggle to understand where mental unrest comes form so we can find ways to mitigate it. Not just treat it after the fact. This is important in what seems like an overly medicated society. I personally think that a lot of things will begin to heal as the economy gets stronger. Particularly the as unemployment declines. I think all of us on sharenotes.com have had anxiety over entering into a market place with no job for us post graduation.

Do you have thoughts on this topic? we’d like to hear from you! Leave your comments below and join the conversation.

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New Year, New Site Features

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

Happy New Year! Returning users of sharenotes.com will have noticed that the site was relaunched with a new look and feel brand new for 2010. What you may not have noticed is that we improved not only how the site looks, but also how it works. We’ve revamped the site to allow you to really take hold of the power of college lecture note sharing. Create custom urls for your content, build points through referrals, improved search-ability, highest commission return on a note sharing site, direct payments and more.

Now when you sign up for sharenotes.com you can create a customized url specific to you and your notes. This way you can market your notes and direct link fellow students to your content. Whether you share your notes for a profit or out of the kindness of your heart, it’s never been easier to find, share, link and market your quality lecture notes.

You can accelerate your credits by referring your fellow students to sharenotes.com. Your referrals will be directly linked to your profile which in turn will earn you credits. Credits that you can cash in for great prizes, that’s our way of thanking our users for their loyalty.

Many people use sharenotes.com as a tool to bolster their existing lecture notes and study materials. We’ve increased our search functionality so that it’s easier to find the specific notes you need. Don’t waste all day looking for study materials, in just a couple of clicks you’ll be downloading the material you are looking for.

For those of you looking to make some money through sharing your quality lecture notes, we’ve improved the way we offer our payouts. In the past we’ve used online payment portals which take a portion of your transaction above and beyond the commissions of sharenotes.com. Now we offer direct payments through our site. You share your notes and set your prices all transactions will be tracked and accrued through your profile. Cash in your accrued balance anytime, day or night and a check will be generated and send out right away. Because sharenotes.com takes the smallest commission of any note sharing, you make a full 90% profit on every transaction.

sharenotes.com is not just about notes. We’re also a useful resource for college students to inform themselves about campuses throughout North America. We have information (tuition, location, campus, students etc…) on every college in the US and Canada. Prepping for school, looking to transfer or just curious about your own school? We’ve got the information you are looking for.

We hope you’ll like the changes we’ve made. If you have comments about our new look and features, please feel free to leave your comments below and let us know how we’re doing. We want sharenotes.com to be a place where students come together to share knowledge, keep current on college related news, pocket some extra income and ultimately help each other graduate. We’re constantly running new contests and promotions as a way to say thanks to all our loyal users. Most of you know about our now famous iPod giveaways, well we’ve raised the stakes and are currently giving away 5 Macbook Air laptops. First Mp3 players, now computers? Who knows where we’ll take it next? Click Hereto view and home page and learn how you might win a Macbook Air

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Harvard Ditching Public Law Incentive

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

Those of you on sharenotes.com that are attending Harvard with the hopes of entering the field of public law just lost a big incentive program. Previously Harvard’s program allowed a free year of tuition to students that planned on practicing public law post graduation. Good news is if you are already there the school is going to honor the program, however future classes will not receive the benefit of the program.

You might not think that this program effects too many students, however one of the reasons why Harvard had suspend the program was because they had more student than excepted. I guess there are a lot of public defenders out there! Free tuition at Harvard? It’s hard to say no! The program stipulates that the student agree to serve in the public sector for 5 years, after which they are free to do as they please.

Regardless of the amount of students the real problem is that Harvard announced last month that they were running a 110 Million dollar deficit. As a result jobs have been lost within the university, professors reduced and more cuts are on the way. Sadly this just seems to be another of a long line of universities, private or public that are suffering from the downturn in the economy.

Sadly the condition of the economy is causing students to rethink their careers, their loans, and tuition. It’s also causing schools to have to make tough choices in what programs they are able to offer and how many professors they are able to keep employed. As both schools and students struggle to make their way we all try to find some kind of balance so that we can get a quality affordable education and hopefully a job once we’re done. No doubt everyone on sharenotes.com has felt the cuts and changed at each of your schools. If you’d like to share your experiences, leave you comments below and join the discussion.

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Posted in College Note Sharing | 2 Comments »
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