Are paperless e-books also hassle-less?

Jinhyun Kim

As technology develops, many things that we can see in everyday life change the way or shape in purpose of improving accuracy, price, and convenience. One of the examples current college students are experiencing is a paperless textbook, e-books. As in transitional period for e-books which we can see both traditional, hard-copy textbook and e-books around fairly easy, pros and cons of using e-books are suggested along the way.

According to the news article in The Chronicle “This Could Be the Year of E-Textbooks, if Students Accept Them” by Jeffrey R. Young, some of the students in the colleges “participating in a closely watched e-textbook experiment supported by Amazon” suggest the problems in using e-books instead of hard-copy textbook. The problems included difficulty with finding certain section or page and taking notes on e-book readers such as Amazon Kindle.

In contrast, there are many positive aspects on using e-books. Since books are stored in digital file, students don’t have to carry all the heavy textbooks around the campus. E-book readers are only thing they have to take care instead. E-book readers could be various devices. Any laptops, iPhones, Amazon Kindle, and Sony Reader Digital Books are popular ones. E-books can reduce the waste of paper for that would be thrown after new edition of old textbooks. Students don’t have to worry about books getting damaged or lost. Also, e-books cost less than paper textbooks.

Although there are some drawbacks in using e-books instead of hard-copy textbooks, they are not very significant and can be covered with other methods. Since many students are using laptops in college, taking notes on laptop is not very hard task. E-book readers’ developers are always going to try to improve their devices’ interface and other features better for users. After this transitional period of e-books, they will become absolutely fascinating thing in aspect of technology and our lives for college students.

Laptop in class

Subin Lee



Although many researchers have shown that laptop is a great learning tool for class note takings, some professors are banning in-class laptop usage. Specifically, in-class laptop use not only can disturb one from focusing the lecture, but also can cause negative effect on the classroom environments.

While in-class laptop use can help students to reorganize class notes neater and access the internet for quick research during the class, it also can distract student from concentrating on the lecture. Laptop allows students to access unlimited online resources such as instant messenger, games, blogs, and other mediums. According to David Cole, a law professor at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., “Laptops are often an attractive nuisance." Students can access to the online resources in unrelated purpose to the lecture and mostly they are more interesting than the class lecture. Hence, laptop usage is not a good solution for individual students to take class notes during the lecture.

In class laptop use also disturbs the classroom atmosphere. Many professors feel that typing sounds create noise making hard for them to focus. Moreover if all the students are looking into the laptop screen and not focusing on the lecture, professors cannot be as enthusiastic in teaching as they were when all the students are watching the lecture. Because of some students using the laptop for inappropriate purpose during the lecture, the whole classroom atmosphere can be distracted and thus have negative effects on the other classmates.

Some professors control the in-class laptop uses. They know the advantages and disadvantages of the laptop use, so they can manage students to use laptop in class appropriately. For example, during the lecture they can ask students to shut down the laptop for the half of class while letting them to use it in group discussion when they actually have to participate in class activities.
The best way is to find which one works best for you. If one can use laptop and still focus on the lecture then this would not be the problem. However, if one is easily distracted by the laptop then paper note taking can be more effective.

Alcohol Consumption and Abuse

Cherish Weiler

The freedom college brings can be liberating for many new students. Being away from home, away from parents, and away from direct supervision means students can make decisions without fear of direct repercussions. Some of those decisions include the consumption of alcohol, especially for under-age students. With fraternity parties every weekend, students are often tempted to use partying as a way to socially interact as well as experiment with alcohol on a level they may not have been able to do before. Oftentimes, students feel invincible and drink without foresight, living completely in the present. However, the dangers of alcohol consumption and abuse are real and present, affecting every student who decides to drink.

With so many students deciding to drink, how serious is alcohol abuse on campuses nation-wide? According to a study conducted in 2005 by the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, "1,825 college students ages 18 to 24 die annually because of alcohol-related unintentional injuries." The number of alcohol-related injuries as well as the number of drunk driving among college students has significantly increase in comparison to previous years. The results of the study came as a shock to some campus officials who have been implementing campus-wide programs to stem the amount of alcohol consumption and abuse. Some experts believe the lack of progress in reducing the number of alcohol-related deaths and injuries points to a flaw in the alcohol education programs campuses are using.

As parents, school officials, and students become more and more concerned about alcohol abuse on campus, colleges are reconsidering their prevention programs. According to a study published in the Cochrane Library 2009, scare tactics are not as effective as previously thought. Instead of scaring students with the negative consequences of alcohol abuse, informing students with real statistics appears to be more successful in reducing the amount of binge drinking among students. The reasoning behind this more successful tactic appears to be because students overestimate the amount of alcohol their peers drink, which in turn creates an environment where heavy drinking is seen as the norm. When real data is presented countering the misinformed notion, students are more likely to hold back on the alcohol. This method has much more potential to limit alcohol abuse on campus. While there is no way to control students' decisions to drink, informing them with real facts is an important step in reducing alcohol abuse.

Living with a total stranger: is college roommate contract necessary?

Subin Lee

New school, new rules, new environment, and new people just seem exciting. Especially, the independence from parents is the one that most high school students have dreamed of. Students usually think that they will meet awesome roommates whom they can share inner thoughts with just like they did with hometown best friends. However, the most concerns that I hear about college life is roommates.

According to Naomi Rockler-Gladen, “one smart thing you can do to minimize conflict is to write a roommate.” The term “roommate contract” between friends might sound cold. However, any community has rules to follow. If you think your room as a small community, it is justifiable to write down the rules that members of the community had all agreed on. This way the future possible conflicts between roommates will be reduced, since all of members had agreed on.

Living with a stranger is not an easy process. The conflicts usually occur not only because of one’s own fault such as stealing, but also because of the different living styles. From high school to college is a big transition. One cannot change one’s life style that had kept one for more than eighteen years in a single day. Living with my family also results tiny conflicts. Hence, several conflicts between roommates are more than normal. To reduce the present and potential conflicts, the roommate contract will be very useful.

The Use and Abuse of Analeptics

Cessie Ryder

In recent years there has been an alarming upsurge in the abuse of analeptics, such as Ritalin and Adderall, on college campuses. Studies show that abuse of analeptics tripled since 1992 and an average of 20% of university students illegally take these drugs. People with ADHD are prescribed Ritalin and Adderall to keep them alert and focused on schoolwork and other tasks because they are unable to stay fully attentive themselves. College is an extremely stressful time in one’s life with loads of things to study for and stay focused on like exams, papers, and other homework. So, the temptation of college students to abuse these prescription analeptics is evident.

Ritalin and Adderall are not illegal or nearly as harmful as other drugs like cocaine and heroine, but they are illegal if taken without a prescription. Surprisingly, college students do not have a hard time acquiring analeptics. Most colleges have black markets where students who take prescription Ritalin and Adderall because of their ADHD sell or trade it to other college students who want it to stay focused when studying for exams or finishing projects.

The problem with abuse of analeptics is not necessarily a health related problem but a problem having to do with justice. Students who take these drugs tend to do better in school and have higher GPA’s because they are able to stay completely focused on their schoolwork longer, without their minds wandering, than students who choose not to take them. In a way, taking Ritalin and Adderall without a prescription is a form of cheating because it gives those students an unfair advantage over the students who choose to do the right thing and rely solely on their knowledge and study skills.

They Didn’t Mention Co-ed rooming on the campus tour?!

Ajit Vakharia

College is a time where students gain their freedom. A time where students can decide what classes they want to take, what time they want to do homework, and what they want to eat for dinner, but recently it has also became a time for students to choose where they want to live and with who, whether that be someone of the same or opposite sex. As of August 2009, more than 40 campuses in American have adopted a new choice of dorming, co-ed rooms or gender neutral rooms. Simply put, these gender neutral rooms give college students the chance to dorm with members of the opposite sex. This new idea has caused quite a stir amongst students and parents. Is this new idea too revolutionary for the times we live in or is this just another step moving toward a more progressive future that has been waiting to take place? Whether or not college institutions are ready for this move, gender neutral rooms should be offered in the future because students are now also adults and are able to make their own decisions, and some students really do get along better with members of the opposite sex.


When students enter college, they are at a juncture in their lives going from adolescence to adulthood. These students are at a point where they can start making decisions on their own including who they may or may not want to live with. As suggested by Jacques Steinberg, gender neutral dorms give students a chance to be romantically involved with each other which may make them more inclined to have sex since it would be more difficult to enforce a curfew, but these students are now adults and can make decisions on whether they want to have sex and be romantically involved or just have a strictly platonic relationship. Whatever the circumstances may be, these students are now about to be adults and are able to make their own decisions. Also, some students develop better relationships with members of the opposite sex concluded by Roxanne Ranelli. She states many homosexuals get along better with members of the opposite sex then their own, and through gender neutral dorms, homosexuals get a chance to be more comfortable in their environment while promoting an idea of gender equality.


While gender neutral dorms is a completely new and revolutionary idea, many schools in the north east, including the Ivy Leagues, are giving this option during housing assignment. To not allow this option is only delaying the inevitable as college students progress for young maturing adolescents to respectable adults.

Public Enemy: Stress

Jinhyun Kim

Transition, new people, labs, papers to write, tests, all these big words can approach many college freshmen as huge stress. Why do we have to deal with this? Obviously, stress is a big negative to college students, especially freshmen going through a lot of changes and decisions. We already have a lot to take care, and stress is nothing but more burden.

Unfortunately, stress gives students more than just headache. It could be very harmful in other ways. The study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, cited in the article "Sleepwalking Students" of Inside Higher Ed, suggests that stress interferes students initiating sleep. Hopefully many people know how essential it is to regularly ha ve a good amount and quality of sleep. Also, sleeping well and maintaining good health help deal with stress.

There is no perfect solution to deal with stress that applies to everyone. Individuals have different method to get around. For example, being optimistic and not letting it overwhelm one is very good attitude. Physical activity is one of the positive ways to reduce emotional stress. As well, efficient time management can play a key role for college students. Avoiding to be pressed for time will decrease the amount of stress at the beginning. One of the alternate solutions could be something like using stress as a motivation and improving a skill.

It is quite hard to live without getting any stress. The point is how to deal with it so it won’t be overwhelming. It would be a shame to miss many bright things in college life because of stress.