If you're wondering what you're doing in college maybe you should get an iPad.

Relax, it's not a test. Of course if iPad gets an eventual iSight and GPS it won't matter what you do. Sooner or later you'll be an Internet sensation going viral all over the Quad and maybe the Free World. Anyway check your MacBook first if you think you're paranoid. Or beat your friends and the government and install your own spyware before 1984. Oops that was the Best Before date.

But if dorm room privacy is not an issue the really cool thing about the iPad is it's friendly day or night and won't bite hard or hump your leg when it gets frisky. It could even save you money and lugging a ton of books around if you don't really like reading textbooks and who does?

The iPad just might be the gamechanger on campus. Only one damn thing to loose. Where's that Chem text, that FN Psych crap? Is that you? Can't cramp your style either when you won't have to dump all your Brontés all over Sigma Delta Phi to answer that one important call from hell on your cell. Or if you have to play the nerd living at home, you can always take your iPad along self-consciously like "I'm going to a study group at the Longhorn" (Bar). The iPad can be your escape window to Beer Pong and new worlds beyond.

If you still haven't bought into the Apple Universe, ask Steve Jobs on Twitter, why?

@LosingItInCollege Everything we do is a mistake sooner or later. http://by.ly/fuuk

@StephenAtHome Yeah if some guy named Steve posts our ass out of context. http://yfrog.com/mu3xpj

OK, so we won that one. But speaking of Obama isn't that what we're getting with the iPad? A flashy but no real Flash gizmo with a world of Apps nobody really needs and a straitjacket NoAndroid OS with limited productivity Ops? Try printing something that sucks or doesn't suck like right now. No says Steve. Wait until November for iOS 4.2.

Yes We Know Steve. We're All Slaves.

Funny, reminds me of the Obama gameplan, like waiting for the Obama we elected. Any chance before 2012? But hold it right there, it may be a vacuous comparison. (Alternate video link)



Obama Stone Age Gameplan For The College Of The Future

If you're already in the Apple Universe it doesn't matter what Obama says. Fuck it, buy one. In for a pocket-melting Nano, in for Death by VISA at $829.00 for 64GB Wi-Fi + 3G.

And get everything else you need for only $224.00 extra like the optional kickstand and SD card reader??? that you'll be sorry you never bothered ordering.

So what's $1053.00 plus tax do for college?* Suddenly you're cool. The future is now. See lame AP video with iPads in adorable picture frame standup wallets in a goofy college classroom setting. Maybe not so cool. Dumb do-nothing iPads on the face of it. But you can always bite the bullet and go back to your laptop or netbook for Skype or video chat with iPhone buddies on Apple FaceTime or read a book. Or get an Android or Windows 7 tablet with full pdf support, webcam and Flash and maybe save a bundle eventually when somebody makes a fully featured iClone for cheap.

Or be brave and try something even better now like the more compact Toshiba Libretto W100 running W7 with webcam and 2 screens and extras that folds like a book though still Apple pricey at $1100.00 but in the iPad ballpark. For cutting edge style and quality Toshiba also rivals Apple. I've got a compact Protégé that doesn't need a yearly replacement like in Steve's Apple Universe. But wait, there is a dirt cheap alternative. (Alternate video link)



ObamaPad College Demo

Well? Maybe there's been some mistake? It doesn't look like the ObamaPad will ever work. And if there's no known competition for the iPad not everything looks as rosy as a MacIntosh either at Apple. See the other Steve (Wozniak) below who has never been seen anywhere near an iPad or a MacBook even at this prestigious and important book signing.

iWOZ Signing iPaper Books

Is Apple going back to paper stickies and soldering pencils? Can you smell the Cork burning?

The Future At Apple (Cork)

Have Steve and Steve been watching the Obama Stone Age Gameplan above? Is Astroturfing the Apple parking lot in Cork Ireland a good idea? Only if no one is working for Apple anymore. iPads now cloning iPads, is that it? Is that the AppleObama iWorld ahead? Nobody works and nobody gets paid either. Steve still has his Jobs at the September Apple Get-togethers. Obama takes over Larry King Live but keeps his day job? Then why are kids going to college? To buy an iPad? If an iPad gets you a job I guess that's OK.

The Serious Stuff: Buying an iPad To Read A Book

With Tablets and Tablet Dust settling a year down the road, the iPad still has the lead for college if you want one thing the others don't have, an eBook reader experience in color right now. With Apps you can not only get about 30,000 titles from iTunes free (only in the USA), you can also port your books from Amazon and Barnes & Noble onto your iPad. Though not a seamless fit, say some customers who own Kindles and the B&N nook eReaders. But you've got huge access to an amazing number of cheaper than paper books including college textbooks and some are now re-engineered to custom fit the iPad experience like the (you pay girl) special iPad editions of big magazines and newspapers.

Do You Really Need To? No.

Textbooks and other books are nothing new for laptops or PCs or some Smart Phones, so you can slog through the aesthetic difficulties without another $1,000 for the iPad and enjoy 50% savings over printed books just the same. About all you'd be missing is the re-engineered textbooks for the iPad, so far just one bookshelf, that incorporate video and interactive note taking you can share with friends like on a social network. If that's too cool to ignore, well you're stuck with iPad as the best thing around. But since these iPad only eTextbooks are heavy on memory you need the 64 Gig for enough wiggle room or you'll be stuck in $499.00 Apple hell.

eTextbooks And Where To Get Them

iPad Only: So far Inkling has the lead in customized eTextbooks for the iPad, only a few titles so far in this new market, but other book repackagers are on it.

iPad And Everything Else: CourseSmart has about 10,000 titles that will work on the iPhone, iPod and now the iPad. But these eTextbooks were designed and still work on any computer or laptop you might have (good news) which will give you most of the features you need like Search and Note-taking. Recent CourseSmart titles might be fully optimized for the iPad and no doubt they'll go whole hog on the iPad if everybody else does. CourseSmart iTunes Apps for all the iiiApples here.

For Everything Else And iPad Later: CaféScribe has about 8,000 titles and will work on PC and Mac, but so far there isn't an App for the iPad. It's also the site to get your free digital edition if you have a College Bookstore Access Code for the paper textbook you bought. Don't knock it, paper was fun. (Alternate video link)



Remember Paper Books?

Basically if you're a Freshman in Arts & Humanities with a lousy Windows laptop, and no other eReader, you can't lose if you hang onto that lousy laptop. Then going all the way for the bigtop iPad should get you through your first 4 years in style unless you need the dreaded Adobe pdf. Maybe somebody at Adobe could take Steve out for a Martinis and show him on an iPad what a big pain the iPad is without easy pdf support. And no Adobe Flash. Hey Steve, is this the ultimate Consumer Experience?

There are workarounds, but? Saving a grand on an iPad is easier especially if you're in Sciences. Scientists gorge on pdf files day and night. Get some sleep instead with a real laptop. Anyway Einstein never had an iPad, never read an eBook and used a pencil and the back of an envelop for E=MC^2.

More eBooks From iTunes: Yes, it's iBooks, what else? For iPads, iiiApples and the kitchen sink. 30,000 free titles but for now only in the USA. iBooks with its pdf converter to EPUB is also locked into the USA. There are other pdf converters fortunately. DigitalInspiration reviews the Top 6 pdf Apps. And if you aren't Apple Certified and can't read EPUB from iBooks there are Apps for that discussed on this link in EpublishersWeekly.

More eBooks From Amazon: If you don't have a Kindle you can still get a Kindle App from iTunes for the iPad and the other iiiApples. Now that's a lot of books and textbooks for cheaper than paper. The wow factor is the freebies for the college litterati who won't have to pay a dime for thousands of free classics in Kindle format from Amazon. On the same page you'll find reading Apps that work for the iPhone, PC, Mac and Blackberry. Amazon also carries eTextbooks you pay for.

More eBooks From Barnes & Noble: Same thing if you're looking for books in print. You don't need a B&N eReader, just the NOOK App for iPad. Like Amazon you can get a million plus books at B&N, including ebooks and etextbooks you could read on other NonApples. Some thousands are free or extra cheap. Take a B&N eBooks Tour.

More eBooks From BooksOnBoard: About 400,000 general titles for all platforms, and a Stanza App for iPad. BooksOnBoard Apps and Tour.

More eBooks From Google Books: This Search Megalopolis covers about all books and eBooks and often supplies free previews. Google Books will tell you where to go to buy a title and has the largest number of free eBooks, rare out of print and the classics. Foreign language books too. Free Downloads are usually in pdf format but a growing number of EPUB files are available for iPad.

How to Find and Download Public Domain Books from Google Book Search (pdf files and EPUB)
How do I read Google Books on my iPad? (EPUB)

More eBooks Free From Project Gutenberg: About 100,000 public domain titles available from not-for-profit Project Gutenberg for free downloads. Supports iPad and most eReaders through Apps. This is the gilt-edged literary archive. If you're looking for a readable copy of some ancient manuscript, try here first. Donations welcome.

More eBooks: If you Google around you'll find many specialized eLibraries and eBookstores. Try this list from About.com: Read Books Online for Free.

Research Materials: A free and helpful source on any academic topic, where you can find papers, essays, reports and books, is OnlineBooks4Free, about 10,000 titles of historical interest sorted by subject. More the old library approach rather than a hundred pages of Search Results and junk on whatever. Use Advanced Search when you can. Still all this Googling in the digital jungle never seems to end, that is once you've got your iPad and Tech issues carefully hammered down. Doesn't leave much time for reading. Irony is not just a literary device.

iPad Downside

Really need one? The lack of full support for Adobe pdf is a bigger headache than it looks. A lot of students especially Grad Students and Post Docs need pdf not only for reading books and published papers, but most publish their own papers on pdf too. If that's you, forget the Apple Universe. If you're in Science trash the iPad now! iBooks too is USA only. And the lack of Adobe Flash makes surfing the Net a pain when most websites use it for animations and video.

OK, if you don't mind some pain, there's Copying a PDF to iPad Sucks!!! No no no, says Apple Easy file sharing.

Other downsides on the iPad besides the price and monthly $data plan$, are the still small just under 10 inch screen that washes out in bright light too. It's not great for absorbing the large double-page spread of textbooks that often need 2 iPads or more of space to sink into the brain. Think of Science or Accounting where you need to concentrate on figures or graphs that are just too damn small to manage without zooming and scrolling all the time. Flipping back to another page you're thinking of, isn't easy even if you can type in a search box for it when keywords vanish under the influence of Lady Gaga in your earbuds. And what do you do if your whole world on one iPad crashes or the battery dies a horrible death? The end.

Paper doesn't do that and you can always find your notes in the margins. If textbooks are insanely expensive, there's always Used at a big discount. Maybe low tech ain't so bad. Besides, whatever the iPad can do, it can't give you a totally reliable and comfortable reading experience. Paper can't be beat. And there's a nice trend in paper textbooks to supply a free digital copy of the book on disk or via an online coupon.


Forget The iPad And Get A Kindle 3

"I want to point out that I do not own, or ever intend to own a DRM-laden Kindle. I was just looking at it." Matt Lee

Matt's right, but are we already doomed by DRM greed? Ask Apple. My guess is somewhere at the bottom of this Apple Century of Erosion of Rights we won't own anything, but we'll keep paying for it.

Take the Kindle for instance. You buy an eBook for it from Amazon, but you can't loan it out to a friend. It's only partly your eBook. Nuts. At least at Barnes & Noble they don't have DRM for that. You can loan it out for 2 whole weeks. But it automatically returns itself to your Nook where paper books often don't.

Forget The Kindle. Try The Nook

So maybe you should go for the B&N Nook. It beats the iPad and the Kindle. It's an Android here today. You can add more memory with Micro SD. Replace the battery yourself! Reads pdf and EPUB right out of the box. Listen to MP3s. Web Browser, Color Touch Navigation. Wi-Fi for $149 and $199 for that and 3G. You'll need the 3G Internet if you want to buy and download eBooks directly to your Nook from the B&N online bookstore even when its tethered at home.

The cheaper Wi-Fi model will do that too but for Internet only at AT&T Hotspots or at B&N stores. At home your personal Wi-Fi won't work with the Nook. You'll need a patchcord to sync the Nook like an MP3 player. Then you can download files from your PC you already have like pdfs and music, even a screensaver. That's the major hassle with limited Wi-Fi on the Nook. Spend the extra $50 for 3G. But if you've never used one, try before you buy at your local B&N Bookstore.

So an eReader and your old PC or laptop. $200 extra or the Apple $1,000? If you're heavy on literature and languages, where reading is the thing and the texts you need are out of copyright and free, going the eReader route is a no brainer. The Nook or the new Kindle 3 $10 less for both models, would pay for itself the first year in free downloads. Remember the iPad needs a data plan like from AT&T that rips out $15 or $25 and easily more from your beer budget every single month.

Both screens are similar 6 inch eInk displays or paperpack size that are easier to tote around and work better outdoors than iPad but need a night light in bed.

The bigger Kindle DX has a bigger screen but why bother when it it's pushing its way into pricey iPad territory?

You'll be able to test drive and buy Kindles soon at Staples so Staples says. Another good idea. Fly it first. In the meantime if you want a look at all the big eReaders together including the iPad like soldiers in a row, you can watch this coy Kindle 3 NYT video.

In the end if you're this close to flipping for an iPad no matter what, go ahead. You can do no wrong in the Apple Universe. But make sure you have the minimum laptop backup. Or should you get the new better world Samsung Galaxy Tablet? Not any cheaper either.

Still confused? This iPad Review from The-eBook-Reader takes you back to square one. Plus there are other eReader options that could keep you awake all night. Throw a party.

* If you're a real card-carrying student and you still gotta have an iPad you can check out your local college bookstore in person and try to nail down the must have Apple discount from Apple.

--Alan Gillis

Stop Press: Update Sept 9, 2010/ Flash apps blessed by Jobs

Looks like Steve got his Martini Moment with Adobe #1 John Warnock. "No more talking Flash Trash . . ." Or maybe the source is inspired Martinis for lunch at MSNBC. The official Apple Statement by Apple from Apple PR is totally fuzzy on Adobe, like a Martini hangover with a damp sock in it. Ergo PDFs should be fine too after another Martini. Wrong again. There is no mention of Adobe and if Apps with Flash are allowed by Apple, there is still no Flash enabled for websites. New Apps from the Apple App store might include Flash if Apple relaxes enough restrictions on development tools to allow say a Flash-based game App for a new Ping Steve Pong. And Steve's Ping was already ponged by spam a day later. So there are no guarantees for Ping Steve Pong in Flash either. But I'd love to see it at the App Store.

By Adam Carlson
Published: June 23, 2010

Our great national panic can finally come to an end.

No, not the oil spill — screw the Gulf Coast, forget about the economy and don’t even think of mentioning the wars in the Middle East.

I’m talking about Sarah Palin’s breasts.

You heard right?

They’re real.

Drum roll, please.

Brace yourself for the collective sigh of relief — the light of the conservative party has not — I repeat, has not — stooped to plastic surgery.

This is contrary to a glut of rumors — all stemming from far-left liberals, one assumes — that popped-up following the appearance of a certain Tight White T-shirt Photo.

Though the mind wonders: if Palin had gotten a little boost, and if she’d stayed in office long enough to finish up her duly-elected term as governor of Alaska whilst under the knife, would she have written it off as a work expense?

“Boobgate is all over the Internet right now because there are a lot of bored, idle bloggers and journalists with nothing better to talk about,” our Lady of Wasilla confessed to Greta Van Susteren during a recent interview.

So does that classify me as a bored, idle journalist? Almost certainly.

But here’s the thing, Sarah —

Continue reading the June 23, 2010 article from the University of Georgia's Red And Black . . .

Warren Buffett, Business '51, returns to Columbia to chat with students and Bill Gates

By Gabriela Hempfling

Published: November 13, 2009

On Thursday, the world’s two richest men visited Columbia.

Bill Gates, who founded Microsoft Corp., and Warren Buffett, investor-at-large, told students that the worst of the recession had passed. Speaking in Roone Arledge Auditorium, they shared their optimism with students in the Columbia Business School and Earth Institute. Buffett graduated from the Business School in 1951.

At the town-hall-style event, CNBC’s Becky Quick moderated a dialogue between the two billionaires and roughly 700 students. Before the discussion began, Quick noted the context of the event. “I do know that these are unsettling times in the economy and the markets and there is a lot of uncertainty in where we stand,” she said. The event was to be broadcast on CNBC as a segment titled “Warren Buffett and Bill Gates: Keeping America Great” on Thursday night. [CNBC Video below and alternate link here]



Neither Buffett nor Gates acknowledged any of this uncertainty. “The economy is sputtering, but we are still at the beginning,” Buffett said. With his recent purchase of the Burlington Railroad, the single largest acquisition in history, Buffett put firm support behind that idea. “The railroads are cost-effective and environmentally friendly; each one supplants 280 trucks,” he reasoned. “If America has a core future, railroads have a core future, and I am willing to bet a lot of money on it—about $34 billion.” . . .

Continue reading the November 13, 2009 article from Columbia University's the Columbia Daily Spectator . . .

Read the eye, the weekly features and arts magazine of the Columbia Daily Spectator . .

By Alan Gillis

Going to college could be a life-threatening experience or about the best thing that ever happened. Basically you decide. To steer through the obstacle course without crashing, check out your college newspaper online before you parachute in as a freshman. Don't jump to any fatal conclusions. The paper ergo the campus could be dull and stupid, urbane, sensible, stuffed with monkeys in suits, friendly, goofy or off the wall. Or all of the above. Resist the temptation, that you've blown it already: I'm in the wrong school! Wait, you'll find out later. Doesn't matter anyway, but looking around the paper and then the campus maze will give you some idea of what you can expect and the operating do's and don'ts you might have heard elsewhere like from your parents or your big brother.

Be prepared for confusion and stress, but don't take it seriously. Everybody's going through it. Under all the conflicting emotions, the good and bad decisions, is the classic 3-way student dilemma. In the struggle between social life, grades and growing-up, who's going to win? If you're a Young Republican or a Nerd, you've already made your choices. But you might get a second chance. Socializing and sex is the over-riding factor on any campus. Beer is also big. It's a juggling act where you're bound to break a few plates.


RIT left: “Keep ahead, don’t fall behind.” Brandon Nowakowski. RIT right: “If you’re ever invited to anything, accept it.” Ben Vanderberg.


If you want it all, you've got to work hard and play hard. Being young and hopefully in good physical shape with a working brain, you could pull it off, unlike mom and dad who've burned that bridge already. If you take their advice at face value you could wind up safe and sorry. If you don't you could flunk out or worse. If you can't resist temptation or you faked it in high school or just scraped through, then load up on Mickey Mouse courses your first year. And good luck.

Here's your crib sheet on surviving college from one of the best student newspapers anywhere, the Rochester Institute of Technology's Reporter. Thanks you guys.

Click on article title links to continue reading each Reporter story in full. Artwork and photos courtesy RIT Reporter. Mouse-over for credits. Thanks to Andy Rees, Editor-in-Chief; Artists Robert Modzelewski, Jamie Douglas; Photographers Mathew Woyak, Megan Rossman.

From the Reporter's RIT Orientation X-Files





The Man. The Heat. The Fuzz. The...Helper?


By Laura Mandanas

There’s no escape. Whether they’re busting your parties, nagging you not to ride your bike down the Quarter Mile, and/or plastering your only-semi-illegally parked car with hundreds of dollars worth in tickets, you’re going to run up against our campus law enforcers at some point in time. But it’s not all bad — in fact, there are a lot of really helpful things that Public Safety will do for you! . . .

Alan Gillis adds: Lock yourself out? Lost something? In trouble? Adopt a Public Safety Officer. It depends on your campus, but overall there are more security issues in city colleges than at a campus in the country. If you have any concerns, talk to campus security. If there are hot spots, places and times to avoid, they'll tell you. At some colleges you could get into trouble just by walking alone or leaving your frat house door open. Take the same precautions you would anyplace you don't know well. Some campuses have student services where volunteers will pick you up and drive you home or walk with you. You're alone, it's late, it's cold, you're stoned. Get help. If that doesn't work call campus security. Put them and your other emergency numbers on your speed dial.

Things you shouldn’t do but, if you do, try not to get caught

By Kimberly Reeb with Andy Rees

Stay away from anything illegal: drugs, guns, robbery, and so on.

In the words of RIT’s student conduct rules, “Students neither relinquish civil rights nor acquire additional rights by virtue of being within an academic community; they do, however, take on additional responsibilities.”

In the 2007-08 school year, the three most common Public Safety referrals to the SCO [Student Conduct Office] centered around alcohol, drugs, and theft.

Every incident has a different outcome but, unfortunately, freshmen are most likely to be the ones getting in trouble this year. The 2007-08 year had 1,297 incidences and 39 percent of them were committed by first year students. So have fun, but be smart. . .

Alan Gillis adds: If some misconduct like alcohol and drug use leads to a medical emergency, you have to seek medical help for yourself or anyone who is with you. Since there is some fear seeking help because of legal and other consequences, many institutions have a policy that forgives such misconduct. Check the rules at your own school. Find out what emergency medical facilities there are on your campus. At RIT if it's only alcohol-related, there's room for leniency.

Roommate Issues

By Jess Kopitz

For many incoming freshmen, the most exciting and daunting experience in college is living in the dorms. On the one hand, you get more freedom than ever before: No more curfews or questions about where you’re going and when you’ll be back. On the other hand, you are now living with a stranger. This is the real world and, with it, come rewards and drawbacks.

Living with another person in the same room can be taxing no matter how well you get along with them. The truth of the matter is that living in the dorms gives you little to no privacy. A typical dorm room will resemble something like a closet and sharing it with another person may seem like being asked to never change your underwear again: uncomfortable and even unhealthy. . .

A Guy's How-To: Getting Girls

By Michael Barbato

Making the First Move

If you’ve ever wished the girl you like would do all the work and ask you out, chances are she won’t. 85% of the girls I polled revealed they had never asked a guy out. Most girls won’t make the first move out of fear of being too forward or depriving her would-be suitor of his ‘manly’ prowess. Although it does happen, it isn’t very often, so it is vital to make that first move. . .

The Approach

If you’re still using generic pickup lines, I have some magical love potions I’d like to sell you. By the way, neither pick up lines nor love potions work! In fact, pickup lines will hurt your chances; according to the spry young ladies, pickup lines are the most irritating tactics a guy can employ. . .

Where to Approach

Watch out for girls in a hurry or busy. Don’t approach a girl when she’s on her way to class or if she’s waitressing at a crowded restaurant. Bars and clubs are well fielded and usually not the best environment to start. Be spontaneous. Approach her in an unexpected place. Go up to her at the library and notice her reading the book you just read or want to read and go from there. . .

Alan Gillis adds: Advice for women on getting guys? Perhaps it's a question that doesn't need any big answer. All any girl needs to do is Ask. Guys are like that. 95% of the time that's enough, but if you want more ideas you'll find thousands in Cosmo. Of course ask the right guy and don't come on to him in a tiny halter showing off your big belly over short shorts and fishnet hose in spikes or boots unless that's your usual style. Don't beg either. It's embarrassing for him too. If it doesn't work the first time, try another approach. Guys are dense. They're not expecting a hook-up on short notice, as it rarely happens anyway. When it does, some aren't sure. Are you a tease making the rounds? Does the guy think he's being setup for a dumb joke? Serious or is she going to change her mind before she takes off her socks? Some girlfriend's girlfriend testing him? So try again if you're serious.

If all else fails whatever your gender, you need to practice more. Too shy, too slow on the uptake? Need a mega ice breaker? After a string of disappointments, or some success with disaster relationships, you might want to try speed dating. You could find that you've been stuck on your wrong type. Here's a chance to try somebody different. Some campuses offer a free version that might work out. See the Reporter's interesting experiment with speed dating at RIT in the article below.

Speed dating

By Madeleine Villavicencio

Reporter expanded its brand name into the dating service business by holding our very own invitation-only speed dating event. For this experiment, 18 hopeful singles piled into room 1829 in the Student Alumni Union (SAU) that evening, looking for a match. The night began with the consumption of snacks and refreshments — the Ritz Bits cheese sandwiches were a favorite — as the music of Tiger Idol finalists drifted through the walls of the neighboring Ingle Auditorium, doubling as entertainment for the night. At the same time, participants registered and left contact information with the assigned staff. . .

With speed dating, your options cover a wider range of people. Because of its random nature, you will probably meet at least one person you never would have walked up to at a party. . .

It isn’t just the quantitative data collected that’s interesting. If you take a look at the match sheets themselves, you start to notice a few things. More than half of the women’s sheets had multiple erasures, meaning they are more likely to change their minds more than once. Men, on the other hand, were more likely to avoid the decision all together by leaving boxes on their sheets blank. In addition, guys are more likely to vote “yes” [for a follow-up date] while girls are more likely to vote “no.” Some marks were darker than others, possibly indicating a greater intensity of like or dislike. . .

Alan Gillis adds: Nothing works? Buy a car. Make it available. Drive people around anywhere anytime. Right away you're scoring points big time. No car? Then find your own car guy. Find out how in the article below.

Triple P: How to Mooch a Ride

By Alex Salsberg

Hello, freshmen! You are currently enjoying the best moments of college. You like all your nveighbors (in three weeks your floor will be severely cliquey and probably on fire), and you are not yet fat. But to continue the fun, you must befriend a certain someone on your floor. We will call him “Car Guy.”

Maybe you thought that RIT’s quarter-mile long campus (complete with an ice cream parlor and a pretend SportsCenter set) would provide you with all the entertainment you needed for five years. But Car Guy knew better. He knew that someday he might actually want to explore the great city of Rochester, with its museums, restaurants and depressing zoo (did you know polar bears can cry?) So, when he found out that freshman were allowed cars, he proudly parked his white Dodge Spirit in B-Lot, which is just outside of Albany.

If you learn to take advantage of Car Guy effectively, you could enjoy a (literal) free ride through RIT. Just follow these three handy tips (I call it Triple P) . . .

Don't Forget: Balance is Best

By Joe McLaughlin

Most things are fine in moderation, but some things don’t lend themselves to “just a little bit.” World of Warcraft is the perfect example. Keep gaming within sane limits. Leave time for schoolwork and interacting with real people. Don’t, however, lock yourself in your room and do nothing but calculus. Leave time for goofing off. After all, you’re in college. You’re never going to have another chance to duct tape a friend’s chair to the ceiling. (Hint: The chairs in the dorms take a roll and a half.) . . .


And Make Friends

Alan Gillis adds: If you click with some people, make more room for them in your life. College probably is your best opportunity to make life-long friends who share your interests and your ideas. Once they're on their career path you'll find that you're all still in the same ballpark. You could wind up helping them or being helped yourself. Especially if you're a risk taker and are going into a tough game like filmmaking where contacts are essential. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg became friends at UCLA where they made a pact to help each other. It worked.

Reporter's Distorter: Brain Humping On Campus

By Alan Gillis

If the Reporter delivers about the best in student journalism, candid, relevant and interesting, other papers often fail. Even their dirty laundry stories look fairly clean, often apologetic too if a few stains remain to sully the old school name. Not at the Reporter. Why the Reporter will invent dirty laundry if it needs to, but that's for the annual April Fools Issue, the Distorter.

This year's Sexy Issue reached the limit of can-u-f******take-it, at least for RIT Admin, which pulled the magazine and closed down the Reporter's website for awhile. You can't find it anywhere except under the Editor's bed and Reporter Offices, but if you know where to look, there is now a secret website archive of a flip-through copy of Distorter 09.

It's not for the squeamish. Totally grossed-out humor on sex at its worst, but you get the same insane bits in your daily newspaper in small doses. They're brave at the Reporter, but they were slapped down hard for it. OK, Distorter 09 was trash, and it stunk, but it was also an attempt at satire. Still marginally better than Fellini's Satyricon, which wasn't very funny and made a lot of money. Fellini squeaked through in theaters along with Passolini that other Italian 30 years ago. Why not Distorter 09, an obvious First Amendment issue? Not that the case went anywhere either, not blazing freedom of speech for college kids. Imagine all the lawyers and the pain it would take to drag dirty Distorter 09 into court for a line-by-line dry cleaning. No your Honor, that horse in question was after the fact, from Oklahoma in USA Today.

For another more typical and less subversive Distorter there's last year's edition. Distorter 08, more your raunchy Animal House revisited: Sports Desk: Beer Pong, Bro! Can you re-rack that?

If there's a lesson here at RIT for Distorter fans or freshmen, its no flashing on campus, not even at the run through halftime at a Tigers' game. No Tigers, no streaking. When RIT's football team went 0-8-1 in 1977, the Tigers were permanently canceled for losing. One lousy year since 1922? Maybe some Distorters are still mad about it.

But there's hope. You can always join the Reporter staff for some laughs or your own college paper. If it stinks, all the more reason. They need you badly.

I can’t help it. I know every major media publication is providing massive coverage for Michael Jackson. I know there are timelines, retrospectives, etc available at every major media and news website. I feel like I have to write about Michael Jackson though. A little something at least.

By Chris Monigle, The Lost Blog
Published: June 26, 2009

His music was the music of my childhood. That’s no exaggeration. It was Michael Jackson, The Jackson 5, or the Jacksons. I listened to his music before I ever became aware of rock ‘n roll, before I purchased a Marcy Playground or Matchbox 20 CD in ‘97 or 3EB in the summer of 1998. His music informed what my later tastes would be as well. There’s really no going back once you hear “Off The Wall” or “Thriller.” Those two albums are near perfection. “Thriller” suffers from one weak track. The rest is gold after gold after gold. I opened a piece I wrote on Carolyn Leonhart with a quote from Shakespeare about the charms of music. There really is magic in music. There’s some intangible transcendental quality to music, in music. It exists within the creation. On those early solo albums, he combined disco (but good disco not that ABBA nonsense) with the soul of Motown and R&B. We all know “Thriller,” “Billie Jean,” “Beat It,” “Rock With You” and a bunch of other songs that are too many to list. We can throw out adjective after adjective to describe the power of his music but in the end his music is indescribable and that’s what makes it as great, magical, and transcendent as it is. He just had the ability to tap into that part of our brain, something that is inherently within us and open it up (i hope you followed me there and understand what I mean). . . --NewsHammer 13/07/2009

Continue reading the June 26, 2009 article [plus more Jackson videos] from West Chester University's The Quad on their sister site, Quad Blogs.

Check out The Quad here.