Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Case Packs vs ???

Darden is notorious for making us purchase a thick case pack. I can't even recall the price of a case pack right now, but it's in the range of $30-$70 (I think). In previous quarters, Darden has test piloted sustainable case packs, meaning that everything is on the web and it is preferred that you not print it. Let's just say, this worked for some people and most of us received printed case packs within 3 weeks of the quarter's start date.

I apologize, I'm a paper person. I like to be able to highlight it, note it, and have three pages in front of me at once as I frantically look for facts and figures. While I do my best to read items on the computer, I'm simply more comfortable having them in printed firm,. In fact, I still make lists with pen and paper. There's a feeling of accomplishment when strike a line through signaling completion that I simply don't get when I check a box in Outlook. Needless to say, the bounded case packs we buy, I'm happy to purchase them. Plus it's better than purchasing textbooks that are often priced at $200 a book.

This brings me to SSE. Once upon a time, the school had a bookstore in its lower lobby that carried all SSE books. Because of the recent renovation, that bookstore is no more. It's been a nightmare as an exchange student to figure out what to purchase and where. There's a chain of bookstores that are supposed to carry SSE books. I went and returned fruitless. Two of the books hadn't been ordered and one was due to come in "soon" - whenever that is! This school is also more theoretical than Darden, which means there are plenty of papers to read that are supposed to be accessed on the web, whoopie. Given that I just explained my love for reading on my computer, you can infer my level of enthusiasm. I also decided that tonight was a good night to find and save all the articles as I've had problems downloading some and end up running to read them before class. And of course, it's taking forever, hence I decided to blog instead. Given that SSE charges per page we print, I'd be happy to pay the school for a "case pack" of this quarter's material.

Further, staying on the subjects of books, I ordered 2 off an academic website to which I was referred seeing the physical bookstore didn't have them. The website was entirely in Swedish, so here's hoping I got it right!

I never imagined this exchange was going to be easy. It's an adjustment no matter where you go, US or abroad. However, I've learned something important, at Darden I'm extremely spoiled... and I like it that way! Back to downloading articles. My laundry is in the dryer, which again is in Swedish (with some English instructions). We'll see if everything still fits - perhaps more motivation for the gym. :) Though capris would be very cold with today's snowfall.

3 comments:

Oren said...

You should see what they're doing with some courses this Q: They have the cases online, but require you to print them (due to laptops down policy for the speakers) and most people print them on the LT printers, which print single sided. Sustainability gone out the window!

JulyDream said...

Maybe we should lobby Darden to get more two-sided printers and have our computers calibrated with them. I think it would be quite appropriate giving our focus on sustainability. Ideally, all LT printers would print two-sided by default! Class gift?

JulyDream said...

Maybe we should lobby Darden to get more two-sided printers and have our computers calibrated with them. I think it would be quite appropriate giving our focus on sustainability. Ideally, all LT printers would print two-sided by default! Class gift?