collegestudentsrule

Superb College Student Websites

There are numerous blogs and websites aimed at helping college students survive and thrive. Most of them are a WHOLE LOT BETTER than what you'll find here at CSR!

So here's the list of sites that I subscribe to. They offer great writers, great ideas, and great content on a consistent basis...

• Academhack
• Gearfire Productivity
• HackCollege
• StateUniversity Blog
• Studenthacks.org
• Study Hacks
• Surviving College Life
• That College Kid
• The Students Blog
• TheUniversityBlog

Add these sites to your RSS feed reader. You'll be so much smarter if you get a daily dose of the wisdom these sites offer!

E-textbooks Offer The Next Wave Of Academic Technology

Guest Author: Heather Hefner, Largemouth Communications, Inc

If you’ve never used an e-textbook, you may not be aware of what it can do. You may even be under the impression that an e-textbook is nothing more than a massive PDF file. Not quite. You may also think that e-books require a special reader in order to be viewed. Not really. In fact, the e-book platform of choice among academic publishers, VitalSource Bookshelf is PC and Mac compatible. It is also free and full of functionalities designed to enhance the learning process. E-textbooks loaded on Bookshelf allow you to:

Highlight your digital copy with multiple colors of virtual markers for color coding.

Take digital notes.

Share notes and highlights with classmates by building a network of friends in your class who are also reading a copy of the e-textbook. This is done directly on the e-textbook’s page, thanks to the platform’s social networking technology.

Rank your classmates’ notes for easy access to the most useful annotations (make sure you befriend the guy at the top of your Philosophy class…).

Create folders directly on Bookshelf where you can place not only books but also materials from the Web or other applications such as Word or PowerPoint. You can add a link to the folder by simply dragging the hyperlink to the folder, and you can drag files from your computer to folders also.

Access e-textbooks, notes, folders content, etc. online or offline.

Copy-paste text and have the bibliographical information automatically generated.

Perhaps most relevant to final exam season is these e-books’ search capabilities. They allow you to search for a concept, name, topic etc. within your notes, a specific classmate’s notes, a book, even your entire digital library.

Here’s a demo from VitalSource, the technology company that developed Bookshelf, that can help bring to life what I’ve just described:

http://downloads.vitalbook.com/images/flash_demo/

One of the reasons why this platform is so powerful is it was originally developed as a research project focused specifically on textbooks. It was meant for students and was refined to take into consideration feedback from students and professors who adopted the technology early on. Today, approximately one out of three dental schools in the US are using VitalSource e-textbooks. Some colleges have migrated the entire curriculum to the platform and gone 100 percent digital. Such is the case of NYU’s College of Dentistry.

As you may already have noticed at campus bookstores, more publishers are making textbooks available in electronic format. When Fall comes around you will likely seen dozens more titles for sale in e-book format – McGraw-Hill, Pearson Education and other top publishers are investing heavily in this space. What’s more, these editions will likely be offered at a discounted price, making them an attractive alternative to new and even used textbooks. E-textbooks can be purchased online, at campus bookstores and other retailers nationwide.

College Students Love A Good Cause

I spend a lot of time around college students. Nothing seems to motivate them more than a worthwhile cause. I think it's because they discover a way to make a difference in the world and have a lot of energy to put into it. Just look at the rallies, protests, and petition drives in your area and you'll discover a lot of college students who have found a way to get involved.

Are you a college student without a cause?

Don't be apathetic. You can join in and make a difference as well. Take a look around you and consider these four things:

1. Focus on people.
The best causes are the ones that help another person out. That person or group of people may be the victims of injustice, oppression, or abuse. If you want a worthwhile cause, start with those who need the help of others to even survive.

2. Find a need.
It would be foolish to start fighting for less bristles on toothbrushes. First of all...no one sees that as a glaring need in our society. But there are real needs out there. Basic needs that aren't being met. How about clean drinking water, clean air, or just cleaning your room.

3. Figure out your resources.
One thing that college students seem to have more of is time. Perhaps you have a larger discretionary income. Or you might know a lot of people with large discretionary incomes. As you work to right the wrongs through your cause, consider what types of resources you can use in your efforts.

4. Follow your heart.
Standing up for a cause as a way to meet people of the opposite sex is scarcely enough motivation to keep you in it for very long. You need to find something that really interests you - something that you really care about. Most of the time, it will cost you something to fight for a cause. It's only your passion and dedication that will keep you in when things get difficult.

Remember, the best causes are the ones that you fight for someone else's benefit. If your greatest cause is to build your own financial empire...you might not get many people on board to join you. Hope that doesn't discourage all of you multi-level marketing students out there.

9 Ways To Discover New Music...In No Particular Order

By Guest Author: Chris Spicer

Go To More Concerts

Concerts cost money.  You can pay 80 bucks to see Rush play at the Idaho Center, or you can pay 8 bucks to see four bands put on a show at The Venue in Boise.  No matter how great Neil Peart is behind the drums, you should save your money and go discover new music.  It won't take long before you recognize the name of a band coming through town, and you might be even like the opener better.  I can't remember how many bands I have discovered this way, but it is quite a few.  Example A: Mute Math.

  Last.fm

Last.fm is loaded with opportunities to find new music.  At first it seems like "just another internet community", but I think it is the best music-oriented community site available.  It uses "scrobbling" (a process of sending the artist and song information from your computer to the internet) to keep track of everything you listen to.  Apart from giving you awesome insight into your music listening habits, it gives you recommendations based on the thousands of songs you will eventually "scrobble".  Just click play on your recommendations radio and listen for hours without paying.  There are also detailed artist pages full of similar artist links, and yes, LEGAL full-length songs.  Why haven't you already signed up?

www.last.fm

Pandora

Pandora is so easy, and it's so cool.  Just type the name of artist or song, and there you go -- a plethora of songs that match your input.  The genius behind pandora, called the "Music Genome Project", uses 400 different attributes to match songs.  These include anything from subtle use of acoustic piano, to groove oriented approach or blazin' rappin'.  Pandora doesn't mess around.  By giving a song a thumbs up or down, or adding new artists and songs to a particular station, you can fine tune your radio to play everything you never knew you wanted to hear.

www.pandora.com

iTunes Music Store

The iTunes music store is the second largest music retailer in the United States, so Apple must know something about music.  When you search for music in the store, they offer a list called "listeners also bought", a great place to discover new artists.  On the main page of the music store, you can also find the free single of the week.  Though the song selection is eclectic, one in ten is a hit.  And who doesn't like free music?

Available in iTunes - free download on www.apple.com/itunes

DimVision's MusicMap

This is actually one the coolest things I have ever seen on the internet.  Using Amazon.com music information, the designers behind this website created a living similar-music flow-chart.  Start by typing the name of an artist you like, and a bubble will appear on the empty page.  Clicking more info will give you a rundown of information from amazon, but the fun starts when you click expand.  More little bubbles pop out from this bubble, each representing a similar album.  Over time, and many clicks on expand, you should have a moving, criss-crossing page of bubbles connected to other bubbles and artist names.  It sounds confusing, but you're wrong.  It's awesome.  Sometimes I go there just to play with the bubbles.

http://www.dimvision.com/musicmap

Amazon

Sure, Amazon is a great place to buy books, and movies, and lawn chairs, but what about music?  Well, of course, Amazon has a very large music library, and they know how to sell it.  As a user, Amazon offers me recommendations based on what I have bought on the site previously.  I can update these recommendations by rating other albums I already own, whether or not I purchased them from Amazon.  Amazon, like Pandora, has a good sense of what two albums sound alike, and will match recommendations to your taste.  Be careful though, this is an easy way to spend a lot of money.

www.amazon.com

Record Store Grab Bag

This one is simple.  Play Eeny-meeny-miny-mo, and buy the cd that your finger lands on.  Just do it.  Used record stores are great for this.  I like the Record Exchange in Boise.  A good indicator for the sound of the music is to look at the album art.  Cheesy band poses and cartoons are a good indicator of punk pop records.  Earthy tones and subtle titles will often lead you to acoustic guitars and folk-leanings.  Anything that looks like it took less than one minute or longer than two weeks for the artist to make is also probably indie.

Film Soundtracks

Watch more movies.  Although many blockbusters contain original scores that are hard to listen to on their own, there are plenty of films that contain great music.  Indie films are a good place to look.  Garden State is a popular example, as the movie heavily relied on the soundtrack to tell the story.  If you're the type that likes to stick around for the credits, you'll be awarded with a list of every song played during the movie.  IMDB.com also has complete soundtrack listings on almost every movie site.

Ask Friends

We all have friends that are more musically inclined then us, it's true.  All you have to do is ask.  I'm sure that someone around you is listening to at least one band that you have never heard of.  Isn't everyone curious what's being played through the headphones of people all over America?  I know I am.
__________________________________________
Chris Spicer is a walking wealth of new music wisdom. He is currently finishing up his undergraduate degree at a private University in Idaho. Chris is a screenwriter. Someday...he will get paid to do it for a living.

College Isn't Necessary Article...I'm Not Making This Up

I first saw this link on That College Kid. It was originally published on The Best Article Everyday.

Click on the image to see it full size. Enjoy!

Why Midterms Are Just What You Needed Halfway Through Your Semester

Just when you started getting comfortable in your semester and feeling like you had all the time in the world...midterms strike.

For many students this word causes rolling eyes, panic attacks, and an overall kink in an otherwise profitable social calendar. Midterms are like mini-finals. It's the halfway point in the semester and many professors are wanting to take the pulse of the class by finding how much they know up to this point.

But midterms don't have to be ALL bad. In fact, you can use this time to your advantage or at least view it from a positive perspective.

1. Save all of your notes, quizzes and previous tests.
One of the best ways to study for a midterm is to go back through every test you've taken up to this point. If it was important enough to put on the first test, it will probably show up somewhere on the comprehensive midterm exam.

2. Use midterms as a wake up call.
If you've been enjoying your semester a little too much - not letting academics get in the way of your education, then it's probably time for a kick in the pants. Midterms are like an alarm that goes off and reminds you that you are in college to learn and helps you see how well you're actually doing that.

3.Your midterm becomes a great study tool for your final.
It is a great summary of everything the professor thought was important from the first half of the semester. Plus it gives you some excellent insight into how the professor composes comprehensive exams.

4. Midterms show you where you're completely missing it.
You may have developed some blind spots and the midterm exam will reveal those. Yes, it may cost you a low grade to discover this, but it's better to find out in the middle of the semester than on the last day during the final. If you do blow it on the midterm, you still have a few weeks to get the help and assistance you need to bring your grade up.

5. A good midterm grade may cushion the blow of a bad final grade.
Most times, these comprehensive exams are worth more than other exams. If you do really well on your midterm, it will buffer some of the effects from a bad grade on something else. So put everything you can into being successful on your midterms and it can help you later on in the semester.

6. Some organizations use midterm grades as qualifications for involvement.
I know at our institution, we do a midterm grade check on all of our student leaders. This helps us to see if there are any red flags. If a student is below our minimum GPA required for involvement, that student will be placed on probation. If those grades don't improve by the end of the semester, the student leader may lose the opportunity to serve in that position.

7. Get organized.
If you completely missed it on your midterm exams, it may be time to look at your organization skills. You were given the dates of this exam back at the beginning of the semester on your syllabus. There's no reason to be surprised here. If you chose to try and study for a half-semester, comprehensive exam the night before it was offered...you just set yourself up for failure. If you try the same strategy when it comes to the final exam - you'll probably get the same results.

How are you getting ready for midterms? What strategies or insights can you share with others that can turn this tense time into a productive time?

College Students And The Political Process

There's been a great deal of attention paid by political candidates to the rising influence of college students in the electorate. Barak Obama has been quick to point out that his early victory in Iowa was due in large part to the young voters who turned out in support of him.

Today is affectionately known as Super Tuesday in the political world. That's because there are so many state caucuses and primaries that are being held around the country today. Twenty-four states. For those of you keeping score at home...that's pretty close to half of the United States.

College Students Rule! would like to know: As a college student, are you interested, involved, actively participating in the political process?

Recent demographic reports would say that this generation is slightly apathetic (and I'm being kind) when it comes to voting and politics. Is Iowa just a blip, an anomaly when it comes to the involvement of college students?

College Student News You Can Use

Here are some of the latest headlines that caught my attention. If you don't have much to do before you settle down to watch the Super Bowl this weekend, this list will make for some great leisure reading:

• For college student voters, casting a ballot requires more than ...
  Tufts Daily - Medford,MA,USA
  For the average American citizen of voting age, registering to vote and casting a ballot doesn't involve going further than one's home county. ...
• Teaching Our Kids How To Handle Debt and Credit
   By Silicon Valley Blogger
  There are ways to ensure your college student practices responsibility with a credit card. You simply cannot hand over the piece of plastic and not expect trouble. You must take the time to communicate how the credit world actually ...
• Smoke Em If You've Got Em - Tobacco Use and College Students
  Tobacco use is common among college students nationwide and is not limited to cigarettes. 28.5% of college students polled are current smokers. When asked why, the most common reasons were stress, less supervision at college, ...
• Students helped propel Obama to S. Carolina victory
  Dallas Morning News - Dallas,TX,USA
  He got a lot of help from college students in the South, including Texas. Last week in Columbia, SC, law school students from throughout the South met for a ...
• Students Debate Cause of College Gender Gap
  Howard University The Hilltop (subscription) - Washington,DC,USA
  ... an imbalance between the number of men and women enrolled in college. Students were given the opportunity to discuss this gender disparity, ...
• Napping proves helpful, popular among college students
  Daily Vidette - Normal,IL,USA
  Too early - it seems - for most college students. It will be OK, though, because naps are a saving grace for tired students. For some people, naps are as ...
• College students embrace being frugal to give their money more mileage
  Chattanooga Times Free Press - Chattanooga,TN,USA
  Few people know more ways to stretch their dollars than cash-strapped college students, who have turned thriftiness into a sort of art form. ...
  
• Gaming And The College Student
  UConn Daily Campus (subscription) - Storrs,CT,USA
  At this point, if you haven't played and loved "Guitar Hero," you're not a real college student. You might not even be a real human being, ...

College Students Rule! - One Month Young!

I realize that this post may sound a little bit like an adolescent school girl who obsessively counts the weeks, days, minutes, dare I say...seconds - that her and her young love have been "going out."

Well, College Students Rule! has now entered the "month" category.

As of February 1, CSR! has logged an entire month on the internet and so I want to give a State of the Union type post about it. This is for my own benefit, but also for those of you who might be thinking about starting their own online project. I've always found it interesting to see how these types of resources develop over time.

So I'm going to let you see the first month stats...something that I would like to affectionately call PROGRESS:

• 46 posts (the goal for 2008 is 500...so this we're on track here)
• 34 comments, 2 trackbacks
• 1,773 pageloads, 1,082 unique visitors, 211 return visitors
• 6 GUEST AUTHORS! Big thanks to Phil Gerbyshak, Kathryn Burns, Michael Leddy, Joanna Young, Nathan Fairchild, & Karen Pearson for so graciously investing in this project.
• Most Popular Post: 12 Super Web Apps For College Student Success In 2008

A heartfelt thank you to all of the people who have subscribed and tapped into the RSS feed for CSR! Regular readers are the bread and butter of any blog project. Your own word-of-mouth publicity for CSR! is greatly appreciated.

I'll throw another one of these posts up on July 1, 2008 which will the half-year mark for CSR! Until then...keep reading, writing, and doing what you can to help college students succeed.

5 Ways To Sabotage Your Decision-Making Abilities

So you headed off to college and you are now your own person (except for all that money you had to borrow). One of the benefits of being your own person, is that you also get to make some important decisions. And there will be consequences to those important decisions you make. Sounds like fun, eh?

The ability to make good decisions and live with the consequences is something that each person has to deal with on his or her way to adulthood. We call this - a fact of life. But there's no guarantee that the decisions you make will turn out the way you hope.

So, in order to make a good decision, it's important to begin to remove some of the ways that people make bad decisions. Here's five barriers that decrease the likelihood that your decision will turn out in a positive manner:

1. Indecision - The rock band, Rush, has a line in one of their songs that basically says, "If you decide not to decide, you still have made a choice." When we avoid making a decision, we leave our lives up to chance. And chance is not a good decision maker. All we are doing is trying to escape the responsibility of a decision because of the risk, fear or anxiety. All those can be formidable barriers and cause our indecision. Fight them by being courageous and making a choice.

Overcome indecision by deciding to decide.

2. Stalling - Sometimes we believe that we can't make a decision until we have "complete" knowledge. So we look for as many facts, details, and nuances as we can. We want 100% of the information that's necessary to make a decision. Trouble is, you'll never get that. The obsessive gathering of endless facts is only a defense mechanism for not facing the decision we need to make.

Overcome stalling by setting a timetable by which your decisions will be made.

3. Overreacting - When we let a situation spin out of control, we run the risk of letting our emotions take control. At that point, we'll probably make a decision that ends in regret. It's not that one shouldn't trust his or her heart, it's just that a decision made in anger, revenge, or during an emotional collapse will probably make matters worse.

Overcome overreacting by calming down before you make important decisions.

4. Vacillating - I understand that a girl's prerogative is to change her mind, but not 50 times. When we continually reverse our decisions, we become wishy-washy and others have difficulty trusting us. Plus, a half-hearted commitment only adds to our chance that our decision will end in failure.

Overcome vacillating by making a decision and sticking to it.

5. Half-measures - This is similar to #4, except it relates to the person that makes just enough of a decision to get by but doesn't deal with the whole problem. Many people will make decisions in an attempt to avoid controversy or conflict, but they don't really solve the REAL issues.

Overcome half-measures by making the right decision no matter how uncomfortable it might be.

Peter Drucker once said, "A decision is a judgment - it is a choice between alternatives. It is rarely a choice between right and wrong. It is at best a choice between 'almost right' and 'probably wrong.'