What if printers actually printed

The idea behind printwise is a good one. You swipe you ID and your print jobs are transferred electronically to that given printer. The problem comes when the actual printing process happens, or in most cases, does not happen. Whether its out of paper, or just doesn't feel like printing on that particular day, the odds of actually getting you paper printed is 50:50 on most days.

Let's start out by talking about the out of paper issue. We are all college student. So, you would think that we would know how to fill the paper in the paper drawer of a printer. However, the great minds at our university have decided that, while we can be expected to write term papers and complete massive midterm projects, filling the paper in the printer is one task that we cannot be trusted with. So instead, the paper drawer is locked behind a super annoying door making it impossible to be opened without a super special key. So, instead of solving our own problems, students are stuck without a paper to turn in. I think we all can agree that there is nothing worse then seeing that paper low icon on the printer. But what choice do we have? We just have to swipe and hope there is enough paper to print what we desperately need for class that day.

That beings me to my next point, deleting. My personal favorite printer issue is when that evil machine just simply deletes your print jobs for no apparent reason. There is nothing like walking three blocks to the printer, only to find out that nothing was transferred to your card and you now have to sprint back to get your computer before class starts. My questions is simple. Why!? I just don't understand why this happens and why is continues to happen. These printers are supposed to be providing a convenient service for us. Instead, it feel more like they are sabotaging us.

Apartment Hunting, Worse Than Finals

Well, its September. You know that that means, time to start the frantic search for apartments before all the "good ones" are taken. Around here you have to have a lease signed but mid october or you will be forced to live miles away from campus and brave the harsh winter walk to class everyday. No thanks. That was not going to happen to me. So, last year my roommates and I signed a lease in October. Now to be clear Im not talking about a lease starting in January, Im talking about a full year lease to start in May of the following year. Thats right, we had to make a decision about a place to live a full eight months before we actually move in!

Now I thought last year was bad, but this year is worse than ever. Syllabus week is bad enough, but getting a notice asking you to make a decision that will effect you life for the next year or more, is just the cherry on top. We were given until September 15th to make a decision on if we wanted to up our lease or vacate in May. I just have one question for my management. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW! Honestly, how am I supposed to make a decision about where I'm going to live a full eight months ahead of time. I cant tell the future! Let me tell you something, the stress is out of control. Hence the title. I would rather go through a week of finals then try to find a new apartment.

Like I said, the competition is out of control. This year I live on prime real-estate in the Marquette undergrad market, Renee Row. Like I said, we were given until the 15th to make a decision. Little did I know that the following morning my patio would be covered in potential renters forming a line to the leasing office. Seriously, there were people lined up at 8:30 in the morning for tours that did not start until 9! I mean really, you don't have anything better to do? For those who were waiting outside let me tell you something, it is not worth it. nothing but a really good ride at Disney World is worth waiting a half hour in the cold rain for, and maybe not even that.

And Another thing, Marquette doesn't even start renting their apartments untilNovember. Really Marquette? Your going to expect me to take that gamble? Wait until all the other apartments are gone in hopes that I can get on of yours and pay twice as much? No thanks.

In my humble opinion, I think the whole process is ridicules. I think that there should be a week where we can look but not touch. That is, tours can be given, but no leases can be signed. I think that this would solve the frantic and rash decisions from being forced upon already stressed out upperclassman. I mean we have finding real jobs to worry about. And God knows that sucks enough.

So the search begins again. Campus wide apartment hunting has begun. God help us.

* Make sure to answer this weeks poll question about apartments!*

Blast from the past

So today in class I couldn't help feeling a little bit of deja vu. We spent the day walking around campus taking pictures with our trust wakerly cameras. armed with our orders for framing with the magic of the rule of thirds we went out in groups to capture our photo stories.

I felt particularly confident in completing todays assignment. Mainly because I have done the assignment before. It seems that digital storytelling and editing have a bit of an overlap. Now, don't get me wrong, I love this. I think it is great to review what we have done in past classes and maybe improve upon the grades we got on them originally.To be honest I did feel like the pictures I took today were a lot better then the ones I took this time last semester simply because I knew what to do.

A wise professor once said that college students are like Etch-a-sketch's. Meaning that as soon as finals are over, they give their heads a shake and everything is erased. Well, Dr.Byers is not going to let that happen. By having us do similar assignments he is forcing us to remember what we have previously learned and apply it in our assignments. He is testing us, but in a different way then just multiple choice. He is demanding that we remember what we have learned.

I think that this is most important in journalism classes because they build upon each other. Each class we take builds upon the one before it. So, having the same assignment a semester later is actually a great idea. So thank you Dr.Beyers for making me remember.

I Hate Editing (not the class don't worry Dr.Byers)

Hello everyone!

So I would like to start by apologizing in advance to anyone who has to grade my papers (this includes you Dr.Byers!). I am one of those writers whose work is full of grammatical errors. Even as I type this now there are at least 3 angry red underlines on my page. However much I wish there was, there is no excuse for this. I'm just plan lazy. No, thats not right, not lazy, just impatient. I'm the kind of person that once I write down what I'm thinking I want to move on, not spend an extra half hour raking over every comma and period. I really think that they should just invent a program that fixes everything for you. I really think that it would save people a whole lot of time.

Needless to say this has gotten me into some trouble in some of my other classes. Many teachers have told me to sow down and double check my work. But I just cant seem to do it! I think the problem is that I have so many ideas in my head that I need to be constantly moving on to the next thing. backtracking to edit is just not my way of doing things. I mean, there is a reason they invented spell check!

That being said, hopefully I will learn to change. I guess I would have to in this class since the entire subject is on editing. I really hope for my grades sake that I learn to slow down and edit my work......but I wouldn't hold your breath.