anyone heard of mandatory 8/21 freshman

<p>on-campus meeting regarding some book everyone's going to read. D heard a little about it at preview, and I know I read there was a meeting somewhere ... but i can't find the info, of course, now. Just wondering if anyone knows what this is, and have they done this in past years, and do they REALLY, REALLY have to go. This is also the first day D can move into her apartment, and we were planning to get that all done then. Hate to lose her for half the day dealing with whatever this is .... </p>

<p>Any info would be helpful, thanks!</p>

<p>zebes</p>

<p>[The</a> Dean of Students Office - New Student Programs](<a href=“http://www.dso.ufl.edu/nsp/nts/]The”>http://www.dso.ufl.edu/nsp/nts/)</p>

<p>It’s also my move-in date for my apartment as well, so it makes things kind of difficult on top of moving in almost a week after everyone else. Last year it was cancelled because of TS Fay. From the website, it seems that the individual college meetings are more important than the big gathering.</p>

<p>From the FAQ:

</p>

<p>Do they really expect 6000+ 1st years to attend. LOL.</p>

<p>Same thing happened last year. In anticipation of the fact that I had decided to skip it because I thought it was a waste of time, they came out with a statement saying that those that would not be attending would have to write an essay on the book less than 1% of the incoming students read. I did the essay in 20 minutes the day before the event. Not an entire minute after, I get a call from a good friend informing me that the event has been canceled due to weather. </p>

<p>Btw: last year was the first time they tried this garbage, to my knowledge
If they give you some absurdly boring book like the stupid water one we were given last year that read more like an atlas than a book, I wouldn’t bother reading it.</p>

<p>Ours was canceled last year but, as everyone said, they do intend to have everyone attend and will punish you in some way if you fail to do so. Getting a hold on your record is always pretty annoying, as it takes FOREVER to get anyone to remove it, even if you do what they want you to do.</p>

<p>Skim the book. It’ll take 30 minutes at the most and will be adequate for whatever you’ve got to do with it.</p>

<p>We called D’s apartment complex and got permission to move in a day early, which is great. Now they can have all their stuff in on Thursday, and us “moms” can make walmart runs and “dads” can install routers, etc, on Friday morning when the girls are on campus doing all their mandatory nonsense. So, those of you living off-campus, you might want to see if you can move in a day early and make your life less crazy, too. :)</p>

<p>zebes</p>

<p>Fyi, the book is called The Devil’s Highway. It is a great read on a true story about immigration across the border between Arizona and Mexico. My son got the book at preview and I just finished it this week. It is a quick read and I learned a lot while being entertained. What a concept.</p>

<p>Not to get too preachy, but those of you parents running down the common reading program might think about what you’re teaching your kids about what to look for in their experience at UF. I think having a common book on a thought provoking topic promotes exactly the kind of dialogue we all ought to hope our kids have every now and then up at school.</p>

<p>Mr. dallas, by any chance did you read last year’s book on water depletion? Also, I’m sure none of us would have a problem with a book being suggested, but to try to burden incoming students with a REQUIRED book that most students have no interest in isn’t the way to improve them. In an ideal world, I’m sure everyone would read the books from cover to cover and would come out better people on the other end, like your son. Unfortunately, the world we live in is not ideal, as illustrated by the existence of Florida State University.</p>

<p>Actually, I don’t have a problem with them reading the book. In fact, it would make sense to discuss this book in my D’s cultural diversity in the US class she’s taking this fall. However, since all off-campus housing in Gainesville opens up for those new to the complexes – according to the manager of my d’s complex – on the Friday before classes start every year. And it’s been this way for years … why would they schedule this on that date. UF has an off-campus housing organization (we went to their talk during preview), and it would have been nice if they had informed the various complexes in town of this new meeting so that they might have been able to co-ordinate move-in more easily. But … hey, it’s all fixed for us now, so D and her roommate will be on-campus with bell’s on. Now, whether they’ll have read the book or not … couldn’t tell you. She always did her AP required summer work, so probably she’ll have it read.</p>

<p>zebes</p>