<p>another perspective from a Cornell '09er, it is so FREAKING COLD HERE, it is absurdly cold.</p>
<p>the entire northeast is also cold in winter. You use the same winter coat in ithaca as you'd use in Boston and NYC.</p>
<p>the winters in ithaca seem much worse than they actually are because you have to walk 15-20 minutes to get anywhere. but there's nothing quite like a nice bout of hypothermia to toughen the soul.</p>
<p>bumpppppppppppppppppp</p>
<p>I have a question:</p>
<p>What is the political climate like on campus?</p>
<p>Actually, I thought the winter was VERY mild this year except for the last two weeks of school. And that's from a Californian's perspective and from the perspective of someone who had to repeatedly walk to the computer lab 20 minutes away the last month of school b/c his laptop broke down.</p>
<p>norcal, did u have a Dell?</p>
<p>advice: get an IBM, best decision i made</p>
<p>
[quote]
I have a question:</p>
<p>What is the political climate like on campus?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You'll get a different answer from every person, but this is my take on the subject.</p>
<p>I was never involved with politics, but it seemed that the campus was mostly left-leaning. Both the campus Democratic party and the College Republicans are very active organizations. The Dems on campus are mired by in-fighting and a lot of drama, and the Repubs get a ton of funding from outside sources, so they are very loud despite being a minority.</p>
<p>According to my roommate, his poli sci and govt classes garnered a significant amount of political discussion. 90%+ of the professors are on the left, but in my opinion they are not there to spread left-wing propaganda or whatever it is bitter repubs accuse them of doing. They are very fair and not stifling of dissenting opinions or idealogies.</p>
<p>If you want to get involved in politics, you certainly can do so and you certainly won't find a dearth of activities. However, if you are looking for an entire student body that is highly polemicized or politically charged, you're better off somewhere else.</p>
<p>
[quote]
advice: get an IBM, best decision i made
[/quote]
This would've been good advice a year ago, but IBM shifted their manufacturing operations to China. It's not worth the extra costs anymore</p>
<p>well, i have one, fabulous machine, no problems, didn;t break down once unlike the ppl i know with Dells</p>
<p>Yea, had a low-end Dell.</p>
<p>Dells are the best bang for the buck, considering the company's service infrastructure and price. IBMs were great...whether the quality holds up or not we will see in the next couple years.</p>
<p>The political climate is kind of what you make of it. If you choose to be involved it's there, but it's not like you'll be bombarded with political propaganda every 3 feet.</p>
<p>get a mac</p>
<p>i got sick of PC's always crashing and what not. I've used them for years and years, and i just get sick of it.</p>
<p>so, i took the plunge and bought a powerbook last spring. Hasn't crashed or caused any problems what so ever. Such a wonderful investment!</p>
<p>Also excellent advice from gomestar. How do you feel about the occasional compatibility problems. I heard there were issues with the bear access software, and I'm pretty sure the napster thing won't work with macs. Can you just run virtual PC to rectify things like this?</p>
<p>I gotta agree with gomestar, macs are, although expensive, great great machines. If you don't go mac, go dell. <a href="http://www.dealsea.com%5B/url%5D">www.dealsea.com</a> has 40% off or $750 off coupons weekly for dell machines. I recommend the inspiron 6000 if you want a bigger machine with more power, or the 700m if you want a small, light, very portable machine. 6000 will give more bang for the buck, and you can have a discrete graphics card and stuff.</p>
<p>what's this napster thing? here i just (illegally, of course) download songs off limewire. Does napster come free? Otherwise, might as well use itunes in the US. Limewire isnt illegal is it?</p>
<p>oh ya, and if you're planning of buying a mac (which i probably will), you've gotta give up gaming. Lots of amazing software isnt compatible with macs.</p>
<p>Macs are too expensive, but if you do graphics or are afraid of computers, then it's worth the money.</p>
<p>For the rest of us that are poor but know the difference between Enter and Backspace, go through the Dell store's educational discount program. Also, search the net for Dell Coupons if you want to easily save an extra 100$-500$.</p>
<p>And of course if you want a desktop, you can build one one on your own for super cheap.</p>
<p>if you do the educational discount program though cornell, you often forfeit the opportunity to use the sick coupons.</p>
<p>Edu discount program through Cornell actually costs more than buying normally from Dell.</p>
<p>Go through the Dell website and choose your computer through the Educational store. You get better discounts ,more choices, and the ability to use the coupons in addition to the EPP discounts.</p>
<p>yeah exactly shizz...i saw the cornell "discount" and was like huh?</p>
<p>Napster is now a legal service. Cornell pays for a subscription so it's free for students. The music is not transferrable to an ipod or regular mp3 player unless it is DRM compatible with Microsoft's Janus software. iRiver makes a lot of them as do dell, creative, and a few others. Napster is great for playing music on your stereo/computer in your room. If you want portable music, you need to buy a compatible player and pay $5 per month, or use DC++ or some other fileshare network. The cool thing about napster/subscription is that you get all the songs you want. 1.5 million+ are available.</p>