<p>I hope this letter finds you refreshed from a summer of productive activity and relaxation. We are looking forward to your return to Smith. Joining you in the fall will be 687 first-year students, slightly more than we had anticipated, as well as 69 transfer students, 68 Ada Comstock Scholars, and 2 visiting students. Our houses will be fully occupied!</p>
<p>Central Check-in for returning students is Tuesday, September 5, between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., and Wednesday, September 6, between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. at the Indoor Track and Tennis facility (ITT). In addition, the ITT will be open for extended hours for key pick-up only on September 5 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and on September 6 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Please remember that, unless you have been approved for early arrival, you should not plan to be here before September 5. We have only a short time between the closing of summer programs and the opening of the fall semester, which makes it very difficult for housekeeping staff to prepare rooms for you. Students who have been approved for early arrival may not return before September 1. Students without approval to return early but who, for whatever reason, must arrive between September 1 and 5, will be charged $25 per day for room and board until houses officially open on September 5. If you plan to work on campus this year, you will need to complete a W-4 form at Central Check-in. As always, torchi</p>
<p>Thanks for the info Roadlesstraveled. Apparently, this email did not go out to new students. Great news about zipcar, but I wonder if there is an age minimum for Smith students. Also, great news about the fabulous new suites in Baldwin as my DD has been assigned to one.</p>
<p>"Great news about zipcar, but I wonder if there is an age minimum for Smith students"</p>
<p>Yup, 21 :(...But Smith has vans anyone (even 1st yrs) can use for club activities. Sometimes the club activities just happen to include stopping at a mall or restaurant.</p>
<p>fwiw- Smith is the only college I know of that allows students to have a van and drive up to 200 miles (other colleges) for any legitimate club activity.</p>
<p>"Beginning Monday, August 28, Smith students 18 and older -- along with faculty, staff and local residents 21 and older -- will be able to reserve the use of a car by the hour or day. Gas and insurance are included in the hourly rate of $7 and the daily rate of $55."</p>
<p>Looks like 18 year-old students can use them after all!</p>
<p>Ye gods. I guess D may need lessons on driving in winter conditions sooner I'd thought. And the local custom of treating the white lines on the roads as decorative rather than functional. Oy. Not of immediate concern, since she's off campus this year...but I have a habit of worrying early to save the rush.</p>
<p>"Looks like 18 year-old students can use them after all"</p>
<p>This certainly took me off guard. Zipcar has changed the rules. Wellesley has the same program, I learned.</p>
<p>TD's concern is very valid. How many kids that have never driven in the snow are now going be on the roads with no lessons? Seems to me like a death wish. Before the days of co-ed, when Smith, Dartmouth, Williams, Yale, and students' from other colleges used to travel back and forth, there was almost never a winter that went by that one or more (usually more) students' weren’t killed on a wintry day/night. The rental companies won't rent you a car until you're 25 for a reason.</p>
<p>Having said that, for the student with winter driving experience, I suppose this really opens up a number of opportunities that didn't exist until this yr. Read: road trips :)</p>
<p>It will be interesting to see how much in demand the Zipcars actually are. </p>
<p>Some Zipcars are designated "hourly only" and I kind of wish Smith had gone for those (if it was even an option for them). That would make the cars more available for things like doctor/dentist appointments. A lot of students complain that it's tough to make an appointment with many types of specialists because of lack of transportation to their offices.</p>
<p>It is about the same per day to rent a car from Enterprise if you're 25+ and and an extra $15 if you're between 21-24, with the additional benefit of unlimited miles -- only 125 "free" miles per day with Zipcar. I'm renting a car for transporting friends to Hampshire Halloween (Yes SAP, you are definitely invited!) and it would probably be more of a hassle to try and get the Zipcar than to just get it from Enterprise. But it will be nice to have the cars available to everyone on an hourly basis if it isn't too difficult to reserve them.</p>
<p>It will also be interesting to see if fines become an prohibitive issue for some students -- $25 for being a few minutes late returning the car, up to $50 for smoking in the car, spills that aren't cleaned up etc.</p>
<p>As for safety issues when driving in the ice and snow, just remember that it is statistically safer to drive a car than it is to ride a bicycle on the road, and lots of students do that. Or.... maybe that is just one more thing you can worry about now that I bring it up. ;-)</p>