how much spending money on campus?

[cobrat]

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@calmom

I can’t even imagine in this day and age getting too attached to a physical book. In my day, the text book was pretty much all we had to work with – after one class, you might want to hang onto the book as a reference for the next - these days the kids have the internet & ebooks. I mean … a decade ago when my son was in college he was quite fond of a wall chart he had with the periodic table of the elements … these days? I’ve got an app for that.

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<p>The full-pay parents who disdained book renting and attended college kept all of their college textbooks related to their major(s) and/or minor(s). They felt those books were the best memento to commemorate the academic side of their undergraduate years…and they kept all of their college/grad school notes as well. It wasn’t just about their utility, but one way in which they placed their perceived values in action…keeping the very books which was a conduit of the academic side of their college education. </p>

<p>Granted…some would go so far as to gauge someone’s level of education/intellect beyond credentials by the quantity and type of books in a given person’s personal library. </p>

<p>As for the availability of the internet, they’d embrace its use as a starting point for one’s research…but would look askance at anyone who feels it could substitute for books/journals from a reputable publisher…especially on an academic/specialized area requiring some level of expertise. </p>

<p>Not too surprising considering back when I attended college in the '90s, I had professors who’d give an automatic F to anyone who used an internet source because the quality of materials available almost never matched the quality available from books/journal articles available in the college library/college library consortium. I now understand that inclination when my Prof/TA friends and I increasingly see undergrad papers citing Wikipedia articles or random websites anyone could have put up, qualified or not, which prompts us to wonder the following:</p>

<p>Since when have K-12 teachers seemingly:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Forgot to mention that encyclopedias are never acceptable as a source in a serious academic essay/research paper unless that very encyclopedia/one of its articles is a direct subject or critical part of the discussion. </p></li>
<li><p>Critical thinking & analysis in determining the veracity and reliability of information sources. Considering wikipedia or many random websites could be created/edited by anyone, qualified or not, it is certainly puzzling to see undergrads use it as an information source in itself…rather than a starting point to research something in much more depth. To some extent…I’d extend that to the internet as a whole outside of online versions of those books, journal articles, or publications by reputable institutions.</p></li>
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