Last Chance to Vote

In continuation to our Are You Voting? and our Don’t Vote! post here is another for those of you that want to make a difference. I received the following email from a strange email address, but the information is still valid. Register and get your absentee ballots now:

Last Chance to Register and Vote!

In most states (including MA) today (Monday) is the last opportunity to register and vote.

If you are from a key swing state in the upcoming presidential election, you are in a privileged position to affect the outcome (assuming you are a US citizen age 18 or over). Please consider using your special status to vote in your home state, where it will count most. If you have already registered in Massachusetts (or elsewhere) that is OK, you can still register and vote absentee in your home state, so long as it is still your permanent residence (e.g., your parents live there). Of course you must only vote in one or the other.

Here is all you need to do to vote absentee in another state: Just download the voter registration and absentee ballot request forms by going to this page http://votebackhome.com/swingstates/ and clicking on your state. Then fill out the two forms (voter registration and absentee ballot request), and mail them together, enclosing a copy of your drivers license or non-drivers state ID (with your home address on it). On the forms, use your residence address in your homestate that corresponds to your state ID. Give your BU address only as a mailing address on the absentee ballot request. Remove the cover page and send the two forms and a copy of your ID to the clerk’s address for your county. If you don’t know your county, look it up at http://quickfacts.census.gov/cgi-bin/qfd/lookup If you are already registered, just send in the absentee ballot request, which does not need a copy of ID. If you have any special situation, find complete information at http://longdistancevoter.org

Hurry: this material must be postmarked by Monday October 6.

Do it now! It really is simple.

Note from the editor: Not all registration dates and absentee ballot application dates are October 6th, but many states are not far off so get off your ass and send that one-page piece of paper!

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5 Tips for Staying on Track as the Semester Moves Forward

The following post was contributed by Kelly Kilpatrick, who writes on the subject of obtaining an online college degree. She invites your feedback at kellykilpatrick24 at gmail dot com.

You’ve been in school for several weeks now, and chances are you’ve had at least a couple of quizzes and maybe even a major paper or test in most of your classes. It’s been an adjustment, getting back in the groove of things, but you’ve got it. Time to relax, right? Think again.

This is a notion that gets many a student in trouble right around this time each semester. Keep up the good work, it will pay off! If you haven’t been doing so well here at the beginning of the semester, there’s still time to rectify the situation. Here are five tips to help keep you on track for the rest of the semester.

Plan Ahead

It’s not too late to start planning ahead for future tests or major assignments. If you have been doing this so far, good for you—keep it up! If you haven’t, work on getting your affairs in order so that you won’t be stressed out when it comes down to crunch time, which leads to the next point.

Use Your Time Wisely

Budgeting your time and making good use of your time is essential to success in college. Use time before and/or after class to review information so that it has time to sink in. Plan out each day, considering your class schedule and down time. Many times, we spend far more time thinking about what has to be done rather than just doing it, so make a schedule and stick to it.

Know Your Professor

It is very important that you establish a rapport with your professor or instructor. It’s never too late to stay after class for clarification on the finer details of a lecture or to ask a question about an upcoming paper. It shows that you care and helps your professor to know who you are and remember you later when you just might need it.

Get a Study Buddy

This is another essential thing you need to do. Perhaps you won’t study one-on-one with this person, but it is important to have the name, phone number, and email of at least two people in each class. If you have to miss class for any reason, they can keep you abreast of any changes to the syllabus or upcoming quizzes; they may have notes to share with you as well. If you haven’t done this, introduce yourself to someone at your next class and get the ball rolling. You may be able to help them out and make a new friend in the process.

Have Fun Within Reason

College is about education, but a social life is important too. You need time to unwind and decompress, so have fun—but be responsible. It is one thing to enjoy yourself; it’s a whole different issue if you go out and get wrecked the night before a major exam. Take steps to ensure that your social life doesn’t overcome your academic life and you’ll thank yourself later.

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Are You Voting: Update

An update to our previous post, Are You Voting? The answer is no:

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Friday Funnies: Right Wing Facebook

Not much to say here. Just visit rightwingfacebook.org for your laugh of the day.

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Comparison Shopping – Saving Money on Everything

Matt Cutts, the unofficial Google blogger, wrote on his blog the other day some helpful advice for us college students:

A few days ago I was in a college bookstore that wanted to charge $178.60 for a copy of Mathematical Physics, by Eugene Butkov. $178.60? For a used, paperback book? Grrr. I took a picture of the UPC code and/or ISBN number.

You can search for an ISBN or UPC code (e.g. [9780201007275] ) on Google or other search engines and usually find out a product pretty quickly. I found a copy for $115.34 at Amazon, plus eBay had a hardcover copy with a current bid of $23.20. For a college student, $60 to $150 is a lot of savings.

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