• the 2 copies of a 30-page paper I had to print to turn in
• the ECON310 scans of a book we need to print for class
• or stuff for ANY OTHER CLASS.

350 pages, though it may sound like a lot of wasted paper, is not much in the life of a college student. I’m just glad that I have my own printer, though it pains me to waste MY paper and MY toner.

Way to go, Clemson.

–

Here is a copy of the email I received earlier:

Clemson has adopted a new policy aimed at saving money, reducing wasted paper and making printing in public campus labs more efficient. Uniprint from Pharos Systems has been awarded the contract for software that will allow the university to implement this policy.

The Print Quota Policy, recommended by the Budget Task Force on Information Technology and approved by Administrative Council, will establish a per-page charge for those over the quota in the CCIT-managed student labs, the CCIT-owned plotters, and for departmentally managed student labs.

The issue of excessive printing was repeatedly mentioned when Clemson asked for comments and suggestions about its 2008-2009 budget crisis. That was November 2008 and the university had just announced mandatory furloughs to handle the immediate crisis and formed 11 budget task forces to consider long-term strategic decisions for the future.

Clemson University has seen a steady increase in volume and cost in public labs where it has provided unrestricted printing for many years. During the 2008-09 academic year, print volumes hit the 12 million-page mark in CCIT labs alone, and 2009-10 projections are close to 13 million.

“We found that Clemson is the only ACC school that did not have a print quota in place,” said Janell Bohlmann, director of project and service management in Clemson computing and information technology (CCIT). “We researched implementation at many schools and solicited input from students who served on the task force and from representatives to Student Senate.”

According to Mike Nebesky, Clemson’s procurement director, Pharos’ Uniprint software will help manage the university’s print quota system by tracking the number of pages students print and interfacing with their Tiger 1 cards to debit accounts for the per-page charges due when they exceed the quota.

Quotas for all undergraduate students will be 350 pages per semester. This applies to actual sheets of paper, not printouts, as a two-sided printout counts as one page against the quota. Quotas for all graduate students will be 500 pages per semester. Both undergraduates and graduates will pay 5 cents per page over the quota.

Here are the perks of Tillman Place:

• High-Speed Wireless Internet Access
• Parking Space for Each Bedroom
• Full-Size Washer/Dryer
• Refrigerator/Ice Maker
• Dishwasher
• Stove/Oven
• Multiple Telephone and Cable Outlets
• Patio or Balcony with Storage
• 4-Bedroom Units have 2 Bathrooms (tub w/ showers) and 2 Double Sinks
• Breakfast Bar
• Community Pool
• Community Volleyball Court
• Exercise & Weight Room
• On CAT Bus Line

Because it’s only 1/2 mile away from Campus (by Monteray’s and Skins), I plan on riding my bike to class unless it’s raining. If that’s the case, I’ll drive to class and park in the Commuter spaces. It makes me chuckle when I think that the Commuter spaces in R-1 (“the pit”) are actually closer than I usually park in Aisle 10. Even better, the Commuter pass is half of the price!

If you’re curious as to the nitty-gritty details, here they are:

Rent: $1040/month ($260/person/month) w/o Utilities
NOTE: The Apartments on campus are $5900/person/semester ($590/person/month)
Unit Number: 631 (third floor)
Lease: August 15, 2010 – August 14, 2011
NOTE: Classes start August 18, 2010

Needless to say, I’m extremely excited about next semester. I knew that I wanted to live off campus since Clemson House was designated as freshman housing, but we really lucked into this place with everything that we could want. All I have to do is survive the rest of this year in my windowless jail cell…

Anyway, next semester I will plan on resuming my Spanish classes for a minor in Spanish, along with my dual degree in Marketing and International Business Management.

On another note, I’m thinking about taking ACCT201 online at Trident Technical College over the summer so I will transfer into my junior year (technically my sophomore year) with that credit, rather than taking it at Clemson. It has been said that ACCT201 is the death of business majors, so since I don’t plan on my funeral anytime in the near future, this should be the safe option.

What do you think?

It went through a couple of revisions:

• I had SPAN201 MW, but upon looking at the list of Clemson minors, I realized that I could not minor in a SPANISH, but rather SPANISH-AMERICAN STUDIES. Frankly, I don’t care about learning the politics of hispanohablantes or economics of those nations.
• I added MTHSC309 TTh, but I received an email stating that I would be dropped because I didn’t have the prerequisite MTHSC207 (in which I’m currently enrolled).
• I added ECON310 TTh. This is a 300- level course, so it should prove interesting. Curiously, ECON212 (in which I’m currently enrolled) is a prerequisite, but it’s not strictly enforced.
• I had APEC205 TTh (which would satisfy my CCA and STS credit), but the teacher who was originally teaching the course dropped it for another teacher who received horrible reviews on www.ratemyprofessors.com… so I dropped it.
• I added MKT301, another 300- level course for my Management and Marketing double major.
• Sitting at 19 hours, I thought everything was dandy, but Matthew, Mark, and Rob encouraged me to look into a seminar class, CPSC481. After attending one T 7-8:30pm session, I was hooked. The class is structured around building computer programs to solve basic problems (like the linked loop list, a classic interview question). Needless to say, that’s been added to my schedule.
• I had Intro to Swing Dancing W (for a total of 20 hours), but I dropped it to preserve my sanity.

At this point, I thought that I had the perfect schedule. I would have 1 MW class at 2:30, horrible TTh (from 9:30pm-8:30pm), and Fridays off. On Wednesday, I showed up to 104 NEWMN at 2:25pm for my Marketing class to find an empty auditorium. After waiting 20 minutes for Professor Gaubert, I trekked over to the Marketing Department in Sirrine and they informed me that he was “out of the country”. Apparently he is teaching abroad in Belgium and his classes won’t start until March 8. So now I have no MWF classes until March 8, when I will have only 1 MW class and keep my free Fridays.

So that’s the story of the schedule. My MGT201 class is all online, so I’ll use Fridays to take care of the workload for that. It will definitely keep me busy!

Speaking of MGT201, I think that’s the only class I have to worry about right now. The tests (3/semester) are 85 questions to be completed in only 1 hour, so we’ll see how that goes…

Whew. 4.0 achieved! Only 7 semesters left of my double major in Business Management and Marketing with an emphasis in International and a minor in Spanish. I wonder if I can keep this up…

Clemson’s first basketball game of the season was a great success. I went with my friends Nick & Alisha, Matt & Ally, and Patrick. It was against Presbyterian College so I knew it would be an easy game, but I wasn’t aware that we would win 84-41. AND, since we scored over 82, all tickets were redeemable for a free taco at Taco Bell! Another great night: check.

Keep in mind that the 5:00-7:45T PM MGT is only 4 times the entire semester for tests, as with the 6:45-8:15W PM MTHSC. And don’t worry, I’ve checked Rate My Professor. XD

I live in overflow, as you may already know. Since I’m stuck in a converted bathroom, unlike the other rooms on the floor, the door locks as soon as it closes. Needless to say, there have been several times that as soon as the door shuts, I realize that I’ve left my keys on the desk as I slap my pockets to make sure they’re there. Forgetting them involves going downstairs, sliding my card through the computer, getting a lecture from the person at the desk, and getting the spare key, which has to be returned by noon the next day.

I did this on Friday, and unfortunately, it was the 3rd time, meaning that I had to pay $10 for a spare key. I was a little angry at this — if I had a roommate, I could have called him to let me in… I don’t. If I were in overflow, I would have had to lock the door with the key from the outside, keeping me from losing my key. But, I had to get in, so I paid the $10.

Normally I unlock the door, grab my keys, and go return the spare key to the desk so I don’t forget. Unfortunately, the desk was closed for the rest of the weekend and the key was due back by noon on Monday. Okay, no big deal.

Today rolls around, I wake up and try to return my key to the desk — no one is there. Alright, there’s still time. I go up to take a shower, shave, get dressed, brush my teeth (all the normal morning stuff), and go down, again, to return my key. Still, there is no one there. I’m starting to worry as 12:00 is fast approaching. I sit down there is the grossly uncomfortable chairs waiting for somebody to come so they can check my key in. 11:59 rolls around and the RA on duty walks back to the desk and I scurry over before noon to turn my key in.

BY THE TIME THE SOB LOGS INTO THE COMPUTER, IT IS 12:01 AND MY KEY IS PAST DUE. THIS MEANS THAT I OWE $50 FOR LOCKING MYSELF OUT OF MY ROOMMATELESS OVERFLOW ROOM FROM HELL IN A BUILDING WHERE THE RA’S DON’T GIVE A FLYING SHIT.

WHERE IS THE JUSTICE IN THIS SITUATION?

Answer: There is none. FML

It’s not as simple as walking up to the ticket counter, handing over your CUID and IPTAY card, and receiving a ticket in return. Well, erm, it is… so to speak. But not if you want a SECTION A, ROW L ticket. That’s right; I’m on the lower level 12 rows back.

My journey started off at midnight, when I trekked from Byrnes down to the football stadium to meet some friends who had been holding our spot. Out in the cold I stood in shorts (stupid me) and flip-flops (seriously, what was I thinking?) bojangling — which I have been informed is another word for “shooting the bull”. After about an hour of standing in the same place, I had to excuse myself and take a walk around the stadium. Rounding the corner, I witnessed all of the tents which had been setup, some since Monday, to be first in line for tickets. I’m assuming it’s a thing of Clemson pride, but that’s silly.

Indulging my inner child, I counted to find that we were the 37th tent from the front. Assuming that there were only 4 people per tent on average, we would be nearly the 150th ticket distributed. That didn’t seem to bad… until I realized that we were the last in line. Why, I asked myself, would I be camping out the night before the IPTAY ticket distribution if I could wake up early the next day and stand in line? Oh well, it was all in good spirit (and I was too cold to walk back).

Bullshitting a few hours more, we were greeted by 2 drunk bikers who stopped to chat with us for a bit. We enjoyed their company, but they soon parted and I retired to the tent. Here comes the fun part. Stubborn me had brought nothing but a thin blanket to keep me warm, but the extreme drop in temperature was the factor for which I hadn’t accounted. Laying on the cold concrete with merely a sheet to shield my bosom [wow, I have to stop writing when I'm tired], it took me a few tries to fall asleep.

Somehow, with only 4 times waking up in the middle of the night, the clock flipped to 7 and I “woke up” to get my ticket. The ticket wasn’t an instant gratification for waking up. First the tent had to be pulled down, the area policed, and then the line creeping. Tired at this point after just waking up, I became pretty good at “resting my eyes” while standing up, blindly advancing in the line when I heard the simultaneous shuffle of feet. How long would this take?

Inch by inch we crept closer to the ticket counter. up the stairs, in the stadium, down the ramp until I reached the window, asking for a Section A ticket. And that’s it! With ticket in hand, I was satisfied. But still, something was missing. Something didn’t feel right.

Why couldn’t I have just come early in the morning? Why did I insist on camping?

Waiting for the bus back to the other side of campus (because walking with frozen feet is completely out of the option), I overhear some people, who had formed the caboose of the line before I woke up, talking about how they were given seats in ROW V. That’s 11 rows back from the seat which I had gleamed only minutes before. So I realized that minutes make all the difference.

So what’s the take-home lesson from this story? That’s easy… I have a kickass seat to the Wake Forest vs. Clemson game nearly a week ahead of the regular student distribution schedule. I win.

First of all, Delta Sigma Pi is a professional fraternity. If there is any doubt, the dress required for all meetings is a suit — no, khakis and a blazer won’t work. These guys are serious about their professional image because the business world is tough.

Secondly, the mission of Delta Sigma Pi speaks volumes:

Delta Sigma Pi is a professional fraternity organized to foster the study of business in universities; to encourage scholarship, social activity and the association of students for their mutual advancement by research and practice; to promote closer affiliation between the commercial world and students of commerce, and to further a higher standard of commercial ethics and culture and the civic and commercial welfare of the community.

When I was back in Charleston, I was a very active member of the Boy Scouts of America and Order of the Arrow. Up here at Clemson, I’ve fallen out of touch with my volunteering due to lack of available opportunities. Delta Sigma Pi promotes a “higher standard of commercial ethics and culture and the civic and commercial welfare of the community”, meaning we perform community service activities for the benefit of the community, among other things.

Furthermore, the fraternity is a chance for me to become a better businessman by attending résumé, interview skills, and other workshops. They provide internships and put brothers in touch with big names in the business world. Unlike social sororities/fraternities (like ΔΔΔ), ΔΣΠ actually encourages you to do well in school. There are no “frat parties”, but rather retreats that give brothers a chance to get to know one another better and find common interests. The members of Delta Sigma Pi are not just friends, they’re brothers. (besides, everyone’s tried a delta — harhar)

I’m still pledging, but I hope that clears things up for those interested.
It’s not a bad thing, really.