. Students look to computers
to take effective class notes
BY EVA SYLWESTER
NEWS REPORTER
As laptop computers become
more portable and affordable, they
have replaced standard pen and pa
per note-taking methods for some
University students.
"That can be extremely effective
because many people type more
quickly than they write,” Academic
Learning Services instructor Amy
Nuetzman said. She added that
computer notes are more legible
than hand-written notes, and
computer note-taking works best
for students who are visually and
verbally minded.
“People can take notes in any
number of styles and be really suc
cessful,” Nuetzman said. “Engaging
is really the key. Some students are
* helped by not taking notes at all. ”
Senior psychology student Ero
Ruef said he became interested
in computer note-taking when he
met someone on a train who said he
had all of his class notes from
his entire college career saved on
his computer and could link notes
from classes he was taking at the
time to classes he had taken in
previous terms.
“He’s the one who got me going
on it; so I got a computer and did it,”
Ruef said.
Ruef said the ability to edit notes
as his professors speak and easily
find and search through notes are
positive aspects of the computer
note-taking experience.
“The main thing that got me doing
that is I can’t fit more than one piece
of paper on this desk,” he said, refer
ring to small classroom desks.
Ruef said in his finance class
the teacher doesn’t allow computers
in the classroom, but he is also tak
ing a psychology class in which,
instead of using a textbook, the
readings are posted on the Internet
and computer use is allowed in
the classroom.
“That saved me a couple hundred
dollars,” Ruef said.
Some software compa
nies have designed pro
grams to help students take
notes on computers.
SubEthaEdit, available for
free download at www.cod
ingmonkeys.de/subethaedit, ;
is a program that works '
with wireless capabilities on :
Macintosh computers so
users can edit the same docu
ment on many computers at
the same time.
OneNote is a note-taking
program made by Microsoft. In
addition to standard typed text,
OneNote allows users to add input
from Web sites, audio-recording
devices and handwritten notes from
Tablet PCs to their computer notes, ac
cording to the Microsoft Web site.
Ruef said he usually uses TextEdit, a
simple word processor, but that Inspi
ration, a program that organizes infor
mation into flow charts and outline
formats, is useful for his more
conceptual classes.
However, computer note-taking
may not work for all students.
“Some people remember better
when they have actually formed the
letters rather than just hitting a key,”
Nuetzman said.
Ruef said it is sometimes difficult
for him to spatially organize comput
er notes in his mind, and he is con
sidering returning to paper notes for
some classes next term.
Nuetzman noted that most stu
dents she encounters still take notes
V
up y on paper, citing
[ J the expense of
W" laptop computers
and people being ac
customed to handwrit
ing notes as possible reasons.
“I think there are some people
who would hesitate to leave the note
book,” Nuetzman said.
evasylwester@dailyemerald.com
Food: Stanleys cookies raise 4,590 pounds
Continued from page 5
supplies to the food drive. One
dozen cookies sells for $5, so he
brought in the equivalent of 4,590
pounds of food.
The Lundquist College of Busi
ness hosted its fourth-annual silent
auction to raise money for the food
drive on Feb. 24. Among the items
up for bidding were dinner at the Ex
celsior Restaurant, signed artwork,
baby-sitting services and a private
tour and studio session at the Jordan
Schnitzer Museum of Art. The College
of Business brought in 31,926 pounds
of food, the largest total of the drive.
The Psychology Department came
in second with 22,245 pounds of
food. Psychology Department busi
ness manager Becky Goodrich
brought in $3,700 for the department
by collecting checks from faculty
members. The Computer and Infor
mation Science Department came in
third with 10,535 pounds of food.
“I am just amazed at what the peo
ple pull off,” Scheeland said. “What
they do to get other people to give is
amazing. They do it willingly and
come back each year. What they will
do next year, I haven’t got a clue.”
abolsinger@dailyemerald.com
Tuition: Full refunds during week one under polity
Continued from page 1
the elimination of the tuition “plateau”
for full-time students. The plateau al
lowed students to pay the same
amount for a 13- to 16-credit term.
Although credits in full-time course
loads are still subsidized, students now
must pay extra for each credit.
“(The plateau) allowed students to
do all kinds of dropping and adding,”
Chereck said. Students are currently
charged per credit, which means the
penalty is more of a factor.
“One of the things I worked on
with Anne Leavitt and Adam is a
schedule that would allow students
to drop and add with no penalty,”
Chereck said.
Currently, students receive an
85-percent refund for dropped cours
es during the first two weeks of a term
if those courses result in a lower credit
load. Students receive a 50-percent re
fund during the third week, a 25-per
cent refund during the fourth week
and no refund after the fourth week.
The proposed policy would estab
lish a 100-percent refund during the
first week of classes and a 75-percent
refund during the second week. It
would then follow the existing sched
ule. The proposal stipulates that indi
viduals who withdraw completely
from the University would be grant
ed a 90-percent refund during the
first week, then follow the same
model as the policy for other stu
dents. Students would only be al
lowed to enroll in up to 18 credit
■! mmHSHHHra
hours until two weeks before classes
begin under the new policy.
Administrators and ASUO repre
sentatives said they are interested in
working toward making information
about classes more available to stu
dents prior to registration in order to
make it less necessary for students to
rearrange their class schedules.
Chereck said the new policy would
likely result in tuition revenue loss for
the University, but the institution will
benefit from students having another
tool to complete their degrees in a
timely manner.
“I think it will be good for
students,” he said.
adamcherry@dailyemerald.com
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