Over the last five years, surveys have shown that an increasing number of college students believe that marijuana should be legalized. Students were surveyed in 2004 and 2009 with results showing an increase from 37.2% to 45.6% for those in favor of marijuana legalization.

One of the more active student groups supporting legalization is Students for Sensible Drug Policy. Students for Sensible Drug Policy is “an international grassroots network of students who are concerned about the impact drug abuse has on our communities, but who also know that the War on Drugs is failing our generation and our society”.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy have joined in a movement across college campuses in support of Proposition 19, California's legalization measure to be voted on in November. The aim of the challenge is to collect signatures in support of the legalization of marijuana which will later be sent to the President to let him know how popular the issue is among students. More than 1,000 college chapters are participating.

California voters will decide in November whether to legalize marijuana, and South Dakota and Arizona will be voting on the use of medical marijuana, which is already permitted in 13 other states (including California). (Regardless of the States, the Federal Government still considers the plant to be illegal).

The “War on Drugs”

The United States has more people in jail per capita than any other nation in the world, in large part because of the War on Drugs. The United States has 5 percent of the world's population, but nearly a quarter of the prisoners in the world. There are now about 480,000 drug offenders in jails and prisons, and about 50 percent of the federal prison population consists of drug offenders.

Since the founding of the DEA in 1973, 15 million Americans have been arrested for marijuana. Police prosecuted 858,408 persons for marijuana violations in 2009, according to the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime Report. The arrest total is the second highest ever reported by the FBI. In 2007, the FBI reported 872,721 marijuana prosecutions in the United States, the highest total on record.

Research by Harvard economist Jeffery Miron shows that the legalization of marijuana would save approximately $13.7 billion per year in government expenditure on enforcement of prohibition and would yield $6.4 Billion per year in tax revenue.

Here are the top 100 most expensive colleges by tuition for the 2010-2011 school year. This year 43 colleges now charge over $40,000/year for tuition, compared to just 11 last year.

Notes:
Some colleges like Bates College, Colby College, Middlebury College, and Union College have a comprehensive fee (tuition + room/board). Their tuition numbers were taken by taking their total comprehensive fee and subtracting by the amount of rebate the college gives to students who choose to live off campus.

Data compiled by CampusGrotto.com. These numbers were taken directly from the college's website in October of 2010.

Here are the top 100 most expensive colleges by total cost of tuition + room/board for the 2010-2011 school year. Also included is the school's rank in last year's most expensive colleges list and the number of spots moved.

Cost = Tuition + Room and Board

Notes:
These totals are taken by adding tuition + room and board. We do not include fees when figuring this cost. This is because many fees can be optional and can vary per student and per major. A Student Health Insurance Fee, for example, is obviously not going to be required for a student already on their parents’ insurance plan. Some colleges also charge fees to certain majors. Including fees in the 'Total Cost' would have led to too many 'What Ifs'.

These numbers were taken directly from the college's website in October of 2010. In the case that the University does not provide an estimated cost of room and board (because some dorms on campus are priced differently), we took the price of a dorm a typical freshman would find themselves in.

This year saw many increases in tuition prices, some even drawing protests and near riots. There are many reasons for these increases, but it is mostly blamed on reduced state appropriations, higher health care costs, and increased utility costs.

The demand for college increases during a recession as those who can’t find work go back to school. Easy access to student aid further increases the demand for higher education, and the price sure shows it.

You will notice all the schools on this list are private. Public schools are more affordable but it should be noted they are climbing in price faster than private schools. Public 4-year in-state schools increased by 46.1% from 2000-2001 to 2009-2010, while private not-for-profit schools increased 30.8% over the same period.

Just looking at Tuition and Room & Board numbers, an additional 48 colleges passed the $50k mark this year, bringing the total to 82. As far as tuition, 43 colleges now charge over $40,000/year, compared to just 11 last year.

Taking the price of one of these institutions you can see that the cost of a 4-year degree is one fat sticker price. That sticker price will get even uglier when you consider tuition increases every year (unless you go to a school like GWU where tuition is locked in) and the fact that many students do not finish within 4 years.

Thankfully many of these colleges offer great aid packages.

It is important to note that just because these schools have high tuition does not mean you will actually be paying that amount. Many schools will provide a financial aid package that meets 100% of a student's financial need (Cost of Attendance - Estimated Family Contribution). Many of these colleges provide excellent financial aid packages, some even offering scholarships that cover most of the financial burden of attending the college.

In 2009-2010 Full-time students at private not-for-profit 4-year colleges received an average of about $14,400 in grant aid, reducing the average net tuition and fees to about $11,900.

Knowing colleges provide great financial aid packages, we hope to take this list and apply grants to figure the average out-of-pocket expense for these schools (as soon as grant data is available).

Most Expensive Colleges 2010-2011

Highest Tuition 2010-2011

Data compiled by CampusGrotto.com

Other Notable Colleges:
Harvard placed as the 137th most expensive college tuition wise and 114th in total cost. Penn placed as the 113th most expensive college tuition wise and 110th in total cost.

Notes:
Cost is taken by adding tuition + room and board. We do not include fees when figuring the total cost. This is because many fees can be optional and can vary per student and per major. A Student Health Insurance Fee, for example, is obviously not going to be required for a student already on their parents’ insurance plan. Some colleges also charge fees to certain majors. Including fees in the 'Total Cost' would have led to too many 'What Ifs'. We take the price a typical freshman would pay for tuition, room and board.

These numbers were taken directly from the college's website in October of 2010. In the event that the University does not provide an estimated cost of room and board (because some dorms on campus are priced differently), we took the price of a dorm a typical freshman would find themselves in.

Some colleges like Bates College, Colby College, Middlebury College, and Union College have a comprehensive fee (tuition + room/board). Their tuition numbers were taken by taking their total comprehensive fee and subtracting by the amount of rebate the college gives to students who choose to live off campus.

Press Coverage
Washington Post
Washington Monthly
The Huffington Post
CNBC
Burlington Free Press
Yale Daily News
The Daily Princetonian
Daily Herald (Brown University)
LAist
InsideSocal
Wesleying
The GW Hatchet
Student Life (Washington University in St Louis)
The Villanovan (Villanova University)

While it seems like more and more colleges are spending lavishly to increase their prestige (this can be seen in the luxury dorms going up on campuses), it would be nice to know where all this tuition money is going.

Every college obviously spends money differently, but here we will take a look at the averages for public and private institutions. Spending for public and private 4-year institutions has increased steadily over the past 10 years, with student tuitions covering significantly more of the educational costs over that period.

About the expenses:

Instruction: Activities directly related to instruction. This includes faculty salaries and benefits, office supplies, administration of academic departments, and the proportion of faculty salaries going to departmental research and public service.

Research: Sponsored or organized research, research centers, and project research. These costs are usually budgeted separately from other institutional spending, through special funds restricted to these purposes.

Public Service: Activities established to provide non-instructional services to external groups. These costs are also budgeted separately and include conferences, reference bureaus, cooperative extension services, and public broadcasting.

Student Services: Can include non-instructional, student-related activities such as admissions, student recruitment , registrar services, career counseling, financial aid administration, student organizations, and intramural sports.

Academic Support: Activities that support instruction, research, and public service, including: libraries, computer labs, museums, central academic administration (dean’s offices), and curriculum and course development.

Institutional support: General administrative services, executive management, legal and fiscal operations, public relations, and central operations for physical operation.

Scholarships and fellowships net of allowances: Institutional spending on scholarships and fellowships net of allowances does not include federal aid, tuition waivers, or tuition discounts; it is a residual that captures any remaining aid after it is applied to tuition and auxiliaries.

Plant operation and maintenance: Service and maintenance of the physical plant, grounds and buildings maintenance, utilities, property insurance and similar items.

Auxiliary enterprises, hospitals, independent, and other operations: User fee activities that do not receive general support. Auxiliary enterprises include dormitories, bookstores, and meal services.

Source: Trends in College Spending

Room and board prices increased 4.6% at public and 3.9% at private colleges in 2010-2011. With average costs of $8,535 and $9,700 (respectively) it’s clear that room and board is a big part of college costs.

This is a cost that is often overlooked, with tuition prices getting much of the attention. The example we like to use is with New York University, who has the 42nd highest tuition, but when factoring in room and board they become the 2nd most expensive college.

Most of the dorms on this list are found in the urban areas of New York, Boston, and along the California coast. Only 4 of the top 20 are located outside the states of California and New York.

Top 20 on the Map:

Most Expensive College Dorms for 2010-2011

These are prices a typical freshman will pay for room and board for the 2010-2011 school year. Prices are for a standard double room.

1. Eugene Lang College (The New School) - New York, NY

The Lang campus, located near Union Square and Washington Square Park, is contained in many buildings that are considered historical landmarks because of their innovative architecture. Most freshmen are placed in the Stuyvesant Park Dorm or the 13th Street Residence where the room alone runs $13,590 (double). Stuyvesant Park, the newest and largest residence, is equipped with an abundance of large rooms and common spaces, including a main lounge, study room, gym, art room, and music practice space.

The Unit 1 complex (pictured below) consists of six halls built around a large courtyard and a central building that contains the unit office, mail services, and rooms for meetings, events, and parties, and the Academic Services Center. Located 1 block from campus, the complex houses the most students at the college (1426 students).

Dorms at Suffolk University have the convenience of being just blocks from main academic buildings, and include sweeping views of Boston. Each dorm houses a dining hall, computer lab, and recreation room, and each room is wired for satellite television, telephone, and Internet.

Located in the heart of Manhattan's culturally rich Upper West Side neighborhood, McMahon Hall is home to over 740 Undergraduate and 140 Law students. The residence hall adjoins the world-renowned Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and is just minutes from Central Park.

Rose Hill, the main Fordham campus, adjacent to Little Italy, the Bronx Zoo, and the New York Botanical Garden, is situated on 85 acres in the north Bronx. A total of 6,678 undergraduates and graduates attend, with 3,143 living in University housing.

At Santa Cruz there are a variety of housing themes and options for those who are interested. You can be placed into a residence of your choosing and paired with others with similar interests based on academic pursuits, hobbies, individual backgrounds, and lifestyle preferences. Some of these housing themes include Outdoor Recreation, Spirituality & Faith, Sustainable Living, Gaming, Night Owl, and a Coed Writers Hall. If you think the dorms are too expensive you could always live in the school’s RV Park.

According to the website, “At St. John's University's Queens campus, you can enjoy living in some of the newest and most modern student residence halls on the East Coast.” Each residence hall provides free or discounted tickets to major NYC events, such as Yankee games, museums and Broadway shows. The university does not allow first and second year residential students to bring cars on campus.

Spellman Hall (pictured below) is the freshman residence hall on Manhattanville's campus. The building is co-ed by room, meaning that female students might live next door to male students, and there are separate shower and bathroom facilities for males & females located on each floor.

At Sarah Lawrence 90% of undergraduate students live on campus in co-ed or single-sex residence halls, small apartments or town houses. The campus has three theme houses: Schmidt House is an Arts co-operative, Brebner is a Multicultural House and Perkins is the Good Life co-op.

Approximately 1,800 students at Pace University in New York City live on campus. Most first-year students are placed in Maria's Tower or 55 John Street. Maria’s Tower (pictured below) comprises floors five through seventeen and is just a short elevator ride away from classes, the library, and cafeterias. Dorms are equipped with complimentary Cable-TV, telephone, laundry, and High-Speed Internet access.

The Top 20

As many students head home for winter break they come with loads of dirty laundry and an appetite for some home-cooked meals. After months of eating cafeteria food and being crammed in a dorm room the break comes at a much needed time: after a grueling week of finals. The 2-3 week break is well deserved, but can go by pretty quickly. (Read: How to stay busy during winter break)

Survey Results

We asked 800+ college students if they were going home for winter break and how they were getting there. Nearly 93% of students reported they were going home for break. Of those going home, a third fly home, a third drive themselves, while the others either get picked up by parents, carpool with friends, or take the train/bus.

Number of Students Surveyed: 834
Survey Date Range: October 18, 2010 - December 16, 2010

CampusGrotto recommends renting textbooks as the best way to save money as it requires less money up front for the budget conscious student. See the part of this study that looked at the best places to rent below.

Some students, however, prefer to buy their textbooks brand new. Owning your own textbook allows you to mark it up and make as many notes and highlights as needed. Keeping this book in your own personal library also allows you to easily go back and use it as a reference down the road.

If you do plan on keeping your textbook and want the book in new condition, we recommend buying from these websites ranked in order of price (lowest to highest).

1. Amazon.com
2. Barnes & Noble
3. Textbooks.com << Will Price Match Amazon.com
4. TextbooksRus.com
5. BookByte.com
6. Powells.com
7. eCampus.com
8. TextbookX.com
9. Borders.com

How did we determine this ranking?

Just as we did in our previous study back in 2008, we compared the cost of various textbooks at every major textbook retailer on the web. Textbooks were chosen at random across a variety of subjects in an effort to find which websites offer the cheapest prices.

Textbooks Used in this Study

1. Applied Calculus ISBN: 0470170522
2. Business Law ISBN: 0136085547
3. Chemistry: A Molecular Approach ISBN: 0321651782
4. Financial Accounting ISBN:0324651147
5. Principles of Marketing ISBN: 0136079415
6. Social Psychology ISBN: 0073370665
See Price Data Below

Best Place to Rent Textbooks

Of course not all students need to keep their textbooks after use, which is why renting textbooks is becoming very popular. The following ranking looks at the cheapest places to rent your textbooks. A few of the textbook retailers listed above offer a guaranteed buyback (BookByte, Amazon) when you buy the book. Since this is very similar to a short term rental we also factored in their cost as well (Original Cost – Guaranteed Buyback Price) to determine the total out-of-pocket cost to the student.

If you don't plan on keeping your textbook, you should get your books from one of these cheaper options:

1. CampusBookRentals.com
2. CollegeBookRenter.com
3. Amazon.com
4. BookRenter.com
5. Textbooks.com rentals
6. Chegg.com
7. eCampus rentals
8. TextbooksRus.com rentals
9. BookByte.com

Conclusions

Cheapest Place to Rent Textbooks: CampusBookRentals.com

According to this study, CampusBookRentals.com is clearly the cheapest option for getting your textbooks. Save even more by following this link and entering the coupon code "cbrlove2010" to save an additional $5 on your order.

Cheapest Place to Buy Textbooks: Amazon.com

Amazon.com, probably the most well known website on this list, not only has the cheapest prices on textbooks, they also offer a very generous buyback option.

Best Textbook Retailer: Textbooks.com

Textbooks.com really lives by its motto of having the most choices and some of the best prices. At Textbooks.com you can rent your textbooks, buy it from them new or used, or even buy from others in their online marketplace. With the Textbooks.com Best Price Guarantee they will price match prices found on Amazon.com. Having this many options with great prices makes them the best online textbook website of this study.

Nothing beats free textbooks. We came across a deal offering free textbook rentals.

Neebo.com is having a promotion offering 100,000 free textbook rentals. One free textbook rental is allowed per person and you must become a Fan of Neebo.com on Facebook to get the offer. The number of textbook titles available is limited, but search for the textbooks you need and you may get lucky. The promotion will run through the end of the month or until all free rentals are gone. At the posting of this article, 90,000 free textbook rentals still remain.

How to get Free Textbook Rentals

1. Find an available title to rent for free here.
2. Login to Facebook and click “Like” Neebo.
3. Read and agree to terms of the Rental Agreement.
4. Complete your order, including a valid email address, your name, mailing address and debit/credit card information.
5. After the semester, return the textbook postmarked by 5/20/11 with the return shipping label they provide.

The rental is free, you just pay for shipping. Shipping rates are as follows:

• Ground (3-7 business days): $7.99
• 2nd day (1-2 business days): $13.75
• Next day (1 business day): $20.75

About Neebo:
Neebo is a nationwide network of college bookstores providing students, faculty and alumni the most complete selection of new, used, and rental textbooks, as well as college gear and accessories. The textbook rental giveaway celebrates the launch of Neebo's new website, www.neebo.com , which provides students with everything needed to enjoy the best possible college experience and get more college for their money.

Did you know that you can save money buying international edition textbooks?

Savvy students know a few tricks when it comes to scoring deals on textbooks. The first is to check the library. The second is to buy the international version of the textbook.

Why?

It’s the same book (in most cases) and much cheaper than buying the US version of the textbook. International editions, while cheaply made, can be purchased for a much more affordable price.

What are International Edition Textbooks?

Essentially, they are textbooks that have been published at a lower production cost for sale in foreign countries. They’re often softcover books, printed in black and white on cheap quality paper, and may not include supplementary material, such as CDs. Most have a label saying “International Student Edition” and “Not for sale in the US or Canada”.

Warning
Some textbooks in mathematics and other subjects involving numbers may have different mathematical problems. While these editions of the book will have a lot of the same content, you may run into issues when trying to do problem sets as sometimes the units are in metric. Email the bookseller to make sure.

Pros/Cons of using International Edition Textbooks

Pros

• Save Big: Typically between 50% and 75% of the price of regular textbooks.
• They have the same information as regular textbooks. Often times it’s the same book, but it may say something like, “For use in India only”.
• International edition textbooks can be easily found at online booksellers.

Cons

• International editions are generally paperback, lower quality paper (think phonebook-quality).
• Some books may have units measured in metric, which may cause issues when doing problem sets.
• Pagination may be off by a few pages when compared to the US version of the textbook.
• Not as easy to sell when you no longer need the book. (Your college bookstore won’t buy it).
• “The cheap black and white and sort of shades of gray print (instead of the full color in the US version) is a disaster for trying to interpret graphs - all the lines look the same!”



Where to Buy International Edition Textbooks

It is possible to buy these books from sellers here in the US. You can often find these books at online marketplaces like Amazon, Half.com, and BigWords.com. International editions of textbooks may have different ISBNs. We recommend you search by title and author as well as ISBN.

Some sellers are located overseas, meaning shipping will cost a little more. Also, because of the time it takes to ship the book, you will have to order in advance to get your textbooks on time. In some cases, shipping can take up to 3 weeks. When ordering from these overseas sellers, consider going in on the purchase with a few friends so you can combine shipping. If there is any confusion when attempting to buy international textbooks, email the seller with any questions you may have about the book.

Search for International Edition Textbooks at:
Amazon
BigWords.com
Half.com


How much can you actually save?

A few weeks ago we looked at the cheapest places to buy textbooks online. The study compared the prices of multiple new textbooks. Amazon.com and Textbooks.com (thanks to their price match guarantee) were found to be the cheapest.

When using the BigWords.com price comparison engine for international edition textbooks, we were able to find prices 66% cheaper than US edition textbooks. Remember, this is a 66% savings on top of the best savings already out there (from Amazon.com, the cheapest place to buy new US edition textbooks). Now compare that savings to how much your college bookstore is charging and you can really see how students in the US are being gouged with textbook prices.

Get your 2011 NCAA Basketball Tournament Bracket here!

Download and Print the Men's NCAA Tournament Bracket.

Download the PDF version:
2011 NCAA Tournament Bracket

Download the Excel version:
2011 NCAA Tournament Bracket

The annual Kegs and Eggs college tradition at SUNY Albany is making news headlines this year. The early morning party held on the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day got a little out of hand this year.

City police responded to Kegs and Eggs house parties as early as 7:15 a.m. and found several hundred students in the street drinking alcohol and damaging property. Mobs pushed parked cars into the middle of the road, bashed in their windows, kicked in side panels, and attempted to roll them. Garbage filled the streets as furniture was being tossed from second floor balconies and beer cans and bottles were being thrown by partygoers.

Albany police arrested six people on several charges including rioting, disorderly conduct, assaulting a police officer, and reckless endangerment. More should be in store after multiple videos posted on YouTube have helped lead to charges against 40+ people.

It is an event that will surely put a wedge between town and gown relations in Albany.

The videos below show party revelers destroying cars parked on the side of the road.

VIA

The ranking for this year’s US News Best Law Schools remained very similar to last year’s ranking, as the top 5 schools held their spot for the second consecutive year.

The Top 20

Top Law Schools based on Specialty

Methodology
Rankings are based on a weighted average of 12 different measures of data collected in fall 2010 and early 2011. View methodology at US News.

Considering Law School?

With a tough job market and law school applications at an all-time high, one has to ask…Is going to law school worth it?

About 45,000 students graduate from law school every year, yet only 30,000 legal jobs are available.

It's numbers like these that are making some people question the whole law school thing. Like the Boston College law student who wants his money back, who believes a J.D. in today’s job market is "more of a liability than an asset".

What makes the degree such a liability is the huge amount of debt that typically comes with the degree.

Law School Debt

Law school debt is no joke. It is a burden that typically requires a four-figure monthly student loan payment. This financial burden can be so overwhelming that it can rip apart families and even prevent grads from practicing law.

The average indebtedness of law school graduates typically surpasses $100k. The US News survey also looked at the average debt of each school’s law grads.

A Few Notable Rankings:

Getting Paid

Looking at salary numbers only, the best school if you want to get paid well is Stanford Law School, which topped the Forbes list with mid-career median pay of $236,000, followed by Duke University with $221,000. Yale Law School, which topped the US News best overall ranking, tied at #33 with pay of $159,000. Read more at Forbes or check out PayScale for additional salary numbers.

Other Rankings

• US News also conducted a second ranking of law schools based on grading from law firm recruiters. According to law firm recruiters Harvard ranks number one, followed by Stanford and Yale.


• PreLaw magazine ranked the best value law schools as Georgia State University, BYU, and University of Louisville. See the top 20 best value law school's here.

Chegg.com wants to become a “one-stop shop” for college students. Moving beyond textbook rentals, today Chegg announced it will start offering more services to help college students succeed in school. New tools on Chegg website will make it easier for students to select the right classes, all while helping students save time, money and get smarter.

Basically they will be redesigning the site to incorporate the services of its recent purchase of CourseRank. This will provide Chegg users with class and professor ratings, class grade distribution, and class schedule and planner.

“Chegg is an advocate for college students and is committed to helping them navigate through the challenges of college,” said Dan Rosensweig, CEO of Chegg. “With technology changing the education landscape, Chegg is excited to be at the forefront of that evolution by providing students with more services that help them do better in school.”

The new site will feature:

• Easy, one-click textbook rental or purchase.
• Access to course/scheduling data for over 600 schools (1,000 in Fall 2011).
Homework Help:
• Textbook solutions for 500 textbooks.
• An open Question & Answer system that enables users to give or receive homework help on any question.

Screenshot of the new design:

{mosimage} College isn’t easy. One of the many challenges in the path toward a degree is the struggle to wake up and go to that early morning class. Many mornings are spent pondering hitting that snooze button again and deciding if you can afford to skip that 8am class. It’s a dilemma that can be very tempting as the reality of a short night hits you.

Lack of sleep is one of the biggest complaints by college students. It makes us fall asleep in class, affects class/test performance, and makes us rely on coffee just to get us through the day. It’s enough to make one question the amount of sleep they are getting.

How many hours should students sleep?

It’s been long standing belief that we should all get 7-8 hours of sleep, but in reality it all comes down to the individual. There are some who can function just fine on 5-6 hours of sleep, while others require a full 8 hours of sleep. The trick is to find the proper balance by not under or oversleeping.

According to Stanford University, "the average sleep requirement for college students is well over eight hours, and the majority of students would fall within the range of this value plus or minus one hour."

Unfortunately not everyone has that much time to dedicate to sleep on a consistent nightly basis.

Sleeps impact on Academic Performance

Researchers at UC Berkeley recently found when we sleep we boost our ability to learn. This happens in the part of the sleep that occurs just before we reach the deepest NREM sleep phase and the dream state known as REM sleep.

“A lot of that spindle-rich sleep is occurring the second half of the night, so if you sleep six hours or less, you are shortchanging yourself. You will have fewer spindles, and you might not be able to learn as much,” claimed Bryce Mander, a post-doctoral fellow in psychology at UC Berkeley who led the study.

Researchers said evidence that brain waves during the latter part of the sleep period promote our capacity to store fact-based memories raises the question of whether taking early morning classes is optimal for learning. “This discovery indicates that we not only need sleep after learning to consolidate what we’ve memorized, but that we also need it before learning, so that we can recharge and soak up new information the next day.”

Sleep not only refreshes the mind, but can make you smarter. The more hours we spend awake, the more sluggish our minds become. Therefore, pulling an all-nighter, a common practice at college during finals week, decreases the ability to learn new facts by nearly 40 percent, due to a shutdown of brain regions during sleep deprivation.

Knowing about sleeps impact on academic performance motivated Stanford to create a sleep and dreams class and led colleges like Duke to eliminate 8am classes back in 2004. For those not lucky enough to get to sleep in, there are a few tricks you can do to help you become an early riser.

What about naps?

Naps are great. While over napping can screw up your sleep schedule, power naps actually work. Naps under one hour long nap can dramatically boost and restore brain power. Anything longer can make you feel more tired when you wake up. Even a 20 minute nap will greatly benefit anyone who feels they need a recharge as it will improve overall alertness, boost mood and increase productivity. Just try not to nap too late in the day. If you nap early enough in the day, it shouldn’t affect your normal sleep schedule. Additionally, taking a mid-day nap when you’re feeling fatigued will be better for you than any form of caffeine you plan to intake.

Oversleeping

Over sleeping causes people to suffer from sleepiness throughout the day. Many people with hypersomnia experience symptoms of anxiety, low energy, and memory problems as a result of their almost constant need for sleep. Oversleeping has also been linked to a host of medical problems, including diabetes, heart disease, and increased risk of death.

The amount of sleep you need varies significantly over the course of your life. It depends on your age and activity level as well as your health and lifestyle habits. No one really needs to be sleeping more than 9 hours a night. It is important to find the proper balance of sleep because studies show that people who sleep 8 hours or more, or less than 6.5 hours, don't live as long as those who get between 6.5 and 7.5 a night.

Alcohol and Sleep

Consumption of alcohol messes with the various sleep states your body goes through at night. While it might help you fall asleep faster, it typically results in a poorer quality of sleep and can cause multiple awakenings in the middle of the night. This poorer quality of sleep leads to a lengthened sleeping time and when sleeping, alcohol in your system disrupts what researchers call “sleep architecture” — the pattern of sleep and brain waves that leaves you feeling refreshed in the morning.

Environment

Sleeping arrangements in college don’t really make the most effective sleeping environment. Things can get loud. Trying to get to sleep while all this activity is going on around you can be difficult, but there are things you can do to help block out these distractions (like white noise).

Nighttime Computer Use

For optimal sleep results, all digital equipment (computers, TV, etc.) should be turned off one hour before sleep time. Studies have shown staring at a bright computer screen before bedtime can make falling asleep more difficult.

While searching the web for photos of some of the most beautiful college libraries (See parts one and two), we came across some interesting looking library designs. Among them, here are 5 college libraries that resemble spaceships:

Geisel Library - University of California - San Diego

Middlebury College Library

Hannon Library - Loyola Marymount University

Sherratt Library - Southern Utah University

Sherrod Library - East Tennessee State University

Know of any others? Let us know at tips@campusgrotto.com

This is part two of our ranking of the most beautiful college libraries. When we originally did the ranking back in June, we were going to rank the top 50 ‘most beautiful’ but only published the top 25. We didn't think readers would be interested in looking at 50+ pictures of libraries. Apparently that’s not the case as the article has been one of our most popular articles over the last year and has left readers wanting more.

Due to the interest in college library beauty and architecture we now present part two of the most beautiful college libraries. For many of these libraries, the pictures do not do them justice. We tried to capture the beauty of each of these libraries by selecting a few photos that best show their interior and exterior design. However, one must visit these libraries in person to get the true feeling of inspiration that these buildings provide.

Most Beautiful College Libraries Part Two (#26-50)

26. Paul Barret, Jr. Library - Rhodes College
27. Cornell Law Library - Cornell University
28. Deering Library - Northwestern University
29. Linderman Library - Lehigh University
30. Lillian Goldman Law Library - Yale Law School
31. Z. Smith Reynolds Library - Wake Forest University
32. Mudd Hall Philosophy Library - USC
33. Walter Library - University of Minnesota
34. Harvard Law Library - Harvard University
35. Woodruff Library - Emory University
36. University of Texas Libraries
37. William T. Young Library - University of Kentucky
38. Meyer Library - Southwest Missouri State
39. Browning Library - Baylor University
40. Waidner-Spahr Library - Dickinson College
41. Pitts Theology Library - Emory University
42. Wilson Library - University of North Carolina
43. Washington University in St. Louis Law Library
44. Harwell Goodwin Davis Library - Samford University
45. Richard J Klarchek Information Commons - Loyola University Chicago
46. James B. Duke Library - Furman University
47. Meskill Law Library - University of Connecticut Law School
48. Robert Muldrow Cooper Library - Clemson University
49. Drinko Library - Marshall University
50. Harold B. Lee Library - BYU

Paul Barret, Jr. Library - Rhodes College

Cornell Law Library in Myron Taylor Hall

Deering Library - Northwestern University

Linderman Library - Lehigh University

Lillian Goldman Law Library - Yale Law School

Z. Smith Reynolds Library - Wake Forest University

Mudd Hall Philosophy Library - USC

Walter Library - University of Minnesota

Harvard Law Library in Langdell Hall

Woodruff Library - Emory University

University of Texas Libraries

The University of Texas is home to multiple beautiful libraries:

Architecture and Planning Library

The Life Science Library

Located in this building:

William T. Young Library - University of Kentucky

Meyer Library at Southwest Missouri State

Browning Library - Baylor University

Waidner-Spahr Library - Dickinson College

Pitts Theology Library - Emory University

Wilson Library - University of North Carolina

Washington University in St. Louis Law Library

Harwell Goodwin Davis Library - Samford University

Richard J Klarchek Information Commons - Loyola University Chicago

James B. Duke Library - Furman University

Meskill Law Library - University of Connecticut Law School

Robert Muldrow Cooper Library - Clemson University

Drinko Library - Marshall University

Harold B. Lee Library - BYU

The biggest part of the year for textbook buyback is five weeks between April and May. Timing when to sell your textbooks during that span can be a surprising difference in the price you get for your books. Knowing the supply and demand of textbooks during this period can earn savvy students more cash.

In the Spring of 2010, CampusBooks.com compiled textbook buyback data for this buyback period and published the results for all to see. The study compared the buyback prices of 20 various textbooks over a five week span, focusing on the five weeks between April and May when most students sell back their books.

The report found:

• Search volume and average price were opposed. The weeks of May 2-8 and May 9-15, the “peak” of the (2010) buyback season, saw huge search volume, and at the same time, the lowest average prices. Meaning: as more students searched for the buyback price of a textbook, the amount offered from the buyback website was at its lowest.
• The highest average prices offered for textbooks (as well as many of the highest overall) were seen in the week after the rush.
• Choosing the right time to sell a textbook can result in getting up to 11% more for the book.
• Your best bet is to sell at the beginning or at the end of this 5-week buyback period. The best times to sell textbooks are at the beginning of April, for consistency, or the end of May, for the highest prices.

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Study Conclusion

Overall, the data showed that the highest prices were offered once the rush to sell textbooks was over (toward the end of May). In some cases, holding on to the book until the start of the next semester may be worth the risk. At that point in time the demand for the textbook will be much higher while the supply will start to decrease. Obviously you wouldn’t want to do this if a new edition was set to come out. You can typically search Amazon.com for future editions of the textbook as the site will typically show the planned publication date for the next edition.

Even if buyback sites are offering little or no money for your textbook (often because they are overstocked), there may still be demand for your book. Jeff Cohen of CampusBooks.com suggests, “While you might not get cash from a buyback site you can possibly sell the book on a marketplace and earn even more."

Other tips from Jeff Cohen:

1. If you plan to sell textbooks back on campus do so on the very first day of buyback. You may not get the highest price, but the data shows that the highest average price is during that period. It’s the safest bet, for sure.
2. Ask the bookstore if the book will be used for the next semester, if they tell you "no" then you are most likely getting a wholesale or internet price. Wholesale books will go back to a central distribution center and then sold to another school. Internet retail prices are purchased for resale over the internet. Both are a lower value buyback than a retail book that will stay on your campus and be used the next semester.

Get textbook buyback quotes at sites like Chegg, eCampus, and CampusBooks.

If you are looking to get your traditional textbooks for free, be sure to check your college library or borrow from a friend. Even if the library doesn’t have it, they may have an older version that will be pretty much the same, though page numbers may be slightly off and the chapters may be moved around in an effort to make the book appear different.

However, what this article covers is textbooks that are considered to be “free” and “open”: Open Textbooks. This relatively new form of course material is gaining awareness and could totally disrupt the $8.212 billion college textbook market with the proper adoption and execution.

What are Open Textbooks?

Open textbooks are typically authored by experts in academia and published on the Internet, enabling free online access to the textbook. With open textbooks students can read the full text free online, download a printable PDF, or purchase a hard copy at a fraction of the cost of traditional textbooks.

They are considered “open” because of the Creative Commons license they are typically given, which enables instructors to edit and customize textbook content to their liking to better fit course content by removing unneeded chapters and/or adding new material. These free textbooks aren’t just thrown together course lectures either, these are academically reviewed and edited, legitimate textbooks.

Open means groups and individuals can edit and improve the textbook. In this process errors in the book can be easily found and fixed, in a much easier process than traditional so-called reliable texts. There are many free textbooks available in this open format that can rival many $150 textbooks. These books have been tried and tested in multiple classrooms, peer-reviewed, and have received feedback and collaboration on improving the text and keeping it updated.

With the emergence of portable reading devices like the iPad and Nook, open textbooks can be used at no cost to the student. Open textbooks can also be accessed via laptop, and since most college students already have a laptop computer, it makes since to make the push into this relatively new form of textbook.

Why Open Textbooks?

Scott McNealy, founder of Curriki, an online hub for free textbooks and other course material, said it best: “We are spending $8 billion to $15 billion per year on textbooks… It seems to me we could put that all online for free.”

Each student on average spends about $1000 per year on textbooks. With your average textbook selling for $175 new, it is evident how these freely available textbooks would greatly help any cash-strapped student. An open textbook brings quality and value to the classroom.

Even non-students should be supporting open textbooks. More affordable textbooks could mean taxpayer savings. The State spends millions of dollars every year on financial aid, some of which pays for textbooks.

Adoption of open textbooks will produce a better quality product than traditional texts. Open contribution will result in higher quality production thanks to the collaboration of many minds in the academic arena.

The current textbook market is dominated by 5 major companies, so there’s very little competition on price. Open textbooks hope to reshape the captive market of textbook publishing and aim to create “a world where each and every person on earth can access and contribute to the sum of all human knowledge”.

Where to get Free (Open) Textbooks

Flat World Knowledge

Flat World Knowledge offers peer-reviewed and edited, highly developed textbooks written by expert authors and makes them available free online, affordable offline, open-licensed, and customizable by educators. Adoption of a Flat World Knowledge textbook is easy: educators search Flat World’s catalog, request a review copy or review the book online, complete an online adoption form, and provide the online textbook URL to students. Students then choose their preferred format of the textbook (online, print, audio, PDF).

The textbooks are open for modifying, if the instructor would like to customize the text for their own course. The textbooks can be customized using Flat World’s “build-a-book” platform which puts educators in control of the textbook. Educators can drag-and-drop chapters into a new table of contents that fits the course syllabus, add or delete chapters, paragraphs, sentences, examples and more. When teachers are done, a special URL is created specifically for the textbook. The book is then freely accessible to students online.

Don’t want to read online?
While Flat World textbooks are free to read online, options are available for students who wish to own a hard copy. Starting at $24.95, users can download a PDF file of the textbook and print themselves. For $34.95, Flat World ships a basic black-and-white version of the book. Paying $69.90 gives users a full-color edition of the book in its original format, which is more affordable than a traditional textbook that (on average) sells for $175. Other alternative formats and supplements include POD editions, e-books (in epub, .mobi and PDF formats), audio books, purchase of individual chapters, and study aids, such as interactive quizzes and flashcards.

The focus of many of the textbooks in the Flat World Catalog are introductory “101”-type textbooks, but more advanced course materials are scheduled for publishing. According to a recent press release, more than 1,600 professors at over 900 colleges have used Flat World textbooks, ranging from Cornell University to Columbus State Community College to California State University. 100,000 students will use Flat World Knowledge textbooks in the 2010-2011 academic year.

BookBoon.com

Bookboon provides free textbooks that can be downloaded (without registration) in PDF making the books easily accessible and/or printable for use offline. The books do include advertisements (about on every third page) to help pay for the production costs of the book. Most of the books are in subjects related to engineering, information technology, economics, and finance.

MERLOT

MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resources for Learning and Online Teaching) is a free and open online community of resources designed primarily for faculty, staff and students of higher education from around the world to share learning materials and methods. Their peer-reviewed online learning materials include a collection of over 900 open textbooks.

Connexions

Connexions is a place to view and share educational material made of small learning sets called modules that can be organized as courses, books, reports and more. Connexions is one of the most popular open education websites with content from all over the world in a variety of languages. Its 17,000+ learning modules and over 1000 collections (textbooks, journal articles, etc.) are used by over 2 million people per month. Materials are easily downloadable to almost any device for use. You can view content over the internet for free, download free PDFs for use offline, or download free EPUB versions of the content for use on e-readers and mobile phones. Schools can also order low-cost hard copies of the textbook.

MIT OpenCourseWare

In 2002, MIT put its entire course catalog online and gave a jump-start to the global Open Educational Resources movement. This year they are celebrating 10 years of service and OpenCourseWare materials have now been accessed by over 100 million individuals. While the majority of the content on MIT OCW is web-based publication of MIT courses (2,035 as of December 2010) and materials, the site also contains complete textbooks written by MIT professors.

The Orange Grove

A project of the State of Florida, the Orange Grove is a searchable and well organized repository of open textbooks and other digital resources. You can download the textbooks in PDF (free), or purchase a low-cost print version of the textbook. The Orange Grove has a collection of over 250+ open textbooks.

The Global Text Project

The Global Text Project has a library of dozens of open textbooks and out-of-print books with open licenses. Hosted by the University of Georgia's Terry School of Business, most of the books are available for free as a PDF download. Their goal is to make textbooks available to those who cannot afford them, and for those who use the books (instructors and students) to actively engage in improving the quality of the open textbook.

College Open Textbooks

Their goal is to raise the awareness and adoptions of open textbooks among community college instructors, students, authors, and state legislators. They provide training for instructors adopting open textbooks, write reviews of open textbooks (over 100+), and mentor professional networks that provide support for authors who open their material. They help point educators in the right direction by providing a guide for adopting and by providing reviews and links to widely available open textbooks, viewable by subject.

Wikibooks

Wikibooks is a collection of open-content textbooks in many diverse areas that anyone can edit. Wikibooks contains textbooks, annotated texts, instructional guides, and manuals. These materials can be used in a traditional classroom, a home-school environment, as part of a Wikiversity course, or for self-learners.

OER Commons

Many open educational resources (OER) can be found on the Internet. Sometimes, finding those resources can be a difficult, time-consuming process. The OER Commons website was created to organize these resources to help educators and students quickly and easily find Open Educational Resources posted on the Internet. The site is a structured database of links to high-quality resources found on other websites and contains full university courses complete with readings, videos of lectures, homework assignments, lecture notes, interactive mini-lessons, and peer-reviewed open textbooks. OER Commons provides a single point of access through which teachers and students can search, browse, evaluate, and discuss open resources.

The Online Books Page

The Online Books Page is an extensive catalog listing more than 1 million free books on the web, including textbooks. The site is hosted by the University of Pennsylvania library.

Project Gutenburg

Project Gutenberg is the first and largest single collection of free ebooks. Michael Hart, the founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971. The site has over 33,000 books you can download for free and read on your computer, iPad, Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader, iPhone, Android or other portable device. Formats include ePub, Kindle, HTML and simple text formats. While you may not find too many textbooks listed, we wanted to include Project Gutenburg in this list because of its extensive collection of free books, as many well known classics can be accessed.

Questia

Primarily meant for research, Questia is the first online library that provides access to the world's largest online collection of learning materials in the humanities and social sciences. The site contains a full-text online library with over 77,000 copyrighted books in its database, as well as newspaper, magazine, and journal articles. This is content that is typically not available elsewhere on the Internet. You can search each and every word of all of the works in the collection and can read and access every book cover to cover.

To complement the library, Questia offers a range of search, note-taking, and writing tools. These tools help students locate the most relevant information on their topics quickly, quote and cite correctly, and create properly formatted footnotes and bibliographies automatically.

Free K-12 Textbooks

This article is dedicated to finding free college textbooks. However, free K-12 level textbooks can still be found at a few of the open textbook depositories listed on this page. Those looking for free digital textbooks in K-12 should also check ck12.org and curriki.org for customizable, standards-aligned textbooks that conform to national and state textbook standards.

Free Textbooks By Subject

A few notable links to websites dedicated to providing a free and open textbook in a certain subject:
Math
Economics
Science & Math
Physics
Computer and math books
Intro to Calculus
Business
Calculus
Physics
Linear Algebra
Many others can be found by searching the OER Commons.

The Move to Digital Textbooks
One out of four college textbooks will be digital by 2015. We have reached a tipping point where the table is set for the movement to digital textbooks. With record sales of devices and readers like the iPad, now is the time to make that move. And if we move fast enough, we can get the use of free open textbooks established before major textbook publishers take over the digital market with their DRM, you-can-only-view-the-textbook-on-your-device-for-so-long, used-textbook market killer: the eTextbook.

What you can do

Spread the word
Students should take action against high textbook prices by spreading the word about open textbooks on campus and with faculty. Tell your professors to join thousands of other teachers who are advocating the use of open textbooks by signing the Faculty Statement on Open Textbooks. Take action: tell your teachers, print and share this article, share it on facebook and Twitter.

Sony just launched its new VAIO S-series laptop (available for purchase starting June 19) and it’s something that is already being considered as one of the top laptops for back to school.

We just got our hands on a Sony VAIO VPC-SB11FX/W notebook for review and will be using it on a daily basis over the next few weeks and reporting on its performance over the long haul.

At first glance, the VAIO S-series does seem to be a solid choice for students looking for a laptop for the upcoming school year. The notebook is built from magnesium and aluminum making it super lightweight and durable and perfectly portable at just 3.8 lbs. with a thin 1” profile. The backlit keyboard allows work to be done in dim/dark environments which can prove useful in classrooms and dorm-type environments.

Perhaps the greatest feature of this device is the mobility that can be obtained thanks to the notebook design and battery technology. The standard battery of the S Series is integrated into the laptop and can provide up to 7.5 hours of battery life. When coupled with the all new large capacity sheet battery (see pic below) battery life is doubled. The 15-hour battery makes this an ideal notebook for college and graduate students and others who need all-day mobility.

As far as cost, the new VAIO S-series starts at $899, which is a bargain for a high-end laptop. Check them out at sonystyle.com/sseries.

Features

• 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i5 technology
• Dedicated AMD graphics - AMD Radeon™ HD 6470M dedicated graphics card with 512MB of VRAM
• Intel® Wireless Display
• Processor Speed: 2.30GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology up to 2.90GHz
• 4GB memory
• Storage Capacity: 500GB
• Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• Software: Microsoft® Office Starter, Adobe® Creative Software: Adobe Acrobat® Standard 9.0, Adobe Photoshop® Elements 8.0, Adobe Premiere® Elements 8.0
• Backlit keyboard
• Durable magnesium alloy casing
• 13.3” (1366 x 768) widescreen display w/ LED backlight to ensure a bright display while conserving battery power.
• Dimensions: 13.04" (W) x 0.95" (H) x 8.84" (D)
• Weight: 3.80 lbs. (with Standard Battery)

The new VAIO S-series seems very comparable to the MacBook Pro, with the VAIO being thinner, lighter, more affordable, and available in multiple colors. Ordering through the Sony education store (with .edu email account) can get you 10% off the price of the laptop and service plan. The current ‘Charged and Ready’ deal at the Sony education store provides you with a free extended sheet battery (to give you up to 15 hours battery life) with the purchase of a new VAIO® S Series laptop. The Sony ‘Charged and Ready’ program lasts until July 17th.

For more info visit sony.com/batteryoffer.

Note: This post is part of program called "Charged and Ready" by Sony Electronics and Microsoft, where a group of college bloggers have been given a Sony VAIO S-series laptop to test and review.