by The Cowl Editor on September 3, 2021
Opinion
A particular controversy has been tacitly playing out all over college campuses for as long as colleges have been around.
Only second to pen or pencil is the dilemma involving another aspect of students’ note-taking ability, that being loose leaf paper or notebook.
Notebooks or loose leaf paper is quite possibly the Pepsi or Coke of higher education, and, like its soft drink counterparts, it is a sticky subject.
This seemingly benign topic can elicit the greatest of emotions among students, as note-takers pick their sides as early as elementary school.
Advocates of loose leaf paper brag about their ability to rearrange pages as necessary.
Coupled with a binder, loose leaf also allows for the inclusion of three-hole-punched class handouts.
Across the aisle stands the steadfast notebook users, who relish in their notebooks’ resilience against page tear out.
In addition to this, notebook users also flaunt the page-flipping ability of their notebooks, something that loose leaf paper advocates with three ring binders cannot say.
Despite the inherent disagreements, this existential schism between these two parties is dwarfed in comparison by an even greater foe, the laptop note-taker.
An enemy of many students and teachers alike, the laptop note-taker is a threat to the 3,000-year-old scholarly tradition of taking notes on paper, which began with the Greeks and their notes known as hypomnema.
With this said, students must arm themselves with pens and pencils, note books and loose leaf paper, and unite for the sake of our handwritten tradition.
We have all had to adjust our daily routines and habits during the past year and half, but, now that things are starting to move back in the direction of “normal,” will some habits go back to the way they were or stay in their newest form?
For example, grocery shopping was an activity that was considered a drag, a possibly exciting event, or even a chance to see friends and family from that neighborhood.
However, with the ability to now have groceries delivered to your home with just the click of a button, will people feel the need to return to the same grocery store routine?
With online grocery shopping, we can complete and buy groceries from any location, making a busy day become less of a hassle when multiple tasks can be checked off from your dining room table. But is this process worth the potentially forgotten much-needed item or emails that the items you selected are sold out?
Going to the store may be more of a time-consuming process but it would ensure that all these questions are answered in real-time.
Each option has its benefits, and whichever you choose depends on your preference, but the next time you shop online or in person, think about which is more helpful to your schedule.
Given the pros and cons of each approach, it seems clear that in-person shopping offers more ease and allows for creativity to flow. Online shopping simply checks items off a list while in-person shopping allows for new items to be found and interests to grow.
In the end, there is a benefit to the in-person process that outweighs the burden of a slightly busier day.