If you’re looking for a fantastic free notebook deal, I think I know where to go. I’m talking about a real notebook computer, not paper notebooks to scribble in. There’s an element of chance, but there’s plenty to go around. It is somewhat like a lucky draw, but I suspect the chances of hitting the jackpot are probably many times better than striking 4-D or winning the Toto lottery. Just invest in a little bit of time, and head down to the NUS campus.
Walk around campus, and I imagine you’d find a notebook lying around, longing for a new owner and inviting to be brought home.
It’s pathetic. At the rate NUS students are losing their notebook computers, I’m sure there must be that many lying around campus waiting to be picked up.
Ever since NUS started the notebook ownership scheme to encourage students to use and own notebooks, I’ve heard so many cases of thefts. I don’t know of any robbery yet. There are a small number of “burglary cases” (e.g. breaking into lockers), but there are plentiful of thievery due to student stupidity.
A decade ago, that stupidity could be in the form of leaving a notebook on a chair or table to “reserve” the seat. It’s not so bad if the owner could still keep an eye on the notebook. But no, the owner puts the notebook at a spot behind him, out of his sight. It gets stolen, and he cries for help.
A decade later, students of our world-class university have not gotten any smarter. They are still leaving notebooks around. I’ve seen so many times, in the late night or quiet weekend morning, a unsecured notebook left on a table. No one around. Not even the owner. The notebook is just crying to be stolen.
A $2K notebook is quite a pricey possession for me. Perhaps it is not for our new generation of students. Perhaps because their parents bought it for them, the notebook didn’t cost them a penny. A new trend of late is the Apple iPhones that are being lost. I guess a phone is just a phone, and phones getting lost are probably more common because they’re smaller than notebooks.
I’m only seeing a small part of the statistics, but the numbers are worrying enough. We are getting too many requests to investigate cases that I’m inclined to suggest that we should charge a $100 administrative fee for handling stupidity cases, and that’s after we fine the student $500 for stupidity.
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