Politics across the pond

This summer, I am going to London to intern for the British Parliament as part of a study abroad program offered by my university, The Catholic University of America. Obviously I will be using Collegeboxes for both storage and shipping for my things after school ends and I am on a plane to Heathrow. As I will be spending the summer in merry ol' England, I decided it was best to research on the British political system. What surprised me the most is the difference between the political campaign process between theirs and our own American brand. Where our airwaves are blanketed for months with campaign ads and attack spots, the British system forbids any television or radio advertisements by a party's nominee. The process itself only takes place between when the Prime Minister and Queen dissolve Parliament and when it is reinstated, a length of only a few months. When tens of millions of dollars are donated to campaigns by individuals and companies for a hockey season worth of campaigning, how much of that money would find its way into better pockets or to better causes if our own sycophantic electoral process was shortened to a Congressional recess? Of course, they still also have a monarch ruling over decaying empire, so what do they really know anyway? Despite our own faults, we'll always have Yorktown.

- John

Catholic University Campus Manager

Rent your textbooks and save some green

Earlier this semester I was doing my usual routine of reading several blogs and I ran into a story about a website called chegg.com. It was featured on the Cheapskate blog, and I figured anything that can help me save some money on my ridiculously overpriced textbooks had to be a good thing. I checked out the website and Chegg allows you to rent your textbooks instead of buying them and helps you save some serious green - both the environment and some cash. They even plant a tree for every book you rent from them. At the end of the quarter, trimester, semester, or year you just send your textbooks back with prepaid postage and part ways with those textbooks forever!

- Scott
Emory University Campus Manager

What's Happening in DC

Hi Everyone!!! With the new president and all the crazy things happening in the world it seems that DC has become buzzing with activity (even more so than before!). And even though I am somewhat crippled with a broken foot and can't do a lot of the things doesn't mean they aren't still happening! Right now, the best thing is the Cherry Blossom Festival! Flowers are already blooming in DC and once a year the cherry blossoms are so outstanding that people come from all around the world to see them! There is a big parade and a TON of people!!!

Other than that I am glad to be moving into spring and summer! This summer I am (hopefully...foot healing permitting) heading off to Hong Kong to study for five weeks then back to Boston to work. It will be good to get out of that DC humidity!!!

Lia

Give your music some Mojo

We all know iTunes. It kicks some serious tush. Everything from the basic organization abilities to the latest and greatest genius feature makes it easy to see why its so popular.

Unfortunately however, not all of us can afford to purchase all the music that we want off iTunes. This lead us to all of those crazy peer-to-peer sites. Don't get me wrong, they are great, but the viruses and crappy quality that go along with them eventually get old. Torrents are great too, but if you live in a place with a network (HELLO DORM KIDS?!) I am about to change your life. Change it, without stopping the use of iTunes.

Its called Mojo. Once you've loaded it, it comes up on your screen similar to a buddy list. All the people on that list, are people currently online who also have Mojo. When you click on their username, you see their itunes. Best part is, not only can you see it, but you can take it. Yes take it. All of it. There are privacy settings to keep people from taking personal music/videos/etc, so don't worry about keeping your latest recording safe. It also locks music purchased on itunes as well (if they bought it, you have to too), but aside from that its all available.

Spread the word on your campus, dorm, apartment building, wherever. Just get it moving, and once it starts, the gigabytes pile up and you are loving your ipod more than you have in your entire life. Personally, it took about 3 weeks to get popular in my dorm (with almost 600 people living here), and it took one week to add over 4 thousand songs to my own library. Its easy to share with friends too, especially considering you can see individual playlists.

And yes ladies and gents, its free:
Mojo - Deusty Designs

Peace, Love, Rock and Roll
-Kaitlyn Hope Polles
your friendly School of the Art Institute of Chicago's campus manager

Campus Manager of the YEAR….Daytona here I COME!

Yep. It was I. She is me. I am Her. I was this year’s Collegeboxes Campus Manager of the Year. Just FYI, I NEVER win anything (lol). So you can only image my surprise when I received just a great honor (Total Shock!!) With my reward, I when to DAYTONA BEACH!!! Fun times. Four of my friends as well as myself traveled to a place where the sun was warm and the days never ended…..or we never slept….the line between the two got kind of blurry. Any “whoo” it was a much need break from chemistry and biology. I had an AMAZING time and I want to THANK Collegeboxes again for sponsoring my spring break event~! Thanks guys! Well for now ttyl :)

-Chastidy

Back and better than ever

Whether you're just tuning in or have been eagerly anticipating our return, allow me to (re)introduce the new and improved official blog of Collegeboxes "Inside the Box"! We've revamped the look and changed the way we're doing things around here, so check back often for updates from the Collegeboxes marketing team and our Campus Managers from the school we service across the country.

My name is Anna Vaivoda and I'm the Director of Marketing here at Collegeboxes HQ in Woburn, MA (about 15 minutes outside of Boston). Raised in a tiny town called Skaneateles in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York, I studied creative writing at Johns Hopkins and will always have a soft spot of Charm City, home of the world's greatest sandwich - the Baltimore Club is a jumbo lump crabcake with bacon on a kaiser roll. I enjoy any sport/activity that gets me outside (climbing trees, pick-up whiffleball games, whatever), live music, long roadtrips, and laughing at my own jokes.

That being said, friends, family, coworkers, and complete strangers often remind me I'm not quite as funny as I think I am. So this spring, we'll be turning over the reins to our charming, clever, ceaselessly talented Campus Managers (no pressure guys)! Hopefully their posts (about stuff other than CB business) will be interesting and entertaining enough to keep you coming back for more - I'll chime in now and then, but I think it will be pretty cool to see what 40+ college kids from Boston to Miami to San Francisco have to bring to the table.

So bookmark this page and then head over to www.collegeboxes.com to find out if we offer any of our awesome services on your campus. Trust me - when it's finals week and your parents don't have to rent a truck, take a day off work, book a hotel and hover over your shoulder nagging you about your sweater-packing technique - you'll thank me.