I'm speechless...for once.

Wow, Chapman. Just...wow.

And I sincerely mean this in the nicest way possible.

I received my revised financial aid award letter today. And guess what? Chapman pulled through! I got my Chapman grant back!!!!!!! My dad and I almost cried when we found out. Words cannot express the gratitude I feel towards Chapman right now. They did show me they care. They really want me here! I can go to this school without worrying about a huge financial debt when I graduate.

Now to address the elephant in the room....Despite the fact I got most of my financial aid back and then some, do I still think that Chapman is worth $36,764?

And the answer is: No, I don't.

I am so unbelievably grateful. Don't get me wrong about that. But I still think there are some minor improvements that President James Doti could implement in this school to make it worth that much money.

There is a .00000000001% chance that this blog is what got me my financial aid back. I think we can attribute that to my father filling out/photocopying every little piece of our family's history in order to prove that I needed this money. But I can happily say that Chapman does indeed listen to student concerns, and for that, I am thankful. And you should be too.

Don't worry though...I haven't gone soft. There is still work to be done. The Picky Panther will always be on the prowl, looking for ways to better improve Chapman University life for it's students.

Much love,
Kara Rutkin
aka The Picky Panther

Food, glorious food...on Chapman's time

One of the things that used to severely bug me about the dining facilities at Chapman was the hours of operation. The food was great, I will admit...but I never had time to eat it! So I was hoping that with the opening of this new cafeteria facility, the hours would be extended, particularly during breakfast and lunch.

Nope.

Why is breakfast only open for an hour? What if the student likes to sleep in? And I remember the freshman 15 creeping up on me because I had class during the normal lunch hours, so I was subjected to burgers, fries, and chicken nuggets when I couldn't make it to the cafeteria for the good food.

I have yet to dine in the new facility, but I heard it's fabulous. And maybe the in-between hours food options have changed. However, I read a disturbing fact in The Panther the other day about how they are going to add a steak and salmon bar, which students can pay more for upper-end options.

Oh, Chapman. Looks like CLASS DISTINCTION is rearing it's ugly head again. Why do they insist we pay more to have anything nice at this school?

Getting hungry,
The Picky Panther

C-Park C-Sucks

Parking is terrible at Chapman. In fact, it's awful at most college campuses. But this year, Chapman Public Safety decided to respond to a "Student Satisfaction Survey" (I have no recollection of taking this), and had an economist come in to design a new parking strategy. So here is the Nobel-deserving parking plan that they came up with:

• Two of our parking garages will now require an automated transponder in order to enter (The Picky Panther highly approves of this. This actually does make parking easier. No sarcasm here, I promise).
• An incentive system for students who carpool or use mass transit (How they keep track of this factor, I haven't a clue)
  
• Reserved spaces in the Argyros Lot will be auctioned off to students as well as faculty and staff.
  

http://www.chapman.edu/parking/
http://www.chapman.edu/parking/faqs.asp

SCREEEEEEECH.

That would be the sound of my figurative tires coming to a halt.

An auction? As in, I would have to pay more for a good spot? Oh Chapman, you've really done it this time. You mean, for $280, I can't get good parking in Argyros on a first come first serve basis? But what if I don't have the $$$$$$$$ to outbid my fellow Panther? Because let's face it, my fellow Panthers, we have some rich kids who go here. Deny it all you want, but it's the truth. So basically, this parking plan created a little thing we like to call CLASS DISTINCTION.

So today, I decided to take a little stroll through the Argyros Lot just to see what kind of cars inhabited it. There were good cars, nice cars...pretty much cars that looked like they could afford a spot in the Argyros lot. Let me show you what I mean...

Enjoy,
The Picky Panther

DISCLAIMER: Once again, a little bit of unethical journalism on my part, but hey, research is research. Thank you to the owners of these fabulous cars. I do this out of love and jealousy. I'd be more than happy to trade you cars if you wanted...you keep the overpriced parking spot :)

I feel like Gossip Girl right now

Spotted, in the Chapman Leatherby Library:

Two students complaining quite loudly about the Chapman library printers. Student #1 was aggravated because the printer wasn't working yesterday. Student #2 began to vent about how Chapman cut student printer balances in half, and she has to pay to print anything else she will need over the course of the semester. The student was also irked because the school computer system never made her aware of this fact before it happened. Out of frustration, she grunted, "I hate this school and this school hates me."

Then Student #1 began to complain about how our library isn't open 24 hours. She posed a very poignant question: how come the film school is open to film students 24 hours, but the library isn't open to the majors, like history and English, that desperately need it?

Good questions, my fellow Panthers. I apologize for eavesdropping, but this was too good to pass up. You both brought up great points. It's bad enough we have to pay for scantrons, but now they are making sure we don't "print too much." Is this really part of our effort to go green, President Doti? Or is it just another way to rip off students?

And I agree on keeping the library open 24 hours. If we are paying to use this gorgeous facility, why can't it be available to us whenever we need it?

Okay, I promise no more eavesdropping. Not very professional of me, but I'll bet Blair Waldorf and Chuck Bass would approve ;)














XOXO,
The Picky Panther

Circle, Circle, Dot, Dot...Chapman denied me a flu shot?

Happy Flu Season! It's that time of year where we are all told to wash our hands incessantly, get plenty of rest, and intake a lot of Vitamin C. Well, if you are a college student like I am, you probably consider getting 4 hours of sleep a "good night's rest," and are on a rigid diet of cafeteria food and Chipotle. So if you are constantly on the go like me, sometimes the only preventive measure you want to take is getting a glorious FLU SHOT!





<--My usual flu shot reaction






Well, if you go to Chapman, looks like you need to haul your unprotected rear end over to a local clinic, cause the student health office is OUT of flu shots. According to an article in the Panther, Chapman ordered 450 flu shots to be distributed over a course of 3 days, during certain hours. Students were required to pay $15 for a vaccination, faculty and staff could get one for free.

So the Chapman health office ordered four hundred and fifty shots for a student body of 4,293 undergrad, plus 1,289 graduate students, plus every single member of the staff and faculty of Chapman? That means that 7% of the Chapman population could get a flu shot. This in turn means that 93% of the Chapman population needed to take their flu shot needs elsewhere.

And why does faculty get it for free? Last time I checked, they weren't the ones paying a tuition...does this mean that my money is going towards the faculty getting a flu shot?

Nervous for her peers,
The Picky Panther

If you are currently in need of a flu shot, here is the information of a clinic that is close to Chapman University.