Here at Lincoln Land, the policy has always been that rather than renting the books students are expected to buy them. This, however, is not the case at other schools that have begun switching to the practice of renting textbooks to students. This seems like a very logical choice to me. Here at Lincoln Land, the prices for book have gotten to a point that is reaching absurdity. The price of books for one semester in my case was nearly half of my tuition, in other words five hundred twenty dollars. It could have been worse though. Taylor Schoening said, “I paid over six hundred and fifty for a single semester.” It seems to me that this is a problem that merits a solution. That solution would be to get with the times and start giving the option of book rental. Many colleges have put this strategy into practice in recent years. I know that Benedictine University put this strategy into practice and it has dramatically lowered the cost of books for students. Blake Fawns, who goes to Benedictine, used similar textbooks to the ones I used. The difference between the two scenarios is that rather than paying five hundred dollars, he paid a mere two hundred and fifty. Lincoln Community College students should have the option of book rental because it would create revenue for the school, save students money, and it would be an easy policy to implement.                   

Although saving money sounds great to the students I am sure, this would result in lost profits for the school, or would it? Consider this; there are already in existence several websites that allow the rental of books at a fraction of the cost that you would pay here on campus. As a result, a lot of students take advantage of these websites. This is in itself, a margin of lost profits for Lincoln Land Community College. These websites do have their problems though. There is the difficult ordering process, the time between shipping, and the possibility that the books could simply become lost in the mail. This could all be solved by Lincoln Land if they implemented the policy of giving those people the chance to rent here. Given the choice between the hassle of online rental versus renting on campus for the same price or possibly even cheaper; students would be steered toward the option of renting on campus. At the same time, the money that would have been lost from book sales is now being made up for by the new customers who would be renting here rather than from an online company.

          Of course, there are the students who possibly are not ready to give up the idea of buying and owning their book, or possibly want to keep the book for future reference in later classes or jobs. This does not pose a problem for the new system that I am proposing. In this new system, not all students would be required to rent, but rather it would be an option. Student would have the opportunity to choose. If the book would be needed later on, a student could still buy it at the normal price that is being paid currently.

          While this may sound like a big undertaking in order to save students a little money it really would not be a big change. Think about what is already being done by students. They buy a book for a hundred dollars; use it for the semester and the return the book to the store in order to get a little money back. It seems to me that the system to rent books to the students is already in place, it just has to be slightly adjusted. Rather than giving the students the money back after the semester, give them the savings at the beginning. Most likely the book would be coming back to the bookstore no matter what.

          Some people may be wondering whether students even want to have to use the same books that someone else has already had, or what happens if a book becomes damaged. To answer the first question that may have been posed; think about what students are already doing. After the semester is over, and students have sold their books they are put up for resale as used. Within a matter of a week, they are all gone. These are what everyone wants, and why is this? They are less expensive! Students would rather have a less expensive book than one that is new.

In response to the second question, the answer comes from what was done in high school. While at Williamsville High School, students were given textbooks at the beginning of the year, and they were returned at the end. It is common knowledge that some students are more responsible than others. The people who choose to neglect to take good care of their book at the end of the year had to pay to have it repaired, or just buy a new one out right. The same system could be applied here. If a book is damaged, impose a fine and if it is beyond repair then the student will have to pay off the rest of the balance on the book. This means that if the student rented the book at half the price that they would have bought it for, then the student has to pay the other half. In any case, the school would lose no money. If the books are taken care of, they could last for a very long time. Quite honestly, they don’t even need to last for a really long time. It is a fact, textbooks have to be replaced to update information, or if a new teacher decides to use a different one. These changes are common, however, the new system would also allow for this. It would only be expected that the school keep the textbook for two year. This is four semesters of renting each book. That equates to twice what the school paid originally if the books are rented at half price. A much greater return then what is made now.

            Although this may still look like a daunting task to change over the system that is already used to be able to rent books, I think that it would be very worthwhile. This system would save students lots of money and at the same time the school would also stand to profit. It is overall a win-win system for everyone involved. In my own personal experience I paid two hundred dollars for a calculus book. That is a lot of money for a single textbook. Blake Fawns, the student from Benedictine said, “I only paid one hundred dollars for the same book”. It gets worse however though. During the entire semester we have not even opened the book one time. Instead, all we used out of it was a pass code for an online workshop. The workshop by itself could have been purchased for seventy-five dollars. In my opinion, it is totally unacceptable for students to have to pay that much for a book in the first place, but after paying that much to find out that it want even needed. Aside from all that, because that pass code from the book was used the library can’t resell it. I am now stuck with this book with no chance of resale. That is downright infuriating. At least if I had rented the book I could have saved money or better yet, just bought the subscription to the website. The bottom line is this, many other schools are using this system already and it must be working. If it wasn’t, renting would never have become so popular at other places who have already implemented this policy.

Do I have a sleep problem?

How can one actually realize that he or she has a sleep problem? Of course there are insomnia symptoms that would hardly pass unnoticed, but more frequently a sleep problem covers a more general set of features. For instance, poor sleep quality is a good example: though you go to bed quite early in the evening, you wake up just as tired as the night before. Or, frequent bad dreams, sweating and nocturnal agitation can also be labeled as a sleep problem. The most important thing is to identify what the cause or the trigger behind your improper night rest is and to try and solve the issue. There have been cases when people using sleeping drugs have claimed poor sleep quality.

One efficient method to identify and better solve a sleep problem is to keep some sort of personal journal in which to write not only the elements specific to sleep quality but also what you have done  during the day. For instance, you need to put down what you have eaten in the evening and then observe what kind of night rest you have. If you seem to sleep well and wake up fresh after eating salads and fruit in the evening, but everything changes if you try a heavier meat dish, it means your sleep problem is related to digestion.

Furthermore, compare the days when you do some physical activity and those when you are more static; this should also reveal important aspects of the sleeping pattern. As a general rule, people who do a lot of sports, are less inclined to developing a sleep problem than those who have a sedentary life style. One may also notice changes in the sleeping pattern that are not the normal ones associated with age. Youngsters will always sleep more than adults, whereas, the elderly sleep considerably less than any other age group.

If your night pattern changes abruptly, and you don’t have an explanation for the sleep problem in the immediate personal environment, it is good to ask for professional advice in order to identify the issue immediately. Most people make the mistake of considering insomnia the only sleeping problem and thus they postpone dealing with the issue; consequently, monitor your condition for a more extended period of time and see how your nocturnal behavior fluctuates! For those living in a couple, the life partner may provide important information on any disturbance he or she may have noticed; the important thing is not to ignore and let things go their way.

Sleep Apnea CPAP

Sleep apnea CPAP devices are considered some of the most efficient in the treatment of breathing deficiencies associated with sleep: besides apnea, respiratory failure and chronic pulmonary diseases patients also benefit from the extended use of such machines. Sleep apnea is usually triggered by the failure of the superior respiratory tract part to open enough so as to allow a right air quantity to be inhaled in the lungs. The deficiency can be caused by swollen adenoids and tonsils, obesity, muscular rigidity, jaw deformity, too large a tongue, polyps and so on. By the invariable and continuous air supply, the sleep apnea CPAP eliminates such distress by opening the throat and ensuring enough room for air passage.

The face mask used by the sleep apnea CPAP machine is probably the most important element in the design of the device: an improper mask size would actually ruin the efficiency of the treatment by causing leakage or discomfort. Hence, a sleep apnea CPAP device should be custom-made in order to fit perfectly to the user’s face shape. Furthermore, there are other items to be considered for increased comfort: cushions, straps, seals and so on. The prices for the more advanced and well-equipped models will definitely be higher, but most people say that the money is definitely worth paying.

The main disadvantages of the sleep apnea CPAP device come from the fact that it has several side effects one has to cope with. The machine can cause irritation of the skin in the mouth and nose areas, there may appear dryness of the soft membranes, one can get a stuffy nose and wake up because of the discomfort. Specialists warn patients that it is normal that within the first few day of usage discomfort be experienced regardless of whether the sleep apnea CPAP machine was custom-made or not, but symptoms are mild and transitory.

Certain sleep apnea CPAP models have advanced design features that allow auto-adjusting; this means that the pressure level is modified according to the snoring intensity. The main benefit of such a feature is that the patient’s comfort is increased, not to mention that the bed partner no longer suffers because of the noise. In order to make the right choice in terms of sleep apnea CPAP treatment, medical tests are an absolute must before and during the usage of the machine as such, since the doctor needs to determine how successful the device has been for a specific case.