| Morning, Myra. |
| Oh hi, Arthur! |
| You're taking Ecology Three Eleven too? |
| Looks like it. It's my only elective this term. |
| Really? What happened? |
| Oh, I just took too many my second year, |
| and now I've got to pick up all the required courses I've been ignoring. |
| University's just too much fun, I guess. |
| Too many parties? |
| No. Well, yeah, that too. |
| But you know, there're just so many interesting things to learn about, |
| and we've only got four years here to explore them. |
| I've been having too good a time at it, that's all. |
| But it has helped me decide my major, finally. |
| And? |
| Business Ad. |
| I've learned a lot here, |
| and one thing I've learned is that most fields don't hold out a lot of promise for gainful employment! |
| So I'm playing it safe and going for my BA in business administration. |
| So, why Three Eleven? |
| An ecology course isn't going to help you in your office job at some corporation. |
| Probably not, but it still seems interesting and important. |
| We all need to know about the environment, no matter what we do for a living. |
| Yeah, you're right. And maybe you will be able to use it. |
| Maybe you'll end up working for a green company or something. |
| Could be. There's more and more of those every day. |
| And thank goodness. Poor old Earth! |
| Is that why you're taking this? |
| Well, it's not an elective for me. |
| I need Three Eleven for my BS program. |
| We need several cross-field courses to "broaden our understanding", |
| and this is one of them. |
| Actually, though, I'm looking forward to this course: |
| "Nature's Influence on Man - Man's Influence on Nature"! |
| Sounds like a really useful topic, doesn't it? |
| And Dr Forsythe is supposed to be a very engaging lecturer. |
| Well, his website is a gas, at least! |
| He's got a hilarious little eco-game on it: |
| shoot the wolves and see how many deer reproduce and eat all the grass! |
| Hmm. I suppose that would teach, uh, fifth graders about the balance of nature. |
| Hey, it was fun! |
| Anyway, he's also got some good information there, |
| it'll probably come in handy when he gives us homework. |
| Wow, you're right! |
| I better take a look at it myself. |
| Can you give me his URL? |
| It's listed right in the course guide where they describe the course, |
| but if you can't find it, I'll give it to you next time. |
| Or I could email it to you, |
| what's your address? |
| That would be great, thanks. |
| myrasweetie@umail.com |
| Here, I'll write it down for you. |
| Did you pick up your textbook yet? |
| No. I've been looking for a secondhand copy before I spring for a new one. |
| It's expensive - forty-five bucks! |
| They all are, aren't they? |
| Why do poor college students have to pay so much for their textbooks? |
| It ain't fair. |
| It's just economics. |
| Nobody reads them except the students that take the courses. |
| The publishers probably didn't print more than a few hundred copies of our text, you know. |
| Still, they could print them in paperback, couldn't they? |
| That would save us some money. |
| And on newsprint, sure! |
| Some students do keep them, though, for reference after they graduate, |
| if they're working in that field. |
| In that case, they need to be durable. |
| My dad's still got his college accounting textbooks, |
| and he uses them all the time. |
| I suppose you're right. |
| Where you gonna find a used copy? |
| At the bookstore? |
| They don't have any there now, I checked. |
| I put up some notes on the Science Building bulletin boards yesterday. |
| Maybe someone there's got one they don't want to keep anymore. |
| Well, uh, if you hear about two of them, will you let me know? |
| I'd like to save a little money, too. |
| Sure. |
| If I do, I'll buy it for you and you can pay me back. |
| How much are you willing to pay? |
| Oh, anything under $35 will be fine. |
| A penny saved is a penny earned. |
| But if you haven't found one by next Monday, I'll have to buy a new one then, |
| so email me Sunday night either way, will you? |
| You bet. |
| Oops! Here's Dr Forsythe now. |