Incoming Students

Summer Reading

All incoming students for the Fall of 2012 are required to read When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka. This book will serve as an integral part of the Orientation experience as well as the First Year Seminar.

Look here to view purchasing options from the Campus Store, including a discounted special for purchasing the book with an SMCM t-shirt.

Publisher's description:

On a sunny day in Berkeley, California, in 1942, a woman sees a sign in a post office window, returns to her house, and matter-of-factly begins to pack her family’s possessions. Like thousands of other Japanese Americans they have been reclassified, virtually overnight, as enemy aliens and are about to be uprooted from their homes and sent to a dusty internment camp in the Utah desert.

In this lean and devastatingly evocative first novel, Julie Otsuka tells the story of one Japanese American family from five flawlessly realized points of view—the mother receiving the order to evacuate; the daughter on the long train ride to the camp; the son in the desert encampment; the family’s return to their home; and the bitter release of the father after almost four years in captivity. When the Emperor Was Divine is a work of enormous power that makes a shameful episode of our history as immediate as today’s headlines.

http://www.julieotsuka.com/when-the-emperor-was-divine/

Textbooks

Here at the Campus Store we have all the textbooks you need for your classes! In fact, we are the only vendor guaranteed to have the exact required, recommended, and optional textbooks your professor requests.

We know that textbooks can be expensive, so we have instituted programs to make them as affordable as possible. Click here to learn about our used, rental, and electronic textbooks. We will be adding even more rental titles for the Fall semester. Titles will be on the website by mid-July.

You can purchase and reserve textbooks directly from our site. All orders can be picked up (and paid for, if reserved) when you arrive on campus in August. We strive to get as many used books as possible, so whether you order your books early or purchase them in-store when you arrive, there will be an ample supply of affordable textbooks.

To search for and purchase/reserve textbooks, click here. Note that you will need the course code (e.g. ENGL102) and section number (e.g. 001) to find the books for each of your classes. This informaton is availble on the Portal and on the schedule of classes.

Computer Essentials

We also carry everything you need to make your computer benefical to your educational experience. Click here for everything from ethernet cables to hard drives and printers.

Need to buy a laptop computer? We have the latest HP models at great prices, as well as computer bundle deals and warranties. Click here to learn more.

The latest Mirosoft Office Software (2010 Professional for PC and 2011 Academic for Mac) is now available! Click here to see details and to compare our prices against both the retail and educational pricing.

Note: To connect to the St. Mary's network, your computer needs to be equipped with virus protection. Look here for more information regarding virus protection from CTSS (Campus Technology Support Services).