Some Swing Era students agreed that the altered playing field left them no choice but to study harder.

"It really worries me that there are now neurotic people out there who are going to memorize essay questions," said Andrea R. Quintana '02.

Quintana said she plans to "definitely put more energy into the specific concepts."

But while students said they plan to step up their preparation to tailor their knowledge to the test, they said they found it hard to believe that anyone would steal the laptop just to obtain questions like the following: "It is 1937 and you are a young jitterbug. You'd like to jive (and possibly wail) to the latest 'killer-dillers' at the hottest Harlem dance spot. Where would you be likely to go?"

"I was kind of amused, actually, that someone would go to such lengths...especially for a class like "The Swing Era," which is pretty manageable," Quintana said.

"It's the kind of class that most people don't care that much about," David L. Wollenberg '03 added. " I can't believe somebody would go to such an effort."