My first blog... and other random-ness!

hey!
so this is my first honors program blog!! how exciting! now all I need is something to write about!

I could go philosophical, or I could gloat about the awesome double strike I got yesterday when I went bowling with some friends. I could talk about the amazing benefits of the honors program, or I could talk about how glad I am that winter finally seems to have left Cleveland...

I really don't know where to begin... so I'll talk about all of them!!

Philosophical:
Should we look at life as being one fall from cradle to grave? Even if we do, why not have fun with the time we're falling and make some of those pretty skydiving shapes like circles or flowers? LIVE!!!

Gloat:
I started out with a 7 going into the third frame... yeah, the last time I bowled it was the ninties and there were bumpers in the gutters! Before the last frame of the game I had a 56, and after my oh, so sweet double strike, I had a 83. WOOHOO!!

Honors Program:
Just plain awesome... they give financial support for students who do what they should be striving for (getting a high GPA). Students get to work with some of the best teachers on campus in a small classroom setting. I "spent" almost $200 for a book for a single introductory course, but with the honors program book scholarship I don't need to worry about working extra time to pay off the credit card bill!

Weather:
NO MORE SNOW!!!! I'm keeping my winter coat on campus, but I was able to pack my sweaters away and bring out the flip flops!!!

yeah... if you think this blog was scattered... you really should have been in my head while I was writing it!!!

You never know when someone's looking, make life a show!
Alma Pitchford

honors project research

Sorry for the late start blogging this week, I had a lot of paper work to kick off the summer session and needed some time to gather my thoughts.

Congratulations to everyone for making it to summer break and my condolences to anyone that is taking summer courses. I'm not taking any classes this summer (thank God), however I'm doing research for the University. For many of us students majoring in technical fields a requirement for the honors diploma is completing research and presenting an honors thesis. It's a great oppurtunity to get work published before graduate school, but I'm sure it sounds intimidating to students that have not started work on it yet. I know I was fairly apprehensive about doing it, so I thought it would be a good topic to address in the blog.

First, I'll outline the research I have been doing. I started last summer and worked around 10-15 hours a week. I would have worked full time, but I was also taking Organic Chemistry and there was no way I could work full time at the same time. My research has been under the guidance of Professor Nolan Holland, for the department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering.

I'll admit that when I got the background material for the research I would be doing I was quickly overwhelmed. Dr. Holland explained the work to me personally, doing his best to explain it in a way a sophomore undergraduate student could understand. He also provided me with helpful papers on the subject to read up on before starting my work. Although the material was helpful, it really didn't prepare me for the work I'd be doing in the lab. For the actual procedures and techniques used in the lab the graduate students also working for Dr. Holland helped me immeasureably, and continue to help me. Even when they were busy with their own research they were always willing to come over and help me with what I was doing, no matter how stupid I felt my problems were. Although I was flying by the seat of my pants the first week or so, I quickly became familiar with the lab and the procedures I would be using to pursue my line of research.

After last summer I took a break from the research to focus on my junior year classes. Frank, my room mate and fellow chemical engineer, continued his lab work during the fall and spring semesters. He did the work at his own chosen pace though, so as not to completely overwhelm himself with work. It's also worth mentioning that all three honors students doing full time research this summer for the department of chemical and biomedical engineering are being compensated for our work through the Provost's office. It's definitely a huge bonus that we are getting paid for work that we have to do for our major anyway!

I haven't started work on my honors thesis, or a written scientific paper on my research yet, but I feel as if the work I've done already has set me up nicely for both. Frank has started work on his paper for Dr. Gatica and he has estimated it will end up being between 25 and 30 pages, but it won't be difficult for him to write that much because of the large amount he has to write about.

I'd like to mention to any students interested in the research being done by honors students this summer that the provost's office will be hosting meetings every Friday for each student to talk about their research. I'm not sure when or where these meetings are, but if anyone knows please tell me and I'll post that info in a later post.

All in all, the research has been very rewarding to me. I've never felt that the work has been overwhelming, or has added an insurmountable requirement for me. I thoroughly enjoy the work, and it has given me a great insight into what graduate work is like. I strongly recommend that anyone who has this requirement start on it sooner rather than later! I wouldn't want to be in the position of just starting my research senior year. If anyone has any questions about the research requirement, or wants more detail about what I've been doing, feel free to ask!

And have a great summer vacation.

- James Hayes

Non-traditional student - and proud of it, man!

Last week I was super super busy trying to finish finals and etc. around the demanding schedule of my two-month old baby, so I didn't have time for leisure activities. This past week I was able to do a little light reading, and it came to my attention that there are people out there who don't think that non-traditional students "belong" at CSU. Well, I have to say that I was floored. It seems to me that anyone with the drive and intellect to achieve a degree from any university should be allowed to do so. What a ridiculous comment.
I want to preface this next part by saying that I have nothing but respect for people who come out of high school at 18 and slog right on through to get their college degree. One of my greatest regrets has always been that I did not do that. I wanted to, but I made other choices. I have even more respect for those who do it and manage to graduate with honors. However, I venture to say that the average traditional college student has very few real distractions from attaining that degree. I am not in any way belittling the achievement - I respect the achievement - it's just generally easier. Generally! I know many 18-24's who struggle with the same problems as my age group (don't ask!!!), but I think that non-traditional students on the average tend to deal with much more. I am very proud to have graduated summa cum laude. I take even more pride in the fact that I did it in three years while working part time and raising my stepdaughter. When I had my own child via C-section over spring break this past semester I was back in class three weeks later and walked away with a 3.6 semester GPA. If I am able to do all of this, how can anyone say that I don't belong on campus? That I am not deserving of the same quality of degree as someone else just because they're younger? That smacks of age discrimination, and I think any university worth their salt is smart enough not to have discrminatory policies which beg a class action lawsuit! Clearly the people who run CSU have a few more brains, and a lot more business savvy than people who only speculate on how easy it is to run a university.
To me, my degree means much more since I earned it under the circumstances that I did as opposed to if I had earned it a few years ago. I worked in both the corporate banking world and the acting world and built myself a substantial reputation in both. I brought my professionalism, acumen, and intense motivation with me, and it was these things that allowed me to complete my degree in three years and graduate with highest honors. While raising children! If there is anyone with a legitimate reason of why I don't "belong" on a university campus, let me know. Maybe I'll consider their comments as I obtain my PhD at UConn.

Just wondering

So, does anyone else think it's weird that you get to graduate at CSU before your final grades are in? What happens if you walk on Saturday and then look on Campusnet on Tuesday and find out that you didn't really graduate? How weird must that be? And how totally and completely awful would it be as well? I was just thinking - what an odd policy.

Hello, everybody. I just graduated!

Hi, everyone. I'm not really sure what I should post about, so I'm just going to start typing until something comes! I hope I don't bore y'all too much in the process. Oh, can I just take a moment (here's my topic. Yes!) to say how great it is to have graduated at last? This is fantastic! Friday I had a take-home essay final due and a presentation of my senior project before the bulk of the Sociology faculty, and afterward I was like - wow, I'm really graduating. It's so weird, but so great at the same time. I am now a woman of leisure. Kind of. At least more so than I have been for a long time. I still have two children to raise and loads of theater jobs this summer, but compared to my usual schedule it'll be a light load. I feel so oddly relaxed. I was talking to my baby brother who graduates from Penn State Saturday with his BS in electrical engineering and he's like - I don't have anything to do. I'm so confused. I'm like, yeah. I think we should sacrifice and relax. Try to do that. I think he's making the effort.
Anyway, Saturday at the ceremony I was alternating between smiles and tears. I turned to my friend Alli and I said "We're not CSU students anymore!" and I'm all crying and she's like "No, we're alumni!" and then I was thrilled again. Such a weird feeling.
Even though I know what I'm going to do next it still feels weird and scary. I love CSU, I was tempted to stay longer and get a double major, but it was definitely time to move on. I'm going to UConn to get my PhD in Sociology. That should be different, moving to a state where my little family will be the diversity. Just kidding.
Anyway, if I think of anything else to post, I'll be back boring everyone again. Look forward to it!

Repondez s'il vous plait / More campus improvement Ideas

It seems that my previous posting did its duty in provoking thought, and I would like to take this opportunity to respond to some of the responses.

Robert T. questioned my research, however if he had in fact read the entirety of my entry he would see that I am fully aware of the average age of CSU students, in fact he was somewhat mistaken, according to the 2006 Book of Trends the average age of a CSU student is 29.5 years old, up by nearly 1 year from last year. The college with the lowest average is the school of Engineering with an average age of 26.6 and the college with the highest average is the college of Urban Affairs, with an average age of 34.1. I am well aware of this fact, however it seems to be the self-serving belief of the population not only of CSU but of our country that as long as you are being well served, simple knowledge is sometimes more than sufficient. Of course CSU has an older student body, this is precisely the problem I am addressing.

If you read the full text of my article you may be notice that I said " The harsh truth is that 53% of CSU students don't belong here." And based on the new data from the most recent Book of Trends, I can safely raise that percentage to 58%. I'm sorry if this comes off as cold, heartless, or the ramblings of an intellectual elitist, all of which may be and probably are true, however the demographics of CSU are more reminiscent of those of a Community College. The majority of the student body at CSU is a Community College student body. This must be changed if the city of Cleveland is to succeed, a Community College cannot feed a city with the intellectually and academically equipped personnel needed to run a city.

The goal of Cleveland State should not be to serve these non-traditional students, but rather to change the demographic to those considered normal for a respectable University. Therefore I would propose instituting a University partnership program with Tri-C and LCCC which requires mandatory transfer of non-traditional students, to the considerably less expensive Community Colleges (16 credit hours at LCCC costs $1,444.95 per semester, Tri-C costs $1703.68 per semester, and CSU costs $3,960 per semester) thereby allowing these students greater financial freedom, while in an environment better equipped to deal with their unique needs. Through a partnership program this 58% of the CSU campus could save $2000 per semester and still earn a 4 year degree with Cleveland State University printed across the top.

Meanwhile the actual University could place its focus on University Students and lower the average student age to somewhere in the normative range of 20-22 years old.

I certainly have seen the master plan however it is important to realize a few things, first the master plan does not call for the construction of another residential building for another 10 years, at which point that building will replace Viking Hall which will be demolished, thereby doing nothing to increase residential capacity. Funding for "varsity village" is not even on the spectrum for at least 20 years, and the University will continue to flounder until that point if the master plan is followed. Also, the master plan still allows for decrepit privately owned buildings and businesses to exist within the boundaries of campus, particularly in the vicinity of the Wolstein Center. The master plan is good start but it presumptuous to assume its implementation will complete and timely.

However in the meantime, I do have a variety of propositions to provide a realistic and immediately implementable, if only partial solution to the campus dilemma. There are two large capacity residential buildings within the boundaries of the CSU campus: The Heritage Suites Apartments at E.22nd and Prospect and the Comfort Inn at E.18th and Euclid. These facilities could be purchased for immediate implementation as dormitory buildings on campus and further increase the residential capacity, in addition the Norton Furniture building could be renovated for use as a dormitory for approximately the same cost and time as the Fenn Tower renovation. This process would increase the bed capacity of the University to approximately 2000+ which would be sufficient to implement a mandatory first year residency requirement, thereby planting the beginnings of a true University atmosphere.

Additionally beneficial to the growth of the University is the current plan for the innerbelt redesign, which calls for the prospect road ramp to I-90 to be removed and filled in, this, in conjunction with the future destruction of the CSU bookstore would create an area which could be renovated into a village for small housing units, ideal for greek letter student organizations in the vicinity of Fenn Tower and the Rec Center at the Eastern Gate of the campus. The Eastern Gate could be further beautified by demolishing the Science Building and Re-locating all of the laboratories and offices in that building to the University owned Doan Electric building, which coincidentally has an almost identical floor plan. This move would allow the greenspace area on Euclid to be extended to offer attractive lines of sight from main classroom to the Fenn Tower entrance as well as an attractive point of view from the newly constructed Parker-Hanifin Buildings looking out over a greenspace quad containing Fenn Tower on the right, Main Classroom on the left, and the Science Research Building and Stillwell hall lining the back.

Also of importance for greenspace is the demolition of the Chester Building and Chester Building annex, the offices housed therein could be moved into the 3rd District Police station at the north west corner of campus, which is scheduled to be abandoned by the end of this month and would be available for purchase and use with minimal renovation. This building could also house the athletic department since it has close access to Krenzler field and the Malaga tennis center and would be in place for the potential future development of athletic fields on the north side of campus.

With the Art and Theater Arts Building scheduled for relocation to a new building at the site of the Corlette Building, the land currently housing the Art Buildings could be the site of new science research facilities and the greenspace across the street, afforded by demolishing the Chester Building and Annex, would become a quad for science and engineering students, and could house the smart energy spire that was designed by our own engineering department and would create neighboring quads of science, residence, and general education (that being between the student center and Rhodes Tower).

As for the issues of the plant services building, I understand its usefulness however such a building is a peripheral commodity and as the campus grows that property will find itself in the middle of campus. Therefore the equipment, offices, and warehouse space in that building could be moved, if not to the Camp building, to the much larger Ohio Boxboard Company Building at 1400 E.30th, a building which is abandoned and eligible for listing on the national register of historic places, which means, eligible for no-strings attached federal funding for renovation.

Of course I understand the immense costs of such an undertaking, however with an aggressive administrative push, it can be done. In fact I have been contemplating a very simple plan capable of generating an immediate profit well in excess of $20 million with practically no financial effort, which I would be more than happy to exchange with those parties capable of enacting such a plan.

As in all my prior statements I know I've broached several intriguing and controversial topics, and I encourage comments.

-Jonathan Simon

On a different note

As a student who has transferred here from Case Western and been on the campuses of many other Universities, I have certainly noticed quite a few disparities between the CSU environment and that of a traditional University.

First and foremost is CSU's firm belief that this is a commuter campus. NO SUCCESSFUL UNIVERSITY IN THE UNITED STATES IS A COMMUTER CAMPUS! There are quite a few Universities with satellite campuses that are either primarily or entirely commuter, however no main campus within the scope of my knowledge has had the sheer gall to commit itself to forcing its students to travel miles to fight for parking only to push them away after 5PM. How can a University expect to build a campus life if the students all vacate the property after their last class? Sure "the city is our campus" but what city? If you ask one student it might be Willoughby, for another it might be Westlake, or Parma, or Strongsville.

As I said before, I'm a problem solver so here's my suggestion:

The school doesn't have a lot of property as it stands, but there is a great deal of misuse of the property we have, over half of the acreage of the campus is parking lots, and the second largest building on campus is practically abandoned. What building is this? Located at 1802 E.25th St., a former warehouse is currently in use as the plant services building which houses "Physical Plant, University Architect, Office of Capital Planning, and Shipping, Receiving and Property Control offices" all very useful services however not worthy of such a large, imposing, and sturdy building. This building, if renovated, could potentially house in excess 800 students. The offices currently located in the plant services building could be moved next door to a smaller, yet more than sufficient ex-warehouse, which is currently under lease by CSU to the non-affiliated CAMP Program.

This brings me to the second problem with the campus:

There is no coherent campus core. When viewing a map of campus buildings, we see the Wolstein Center in the southwest corner, and 4 blocks north Krenzler Field in the northwest corner. 6 blocks east is the plant annex building marking the northeast corner and only 2 blocks south is the bookstore, marking the southeast corner of campus. These 4 points are the outline of the campus, however within the boundaries of this outline are a hotel, several abandoned storefronts, a homeless shelter, a furniture store, a home for battered women, two abandoned gas stations, and an independently owned night club. On what other 'campus' can you find this eclectic mixture of deplorable cohabitants? The university must acquire, renovate and/or destroy and rebuild, all of these establishments and solidify the boundary of the campus. The city is our campus might be a good slogan in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, or Boston but this is Cleveland, one of the poorest, most dangerous cities in the country, if you want to build a strong University you must separate yourself from the city's unattractive elements, and right now the business sector is a very unattractive element. Maintaining a strong relationship with playhouse square is clearly a key to success, but the other non-affiliated buildings and businesses in and around the vicinity must be acquired at any and all cost in order to isolate the campus from the depravity of the city and build its own shining jewel, as Case, the Cleveland Clinic, and University Hospitals has done in University Circle.

The third and final gripe that I have today ties in strongly with, and explains the deep underlying reason for the previous problems. Cleveland State does not see itself as a true University. Now some may ask, what does this mean? All throughout Europe and Canada students make a distinction in their choice of post-secondary education, if you ask an averagely educated Canadian if he went to college, he will proudly respond, of course not, I went to university. In America, even if we don't realize it, we accept the hierarchy of higher education:

the lowest rung on the ladder is a Technical Schools and Certification Programs
next is Community College
then Junior College
then Colleges
Finally at the pinnacle of higher education is the University.

Each of these categories has their specific target demographic:

A Tech. School is for people who have a desire to only learn the skills they need for a specific job, and this is available to anyone who wants to learn a skill, regardless of age, intellect, or prior education. These schools have small, usually one or two building campuses, and no residential students.

A Community College is for people seeking a two-year associates degree, certification, or through associated programs a four-year degree from colleges and universities, these institutions are established for people without sufficient funds, or without the proper academic qualifications for a University or College education. A Community College also is intended to give individuals who may have postponed their higher education and decide to go back to school to improve their earning power. A Community College will have a large multi-building campus but traditionally little or no residential capacity and is intended to be a commuter campus.

A Junior College is for students in the 18-30 year old bracket who don't have the academic qualifications to be accepted at a College or University but wish to further education and raise their qualifications over the course of a two-year associates program in order to gain admission into a College or University. These schools attempt to imitate the College and University atmosphere, usually having larger campuses with abundant residence halls, and is primarily a residential campus.

Finally moving into the big leagues, A College offers an almost exclusively liberal arts education, with minimal focus on the sciences. It is geared for students directly out of high school and offers a four year program, admissions standards are traditionally slightly lower than most, but not all Universities, and is intended for students in the 18-25 year old range. Of course in the same vein as a College is the Institute of Technology, not to be confused with the technological institute (the latter being akin to a Technical/Trade School), an Institute of Technology is practically identical to a College with the exception that the curriculum focuses on the sciences and neglects the liberal arts. Both Colleges and Institutes of Technology are almost exclusively residential and offer large sprawling campuses.

And the pinnacle of modern higher education is a University education, a strong balanced mixture of liberal arts and sciences geared in traditionally 4 or 5 year programs. The University education targets students straight out of high school and offers an almost exclusively residential environment, in fact most universities have at least a freshman residency requirement, and some require a two or three year on campus living experience.

By this definition Cleveland State is much more a Community College than anything else. According to the most recent data available online, in fall 2004 CSU's part-time students making up 1/3 of the student body with the 18-24 year old bracket making up only 43% of the University population, while students 25 and over made up 53%. In the same report an analysis of students entering CSU in 1997 was presented regarding graduation rates. In 4 years only 7% of students graduated, in 5 years that percentage raised to 19%, however even after 7 years the graduation rate was only at 32% (source: 2005 CSU Book of Trends).

Why is this happening? Because CSU is torn between being a University and Community College, it must offer a course schedule and degree program pursuant of a University standard, while still maintaining the educational, admissions, and administrative thought process of a Community College. The harsh truth is that 53% of CSU students don't belong here. I'm sorry to say it, but they missed the boat on a real University education, however lucky for them there are schools like Lorain and Cuyahoga County Community Colleges which offer lucrative 2 year programs, as well as partnerships with numerous Universities throughout the state where they can, on their own busy schedule, complete a four year degree and have the same earning power as someone who actually attended a University. In order for CSU to truly earn the 'U' in its title, it needs to crack down and start telling its students, "Listen, I'm sorry but this just isn't working out, Tri-C is two blocks that way, good luck."

Non-traditional students are fine for a Community College and Tech. School, but CSU has a responsibility not only to itself and its students, but also to the city of Cleveland. If CSU can build itself to be a respectable University that attracts a diverse population of majors amongst a young and enthusiastic student body, Cleveland State can feed the city in much the
same way that Ohio State has fed and continues to feed the growth of Columbus. All three ideas I have related are interconnected in that all must be corrected for one to be: University students want to live on campus amongst other university students, for this to occur, there must be more dormitories and less non-traditional students. University students want to immerse themselves in the University experience, for this to happen there must be a coherent campus, which means securing a boundary between the city and the school.

Through exacting those changes the University can change its image from a commuter school quantified by its number of parking spaces, to a strong residential campus represented by the strength of the students living in and feeding the heart of a city with the potential for incredible growth.


Thank you, and good night

-Jonathan Simon

A new day, same old problems

For those of you who don't know me, I am, at my heart, a problem solver. At the core of this is identifying problems and I can assure you there are certainly a myriad of problems in society today that need solving. Which is why this blog is going to be both challenging and rewarding for me this week. I've debated whether I should try to run a coherent theme throughout all the posts you will see from me this week or simply address whatever issues seem prominent in my mind that particular day. I've decided to split the difference, everything you'll see from me will be consistently critical of society, the campus, or individuals however otherwise unrelated.

Today I turn my focus to society as a whole:

Prior to the untimely and regrettable interruption of the VA Tech massacre, the most prevalent news story was not the war in Iraq, nor was it the brutal suppression of a pro-democratic rally in Russia, not even the political battle being waged between congress and the president over countless issues. What issue was so important as to overrun these stories?

"That's some nappy-headed hos right there I'll tell you what"

Such a benign statement to the naked eye, however when over-sensitive, self-righteous, so-called activists like Al Sharpton get ahold of statements like this, all hell breaks loose. I can understand that some people might be offended by a statement like this, but then again everything could be offensive to someone, does that mean that broadcasters must remain silent in all matters for fear of offending some group? Perhaps the best solution is to simply abbreviate the questionable word. That really O's me.

First of all can I just say that I know plenty of B-people who have referred to manly girls as N-headed N's and those N's stand for two very different words. Why is it okay for a B person to say N-headed N but its not okay for a W person to say it? Why is there this double standard between B's and W's?

But even this racist double standard isn't at the core of the problem, the list of words that can't be said on the radio is nearly as long as the list of words you can. In day to day life any American will hear "What the F," "F you," "Put that S down," "What a B," "I hate F-ing C's" and so on and so forth. Yet the FCC insists that these things are not allowed, it is the responsibility of the media to reflect the reality of the world, with these regulations how can the media fulfill its responsibilities?

In recent memory I can remember one occurrence where the FCC allowed the media to accurately reflect the real world: the presentation of the 9-11 documentary on CBS. As the event unfolded on that day the camera caught numerous people shouting obscenities, and in the interest of proper reporting these obscenities were aired. However even in the VA Tech massacre there was censorship, one of the trademark images of the tragedy was a male victim being carried out of one of the buildings by two , and in the melee the young man's genitals had been exposed. Despite the gruesome image of bloody dead bodies being dragged out of buildings, it was deemed indecent and offensive to allow the image of the genitals to be broadcast and it was thenceforth pixelated.

So the offices regulating our media outlets are sending mixed messages, if you want to show gruesome and horrific images of bloody bodies, corpses, rotting flesh, and deadly explosions its more than okay, in fact its encouraged. However if you decide to show nudity, curse, or express any opinion that might offend someone, they'll take your job.

The bottom line is people need to wake up and realize that the world isn't an ideal perfect place, things exist that we don't necessarily want to see or talk about. But what one person might be offended by might be of vital importance to another, and as a matter of personal opinion I'm offended when people try not to offend people. So I say if you want to bring on the F's, S's, B's, N's, W's, C's, and N-headed H's, and if you don't want to hear it, see it, or read it, then don't. If you really want something to disappear stop consuming it, if enough people agree, they'll pull it anyway, and if people are still watching, reading, and listening, then you must simply be happy that its no longer in your home, and let me be happy that its in mine.

-Jonathan Simon

CONGRATULATIONS!

In my last post, I would like to congratulate the many honors students who were recognized last night at the Accolades and 34th Annual Awards Ceremony. This star studded evening began with a wonderful speech by our very own Ms. Angela Follina, who last night received her certificate for completing Leadership Academy.
Following a dinner and awards presentation at the Accolades, the Annual Awards Ceremony began at the Cole Center. Awards were presented for outstanding leadership, academics, and embodiment of values cherished by individual majors and fields of study. I am proud to say that in many of the department based awards, the recipients were Honors Students. Also, in the Student Life Presentation, several Honors Students were recipients of Leadership and Advanced Leadership certification. Such leadership likely contributed to the awards the Honors Mellowship received-
LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE STUDENT ORGANIZATION OF THE YEAR!
Congratulations to the Mellowship, who was also a finalist for Student Organization of the Year! Realizing this is only our second year in existence, we have made a tremendous stride towards becoming one of the best, most active and recognized student organizations.

Once again, I would like to congratulate all the recipients on their tremendous accomplishments.

Finals, and the point is....?

I must be missing the point when it comes to finals and midterms. Why would our education system design a standard examination process that involved being simultaneously tested in every course a student is involved in? Not only that, often times these tests are meant to be comprehensive examinations on material that has been taught over a 16-Week time frame. I don't know about everybody else (and hopefully people's comments will enlighten me), but I find this system to be rather flawed.

As finals approach, tension seems to rise and the stress levels become very clear in students. I have never heard of a student who relished the opportunity to take multiple exams, covering all the material learned in the semester, all at the same time. I also think that the increase in stress can have negative effects on our ability to test. Many individuals already develop test anxiety from the normal levels of stress associated with Exams and GPA maintenance. Having a finals week seems to multiply this effect exponentially.

These are my personal thoughts on the topic of Finals- I would like to hear what other students have to say on this topic, and the topic of testing in general.

With that said, Good Luck to everybody on their Finals next week :-)

Elections Week

VOTE VOTE VOTE

Tomorrow will be the last day of Student Government Elections, an important process for students and organizations in deciding who are leaders will be in the upcoming year. This is particularly important for Honors Students- we've been on SGA since the year the program started!!!

Each year, more and more honors students are filling seats in SGA's senate, while this year we even have some campaigning for positions on the Executive Board (GO HEATHER!!!) SGA is an integral part of the university, they are the keepers of the general fee dollars that are to be provided to student organizations. They are also the communication channel between the student body and administration, and are supposed to voice our concerns in their various committees.

I have served on Judicial Board, which is a related entity of SGA, for the past 2 years. My freshman year I was the Chair, and conducted over 80 hearings. Judicial Board is a wonderful experience, and has had multiple honors students involved in the past 2 years. It is also a very serious responsibility, as we are at times faced with very difficult decisions we must make regarding violations of the student code of conduct. None-the-less, I would encourage everybody to try running for a position at some point in time, for the experience if nothing else.


In closing, I have two issues I would REALLY LIKE COMMENTS ON!!!!
First of all, What are peoples thoughts of SGA?
Secondly, the topic of an HONORS RETREAT has been passed around over the past 2 years. Now that we have the Honors Mellowship, we can easily request money from Student Government for such a purpose. Seeing as how we are welcoming our 4th class, meaning that we have 4 years of students in the program, I am wondering if anybody is interested in actively pursing the planning and coordination of an Honors Retreat. Our first resource would be to immediately request funding from SGA in the Fall, and then possibly move to the Honors Program for other assistance.

All those in Favor, drop a comment!