Newspapers / Methodist University Student Newspaper / Aug. 27, 1996, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of Methodist University Student Newspaper / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
M ETHODIST COLLEGE C Pride Fayetteville, NC Vol. XXXIV, No. 1 Tuesday, August 27, 1996 Moving day August doesn 't just bring the dog days of summer: it also bnngs hundreds of students to campus to move in their dorm rooms. Freshmen arrived on Aug. 17 ready to experience the challenges and the fun that college has to offer. (Photo by Jamee Lynch) Need help? Here's where to find it Orientation: Serious business as colleges try to support new students By The College Press Service New student orientation lias taken on greater importance at campuses across the country, especially in the face of national statistics that say more and more students are dropping our or trans ferring after their freshman year. According to a recent report from the American College Testing program, the number of students who leave after freshman year is 26.9 percent, an increase of about 2.5 percent over the rate first reported in 1983. That means if this year's freshman class size is 500, a col lege can expect about 135 stu dents to drop out or transfer be fore sophomore year. Education experts blame the increase on an improving economy, which tempts some stu dents away from academia and into the work world. Also to blame, experts say, are rising tu ition costs, where a four-year stay can total more than an entire showroom of Ford Explorers. And as always, there's the loss of students due to homesickness or academic troubles. So for many schools, freshman orientation, whether it occurs during the summer or be fore classes start, is the perfect time for officials to pitch the university's strengths and promptj students to bond with new friends and a new home. "Any freshman orienta tion you can do that blows them away...is absolutely necessary," said Diana McNab, director of wellness at the University of Den ver. "I honestly think these orien tations are probably the biggest impact we can have. We've got to get them right away." The first weekend at DU, all 600 freshman head to a resort in the Rockies where they join faculty for a few days of square dancing, crafts, and story telling around a bonfire. Then there's the bonding experience of scaling a mountain peak at mid night. The special attention seems to be paying off at DU: the attri tion rate is 10 percent—far less than the national average. For some students, the adventure is closer to campus. At St. Lawrence University in Can ton, N.Y., all 500 freshmen gather around the main quad at night to light candles. "The Quad Experience [is] a way to make the freshman class feel as if they all are part of an adventure together," explained Lisa Cania, director of university relations. "[We want them to] count on one another and have experiences that will bind them together." Other colleges rely on more unusual orientation tradi tions. All 450 freshmen at Davidson College in Davidson, N.C., are invited to run the 1.7 mile "Cake Race." The first 80 stu dents to cross the finish line pick from an assortment of cakes baked by the school's faculty and towns people. Such traditions reflect the importance given to freshman orientation—esjjecially at private colleges, where the number of stu dents who leave before sopho more year has increased from 22.8 percent in 1983 to 25.9 percent in 1996, according to ACT statistics. Increasingly, colleges are extending orientation beyond summer sessions and into the classroom. Colleges and univer sities across the country require freshmen to take orientation classes. The Methodist College Experience, a three-semester-hour class required of new freshmen, helps students with time manage ment techniques, goal-setting, study skills, and writing skills. These types of courses help keep first-year students connected to campus life while providing extra support. Regardless of whether you are a freshman or a senior, there are a wide variety of services avail able to assist you with any type of difficulties. Academic assistance The Academic Resource Center provides students with tu toring free of charge. Professional tutors are available to work with students individually or in group sessions. Professional tutors are available for accounting, biology, business, chemistry, economics, English, history, general science (140 series), and math. Peer tu tors who are upperclassmen with at least a 3.5 GPA are also avail able. Computer tutorials are available for selected classes. If you need any academic assis tance, visit the Student Success Services Office in the Bems Cen ter or call 630-7151. Personal assistance Personal and group counseling at no charge is avail able at the Counseling and Psy chological Services office in Sanford Residence Hall. The of fice is open Mon.-Thurs. from 9 to 9 and Friday from 9 to 5. Call 630-7150. In addition, the cam pus minister. Rev. Carrie Parrish, is available to provide personal as sistance. Her number is 630-7157. Attrition Rates at Four-Year Colleges & Universities Percent of students who do not return for sophomore year Public Private M 1983 28.6 22.8 24.5 1986 29.5 24.0 25.6 1988 29.6 23.8 25.5 1991 28.3 23.8 25.1 1993 28.1 24.0 25.2 1995 28.6 25.1 26.2 1996 29.0 25.9 26.9 -From American College Testing INSIDE Entertainment Comedian A.J. Jamal, former cast member of In Living Color and Comic Justice, performs this week at the Student Center. page 2 Sports The Monarchs prepare for the football season opener Sept. 7 page 4 NCAA football champions will be deter mined during a title game beginning in 1998-99 season page 4 Editorials Mike McDermott considers what makes a student successful - page 6 Whitney Larrimore shares the freshman perspective on the new year page 6 Some news about the news The staff of the Pride would like to wel come all new and returning students to campus. We've undergone staff and design changes and hope you're pleased with the results. We're still recruiting staff members, so if you're interested, call the Director of Student Media at 630-7292. We also welcome any letters, so let us hear from you! NewsRoundip From campuses across the country Citadel opens its doors to women In a landmark sex dis crimination decision, the U.S. Su preme Court ruled this summer that the state-supported, all-male Virginia Military Institute must open its doors to women. As a result, The Citadel in Charleston, S.C., announced that it would voluntarily accept qualified women into its Corps of Cadets beginning this semester. The Supreme Court's 7- 1 ruling ended a discrimination case that began in 1990, when the Justice Department sued the 157- year-old military college—which has produced some of the nation's outstanding military leaders—to force it to admit women. The Court ruled that the exclusion of women from VMI's prestigious educational opportu nities violated the Constitution's equal protection guarantee. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing for the major ity, said, "However [well] this plan serves the state's sons, it makes no provision whatever for her daugh ters. That is not equal protection." The Court also rejected a separate program at private Mary Baldwin College, charging that it was not a suitable remedy to VMI's all-male problem. Justice Antonin Scalia, the only dissenter, wrote in his opinion, "I do not think any of us, women included, will be better off for [VMI's] destruction." Ginsburg wrote that VMl would not be destroyed by the inclusion of women, merely altered, and noted the school's ability to successfully manage change when it admitted blacks in the 1960s. Two days after the rul ing, Tlie Citadel said in a written statement that it would "enthusi astically accept qualified appli cants into the Corps of Cadets." The first woman admit ted to The Citadel, Shannon Faulkner, dropped out last sum mer, citing the emotional strain of her legal battle and her alienation from male cadets. At a court hearing in July, a federal judge was told by a Citadel lawyer that four women have been accepted as cadets, and as of mid-August, four planned to enroll as full-time students. (See related story, page 2) Record numbers now graduating in heavy debt More than likely, it will haunt them for years. Yet graduate and profes sional students are choosing to go into greater debt, more often and at younger ages, than ever before. The alarming trend is producing a "new class of in debted students," according to the report "Graduating Into Debt" released by The Education Re sources Institute and the Institute of Higher Education Policy. The number of students who took out federal loans rose 62 percent in 1995 to more than one million, as compared to 620,000 in 1993, the report said. Those students, both graduate and professional, borrowed nearly $7.7 billion, up 74 percent from 1993. The average cumulative debt for dental students is $68,000; for medical students, $64,000; and for law students, $40,000. Such amounts of debt carry "serious long-term conse quences" for students and their ca reers, the report said. Among the conse quences are higher student loan default rates, reduced consumer spending, and decreased interest in public service careers, which are traditionally lower-paying. The study is a "clear warning for the public that we are graduating increasing numbers of students and professionals who are mortgaging their futures and destabilizing their careers," said Ted Freeman, TERI president. No more bare midriffs for track and field athletes The NCAA has voted on a new uniform standard that pre vents female athletes from wear ing stomach-revealing two-piece outfits. The ban will start with the 1997 fall season. The NCAA rules com mittee, comprised of 25 men and women, banned the popular uni forms for all divisions because of the difficulty in affixing competi tion numbers which are required to be worn on an athlete's front, side, or back. I
Methodist University Student Newspaper
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 27, 1996, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75