2 Tuesday, October 1,1996 COLLEGE NEWS/FEATURES
Pride
Books provide crash course in campus survival
SGA Highlights
Recent grads seek to use
their experience to help
college students adjust
The College Press Service
IOWA CITY-For 18-
year-old freshman Sharon
Monaghan, the adjustment to
campus life at the University of
Iowa has been close to trouble-
free.
Except "I forgot my
robe," she said. "I'd really like
that." Also, she'd like a laundry
bag.
The toughest part for
her, she says, is getting used to the
academic demands of college.
"It's a lot more work
than high school," said Monaghan,
who plans to major in biochemis
try. "1 feel like a dork. I come
home, do work, and then I go to
bed by nine. I'm just kind of wait
ing for the homework to pile on."
So far, she gets along
well with her new roommate, and
they've lofted their beds to
squeeze a couch into their tiny
dorm room. And she's not too
homesick.
"You think about going
home, but all your stuff is here,"
she explains.
Being away from home.
Coping with studies. Dealing with
roommates.
Those are just some of
the concerns that nearly every in
coming freshman has during the
first few weeks on campus.
A number of publica
tions—many written by recent
grads—offer helpful tips on surviv
ing campus life. They list tips on
how the manage with the room
mate from hell, how not to gain
the "freshman 15," and how to
keep in touch with Mom and Dad.
For instance, Joe Turton,
a 1994 graduate of Denison Uni
versity in Granville, Ohio, recently
finished writing My Freshman
Manual: The Official College
Handbook.
At Denison, Turton was
a psychology major and an ath
lete, and he describes himself as
"someone who recently has been
in the trenches and is willing to
share these lessons with others."
"If I had known all the
things I included in the book be
forehand," Turton said, "I would
have avoided many problems my
self."
Here's his advice for col
lege freshmen:
*Get a phone card for
calling home. It will save you a
lot of money, and you won't have
an excuse for not calling the par
ents.
*Buy an alarm clock that
Deadline Oct. 2 for Job
Fair '96 preregistration
Any senior interested in participating in interviews with com
panies at the Job Fair '96 must preregister by Oct. 2. The Job Fair '96
will be held on Nov. 19 at the Jane McKimmon Conference Center in
Raleigh. In order to schedule interviews, you must submit your re
sume to Paula Miller in the Career Services Center.
For further information on registration or the Job Fair, con
tact the Career Services Office at 630-7279.
has a battery backup. The power
always seems to go out in the
middle of the night.
*Get to know the profes
sors in your major department.
Letters of recommendation are
always useful when you are look
ing for a job.
Melanie Sponholz, a
1993 graduate of Drew University
in Madison, N J., and her husband,
Joseph Sponholz, a 1994 grad of
New York University, offer their
advice to freshmen in College
Companion: Attaining Academic
and Social Nirvana.
The book, recently pub
lished by the Princeton Review,
was written because "facing life in
a pantry-sized dorm room with a
total stranger might not be the
easiest of situations," according to
the authors.
First, the Sponholzes of
fer these tips for freshmen:
*Take care of money
matters. Open a savings and
checking account with a local
bank, but shop around for the best
fees. Some banks require students
maintain minimum balances; oth
ers tack on charges for using au
tomatic teller machine cards at ma
chines not owned by the bank.
*Have a "ground rules"
chat with your roommate. You'll
each be glad you took the time to
work out a plan to accommodate
each other's study, sleeping, eat
ing, and CD-blasting habits.
But, "don't be a dork
about this," the Sponholzes warn.
Instead of handing your roommate
a typed list of suggestions, have
lunch together and talk about how
you both like to live.
Once a freshman has
settled into classes and dorm life,
a whole new set of problems can
arise, according to the authors.
Their tips are:
*If you have the room
mate from hell, give it some time.
During orientation week, you and
your roommate may have spent 24
hours a day together. But once the
school year is well underway,
you'll most likely have separate
classes and activities to give you
some space. Soon, you'll meet
other people and can hang out in
their rooms.
"It's also important that
you and your roommate talk about
every problem as it occurs," the
Sponholzes advise. "This way
you'll avoid a bung of little argu
ments creating a huge blowout be
tween you and your roommate."
They note that some
times, the situation is really bad.
In the worst cases, your roommate
might be a drug user or the resi
dent sp«rts bookie. Tliat's the time
to turn to your college's resident
support staff.
"You don't have to
handle every problem that arises
during college life alone," the au
thors write. "When you feel that
you legitimately need help in rec
tifying a serious problem, don't
hesitate to go out and get it."
*To avoid the "freshman
15," don't linger over your meals
with your friends; you'll just eat
more than you really wanted. If
you want to hang out for a while,
defeat the munchies and get your
self something to drink.
Entenmann's chocolate chip cook
ies for dinner is a bad thing. Don't
keep tons of junk food in the
room.
*Lock your dorm room.
"When you're out, there's always
the potential for some criminal
moron to come into your room
and take your clothing, jewelry,
money, etc.," the authors warn.
"Theft on campus is not some rare
occurrence. It happens all the
time."
Also, for your own per
sonal safety, lock your dorm room
when you're in it.
*Use the buddy system.
"Yeah, we know this is kind of
silly, but it is safe," the Sponholzes
write. Take someone with you,
whether you're out jogging, study
ing, walking around campus late,
going to a party on or off cam
pus.
*To deal with stress, try
writing down everything you need
to do, then prioritize the list. And
know your limits. If your list be
comes 30 items long, maybe you
should try cutting back on your
extracurricular activities, or
maybe there's a class you can drop
and take another semester.
*Keep an open mind
when it comes to your hometown
honey.
"We're smart enough not
to tell you what to do about your
relationship," the Sponholzes
write. "One thought, though: Fol
low your instincts, and keep an
open mind."
In other words, if you fell
like the romantic relationship that
you're in is something you're ready
to work hard to maintain, then go
for it. But if you change your mind
a few months down the road, then
don't cling to your decision like a
lifeline.
On a lighter note, the
authors also fills the book with
ways to host and crash parties.
"Don't let anyone tell
you that having fun isn't one of
the central purposes of going to
college," they say.
The following are
items of business discussed at
the SGA meeting Sept. 16:
"New rollerblade policy: Stu
dents can rollerblade or skate
board on campus anywhere but
on the track and in the road.
■^The cafeteria hours have been
moved forward to opening for
lunch at 11:15 to better accom
modate students.
*The food service committee
consists of Jason Kemp, Eric
Rhew, T.J. Rod, and Kim
Frederick.
’Discussion on noise in front of
the dorms: We need to look into
a place for the students to go
after visitation hours in the
dorms.
*A committee to revise the con
stitution was set.
"Meeting was held with Dr.
Hendricks on getting the tin
gym to be used for the students
and intramurals instead of for
storage. He was optimistic
about getting the gym but said
it needs work.
*Want feedback from the stu
dents on the visitation policy.
Put question on ballot: "How
would you change visitation?
a)l hour earlier, b)l hour later,
c) other.
"Proposal to improve sanitary
conditions in Cumberland &
Sanford Halls. l)install towel
racks; 2) disposable toilet seat
covers; 3)air freshener made
available in dispensers.
"Meal plan: Is it a savings?
"Posters to advertise meetings
of committees discussed.
If you want to have SGA con
sider your concerns, contact the
SGA president Leon Clark at
extension 5785 or attend the
SGA meetings held every Mon
day at 11 a.m. in the alumni din
ing room.
Campus Calendar October 1996
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
1
Intramurals - Tennis Begins
Baseball vs. St. Andrews 2
& 4 pm
Women's soccer vs.
Limetone 4 pm
9 p.m.—FCA Meeting,
Weaver Basement
Intramurals - Chess Tournament
11 am Chapel Services
6:30 pm Christian LYFE
Council Meeting, Weaver
Basement
Volleyball vs. Averett 7 pm
8 p.m. Movie: Phenomenon,
Student Union
11am SAC Meeting
11 am "A Look at
Modern Japan," Dr. Peter
Murray T246
TBA: Alcohol & Drug
Free Activity
9 a.m. SAC Car Wash,
Pizza Hut
Baseball vs. Pitt CC 11
am & 1:30 pm
7
Baseball vs. South
eastern 1 pm
Intramurals - 4-Man Coed
Volleyball Sign-ups
11am SGA Meeting
11 am Teacher Education
Committee meeting T209
9 pm Campus Crusade,
Weaver Basement
Oct. 7
O
11am UPS Recruiter on
campus, Bems Center
Men's & Women's Tennis
vs. High Point 2:30 pm
9 pm FCA, Weaver
Basement
11 SAC Putt-Putt Tournamer
Intramurals - 8-Ball Tournament
11am Chapel Services
Baseball vs. Lenoir 3 pm
t. Student Union
10
9:15 am Groundbreaking:
Math & Computer Science
Building
4 pm Men's Soccer vs.
Chowan
7 pm Resumes That Get
Results Workshop, DR #3
11
11 am Division Directors/
Dept. Heads Meeting,
Board Room
11 am SAC Meeting
Women's Soccer vs.
Nazareth 4 pm
Oct. 11-15 Fall Break
12
Intramurals - Mountain
eering
Mission Project
13
14
20
11 am SGA Meeting
Women's Soccer vs.
Broughton Parker 7 pm
Oct. 14-15
21
11 am SGA Meeting
11 am Group Advising
Meeting
8 pm Campus Crusade,
Weaver Basement
15
Volleyball vs. Ferrum 7 pm
27
28
11 am SGA Meeting
11am Preministerial
Fellowship, Campus
Ministry Center
8 pm Campus Crusade,
Weaver Basement
Fall Break
22
Women's Soccer vs.
Randolph Macon 4 pm
Fayetteville Symphony
Concert: "A Scottish
Festival" 7:30 pm Reeves
Auditorium
9 pm FCA, Weaver
Basement
29
Intramurals - Backgam
mon Tournament
9 pm FCA, Weaver
Basement
16
Intramurals-Volleyball Begins
11am Chapel Services
Men's Soccer vs. NC
Wesleyan 4 pm
6:30 pm Christian LYFE
Council, Weaver Basement
Oct. 16-18 SAC Putt-Putt
23
Intramurals - Pinball Tourna
ment
11 am Chapel Services
17
Intramurals - Nine-Ball
Tournament
8 am Cape Fear Career Day,
Charlie Rose Agri-Expo
Center
Tournament
24
Intramurals - Bowling Starts
8 pm Comedian: Buzz
Sutherland, Student Union
Intramurals: Bowl- 1 O
ing Signups
I lam SAC Meeting
II am Curriculum Commit
tee Meeting
11 am & 7 pm: Womack
Lectures, Hensdale Chapel
TBA Alcohol & Drug Free
Activity
25
I lam SAC Meeting
II am Faculty Meeting
8:15 pm Concert:
Rebecca Penney; Reeves
Auditorium
Cross-Country .19
DIAC championship
Football vs. Davidson 1:00
Men's Soccer vs.Johnson
& Wales 3 pm
Women's Soccer vs
Shenandoah 11am
Homecoming Dance
Holiday Inn 1-95
26
Football vs. Ferrum
1 pm
Music Faculty Concert,
Reeves Auditorium
30
1 lam Founders’ Day Celebra
tion, Reeves Auditorium
Men's Soccer vs. Campbell
3:30 pm
11:30 am Solo
Artist: Barbara
Hutchison
NC Symphony
Classical Con
cert: Brian
Ganz, piano 8
p.m. Reeves
Auditorium
31