M
ETHODIST
C
OLLEGE
Pride
Fayetteville, NC
Vol. XXXV, No. 7
Wednesday, December 3, 1997
Good study habits relieve stress
By Dawn Melvin
Staff Writer
Final exams are on the way,
and so is stress and last-minute
studying for many college students.
One way to reduce these
stressful situations is to develop
good study habits. This can be ac
complished by reviewing all notes af
ter the lecture. Do not wait until the
night before to start studying for the
test.
“Students should have
good study habits all year round, and
they should not wait until the last
minute to study,” said Carolyn Bittle,
Assistant Director at the Academic
Resource Center.
Bittle, who provides tutoring
services for Methodist College stu
dents, also said that they provide stu
dents with the services of profes
sional tutors and peer tutors.
The professional tutors are
people who have at least a bachelor’s
degree in the field in which they tutor
They keep regular hours in the Aca
demic Resource Center from Monday
to Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and
6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Friday from
9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Students may stop by
at their convenience for tutoring as
sistance.
Professional tutoring is pro
vided in the subject areas of account
ing, business, economics, math, biol
ogy, chemistry, general science and
English.
Peer tutoring consist mostly
of upperclass students with at least a
3.5 grade point average who have
been recommended by their profes
sors. This is one-on-one tutoring in
various subjects such as accounting,
algebra, biology, business, calculus,
chemistry, English, French, history,
psychology, religion, sociology and
Spanish.
“The peer tutors are usually
willing to help tutor others,” said
Bittle.
For further information on
the individualized tutoring services or
to request a tutor, contact the Aca
demic Support Services at 630-7151,
Studying tips for finals;
• Review all your notes and
highlight sections of your text.
• Check recall of facts you
must learn by reciting them
aloud.
• Try to predict test questions.
Prepare to answer those ques
tions.
• Create learning aids. Use
flashcards to learn technical
terms and foreign language vo
cabulary.
• Eat and sleep well before the
exam so that you're in top
form.
• Try to relax.
• Read directions for the exam
carefully.
• Answer the easy questins
first. Then do the difficult ones.
These tips are proven useful
when they are followed.
Debaters score big in competitions
Methodist was the only
Division III school to
win an award.
Submitted by John Humphreys
The Methodist College De
bate Team has kicked off their 1997-
98 season by collecting five trophies
in their first three tournaments. Al
though the team has yet to capture a
tournament championship. Director of
Forensics John Humphreys believes
that the team has gotten off to a strong
start that serves notice to other
schools that Methodist will be com
petitive this year.
The team started their sea
son at Kings College in Wilkes-Barre,
Penn., in late September. Of the 25
schools representing 14 different
states, Methodist was only one of two
Division III schools and the only Di
vision III school to capture an award.
Paired with a debater from George
Mason University, junior varsity team
member Alexis Parmenter quail tied for
the elimination rounds where they lost
a close quarter final debate to a team
from the US Naval Academy. Novice
debaters Jason Masker, Susanne
Graves, Daniel Charpentier and Gregg
Thomas also participated in the tour
nament, but failed to qualify for elimi
nation rounds.
Their second tournament,
held at the University of Richmond in
mid-October, consisted of 26 schools
representing 15 states. Methodist
was again the only Division III school
to collect an award. The novice team
of Susanne Graves and Jason Masker
qualified for the elimination rounds
where they defeated the top-seeded
team from Liberty University who had
compiled a perfect 6-0 record prior to
meeting Methodist. Graves and
Masker then defeated the team from
Duquesne University in the
quarterfinals before losing a close
semi-final debate to the US Naval
Academy. The team of Charpentier
and Thomas also qualified for the
elimination rounds where they lost a
split a 2-1 decision to the team from
Mary Washington University. The
junior varsity team of Parmenter and
Antwan Floyd also participated in the
tournament, but failed to qualify for
the elimination rounds.
In their final first semester
outing at Liberty University in No
vember, which consisted of 78 teams
representing 23 schools from 12
states, Methodist again collected two
awards in the Novice division. The
team of Graves and Masker and the
team of Charpentier and Thomas both
qualified for the elimination rounds,
where they were seeded against each
other. Based on their preliminary
round speaker points, the team of
Charpentier and Thomas advanced to
lose a close decision to the US Naval
Academy. The team of Pannenter and
Floyd also participated in the junior
varsity division of the tournament,
but failed to qualify for the elimina
tion rounds.
The debate team is now pre
paring for the five tournaments they
plan to attend in the second semes
ter, culminating in their participation
in the National Championship tour
nament in March to be held in Ath
ens, GA. The topic for the year is
Resolved: The US federal government
should substantially increase its se
curity assistance to one or more of
the following Southeast Asian na
tions: Brunei Darussalam, Burma
(Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia,
Laos, Malaysia, Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand. Vietnam. It has
provided a wide breadth of research
See DEBATE, page 2
Research process not difficult, but
but students need to plan aliead
By Alexandra Nulle-Dummer
StaffWriter
Writing research papers in
college comes with the territory. The
library is an obvious tool for students
to use when in search of information.
However, walking into a quiet build
ing with stacks and stacks of books
can be mind-boggling. Where do you
start?
The database system in the
library locates whatever subject mat
ter you’re looking for, whether it be in
books or articles. Kim Hocking, li
brary assistant, explains that this
works by simply typing in search
words for your subject. Then the da
tabase brings up “hits ’ that match the
words. Dr. Michael Colonnese, En
glish professor, says, “The great vir
tues of using a database are that one
can search more than a single year’s
work simultaneously. ” He adds. “You
can easily narrow or expand a search
by the touch of a button.”
The library contains several
different databases. The Monarch
Online Catalog and Proquest will ac
cess information from books, videos
and CD-roms. The articles can be lo
cated at the MC library or other librar-
ies, both locally and nationally. If one
of the articles you need are some
where else in the country, they can be
received through inter-library loan,
which takes anywhere from a few days
to a few weeks. So, it’s better to start
planning early.
Other than Monarch and
Proquest, there is also an MLA data
base that searches for bibliographies
and literature. The ERIC database
searches for educational material, and
Medline searches for medical topics.
There are a few databases for criminal
justice and both sports and physical
education, too. There is even a data
base specifically for golf Going on
the Internet is also possible in the li
brary using First Search, which will
give you access to an additional 50
databases.
Nowadays, most of us think
of going to the Internet as a research
tool because of its extensive variety.
However, when asked how databases
are more beneficial than getting on the
Internet and attempting a search.
Hocking answered, “Things that are
on the Internet are published by any
one and so it’s not necessarily good
information. The database is a reli
able source because it has to be ed
ited.”
Hocking says, “I think the
most important thing to know is what
you’re looking for and what you’re
searching for.” Searching in the
proper database is of key importance.
Hocking also wants students to be
aware that databases do not give the
full text of an article. She says, “It’s a
several-step process that requires the
student to find the source and then
go to it.” If a student has trouble find
ing something, any librarian can help.
Library hours are Monday-
Thursday 7:45am-10pm, Friday 8-5,
Saturday 12-7, and Sunday 1-9.
I
Methodist students Latoya Hartley, Chad Dockery, Halldor Steingrimsson and wife Salvador, Christian Treney,
and Alan Terrell navigate the rapids of the Nantahala River in October. (Photo courtesy of NOC Photo)
Mountains site of Monarchs’
“excellent adventure”
By Amanda Fellers
Editor
From snorkeling to skiing
to rock climbing, the Outdoor Ad
venture Club does it all.
Most recently, the club or
ganized and sponsored a white wa
ter rafting trip. Fifteen students
spent their fall break in the North
Carolina mountains, rafting on the
Nantahala River. In addition to raft
ing, the group camped out, hiked in
the mountains, and visited local
sites such as Indian reservations.
Before reaching the mountains, they
stopped at a Renaissance Fair near
Charlotte, where they learned what
it was like to live like kings and
queens.
Mike Sinkovitz, advisor to
the Outdoor Adventure Club, said the
most exciting part of the trip was “tak
ing people who’ve never been rafting
on a rafting trip.”
Although the Outdoor Ad
venture Club, which currently has 30
members, organizes and sponsors the
trips, Sinkovitz stressed that the trips
are open to everyone, not just the
members of the club.
“We’re looking to expand the
club a little bit,” Sinkovitz said. He
encourages all students to get in
volved in the trips.
The club takes eight basic
trips a year. Some of these trips in
clude snorkeling, skiing, wind surfing,
canoeing, rock climbing, back pack
ing, and deep sea fishing.
The club will be taking its
next trip in January. They’ll be head
ing to the mountains near Boone,
North Carolina for a five-day skiing
trip. The trip will cost $50 per per
son, which includes skiing, lodging,
transportation, and one meal a day.
Students should bring extra money
to cover two meals a day. Students
can sign up for the skiing trip in the
CRIMP office, located in the Student
Union.
For more information about
the Outdoor Adventure Club or de
tails about the upcoming skiing trip
in January, contact Mike Sinkovitz
at 630-7152 or stop by the Student
Life office in the Student Union.
Paranormal experiences part
of some college course offerings
By Colleen De Baise
College Press Service
Norman Remley, a Texas Chris
tian University psychology professor,
hands out more than a course sylla
bus on the first day of class.
He also offers a few lessons
on the supernatural.
Standing in front of 25 stu
dents, he magically turns the dial of a
compass using what he claims is the
power of his brainwaves. Then he
turns into a mind-reader as he guesses
students’ thoughts.
This is no ordinary class. It’s
the start of a semester-long course on
paranormal activity, called “Parapsy
chology: Science or Pseudo-Sci
ence?”
Once viewed as unscholarly,
courses in the supernatural are now
regular offerings at TCU and a host
of other universities, including the
University of Oregon and the Uni ver-
sity of Richmond. With a generation
of students raised on movies and
shows like Fox’s TheX-Files, classes
in the paranormal have become in
creasingly popular on college cam
puses, say professors.
“Fifteen to 20 years ago, ex
plaining away so-called paranormal
activity was not on people’s minds,”
Remley said. “It wasn’t newsworthy.
As a result of mass-media—The X-
Files for example—a lot of people are
interested in this.”
The goal of the course, Remley
says, is to teach students how to use
critical thinking skills to explain the
supernatural—everything from mind-
reading and mental telepathy to tele
kinesis and bending spoons.
As far as paranormal activity
is concerned, the truth is out there,
he says. Most of it, such as the tech
niques he uses on the first day of
class, can be explained by science
rather than little green men or psy
chic ability.
“Anyone can go to a magic
store and pick up a book that tells you
how to do them,” he said. “They’re
all tricks.”
The object of the class isn’t to
upset students by debunking their
beliefs, but rather to teach them to
think like scientists. “Just because
they witness something they can’t ex
plain, some students are too easily
convinced that whatever claims are
being made are true,” he said. “That
See PARANORMAL, page 2
INSIDE
MC honor societies induct new members
-page 2
Football team closes the book on a
record-breaking season --page 3
First group of students receives Covey
leadership certification --page 3
What does Christmas mean to you?
-page 4
'5■■■»«•
The Pride staff
wishes everyone a
safe and happy
holiday. We'll see
you in January!