Newspapers / Elon University Student Newspaper / Feb. 17, 2000, edition 1 / Page 12
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12 February 17, 2000 Focus THIS WEEK*S TOPIC: College - stress, rules and regulations? Hold the roses and make the coffee black please Hold the cliches please. Don't tell me to stop and smell the roses - or kick back and relax. Flowers exist only in poems and the Elon Admissions book. I'm a college student - and 1 have the bags under my eyes and the caffeine addiction to prove it. College is a whirlwind of a four years - as it is supposed to be. It is somewhere between the time of our life and the seventh realm of hell. College is a 24-hour seven day a week fun-filled world of stress. It's all-nighters during the week to study and all-nighters on the weekend to get the social kicks. And that's the shortened version of a college students' life. Don't forget the extra time set aside to take Vivarin. A record number of college freshmen say they are stressed out, burnt out and ready to take a break from the pressures of school. Are we whining youths who don't know how to handle life on the brink of adulthood? Only if adult hood comes complete with a GPA. No, we're just strung out college students trying to adjust. Am I complaining? No, con trary to what it might seem. You put into college what you want to get out of it. And you even get the added bonus of things you don't want like an unexplainable addic tion to black coffee and Waffle House pancakes at three in the morning. But, alas, we do it in the purshit of life, liberty and happi ness. Hey, we want to eat, be free to enslave ourselves to a job and ■Still be happy. So, can college students re ally take a moment to admire the grass and still bow down to the almighty GPA? Only the rare few. For the rest of us, the choices are either bown down to the GPA or risk getting a mediocre low-paying job. Thanks for playing. Now go have a cup of coffee - and make sure it's nice and black. -Tammy Tripp Focus Editor Statistics show a high percentage of students cheating Kate Botty The Pendulum According to the Center for Academic Integrity over 75 per cent of college students admit to some cheating. Is this statistic relevant to the Elon College campus? Do three quarters of enrolled students cheat while pursuing a higher education? During the 1998-1999 school year 38 students were reported breaking the academic honor code according to statistics provided by Mary Wise, Associate Dean for Aca demic Affairs. To prevent students from breaking the honor code this year, Elon 101 classes devoted class time to learn what the honor code is. The Elon College 1999-2000 handbook describes the academic honor code. Violations occur by cheating, helping another person in a dishon est academic act, lying, plagiariz ing, stealing and vandalizing. Elon 101 also introduces the academic honor pledge, “On my honor, I will abide by the Elon Col lege Honor Code.” This code is signed after tests begin freshman Wise believes the academic honor code needs to be understood by students. “Explanation needs to be en forced and more educational, op posed to punitive,” said Wise. Wise also said technology should play a role in enforcing the honor code. “In the eight years that I have been teaching, I haye had two hon ors violations which received fail ing grades,” George Padgett, Com munications Chairman and profes sor said. Padgett also said he did not think cheating was a serious prob lem on the Elon campus. Sophomore Melissa Graff has been in a class in which cheating took place. “Most of us knew there was cheating taking place but nothing was brought up on the issue.” Some students say they real ize people cheat, but they do not see it. It is unclear if cheating is increas ing on college campuses. Wise says she has seen an increase in the num bers of students reported cheating. “I have seen an increase, but whether faculty is doing more about it or whether more students are ACADEMIC I HONOR CODE j Ac^«l«5inKilc .Honor Code ion to: m RcfhJit* fmm « mptoaH opiniom wiih civility ami wHH considcrotion lor the opinions ot others ♦ Rc5fX?ct shajxjd mlcnectual property , ' • ' lil ♦ itie liw^ortaoice of the hcw«r code m ail theif mleraotions for the benetH ofihy ieaniing community. can hefouttd in the year cheating I can’t tell.” student wants more than Olive Garden and babysitting Megan Anderson Contributing Reporter When I began to think about reasons why I came to college I actually went deeper and deeper into my past. I created a small time line in my head. It first started with my mother telling me that I needed to get good grades to get into col lege. When we went further down the line I realized what college meant. It was just what you did. Y ou go further in grade school then you just go to college because everyone says you will never get a good job or make nay money unless you go there. After that realization, I de cided I didn’t want to go to college because there was really no point in going except to owe the govern ment tons of money for the rest of your life in the form of student loans. It took me a while and a few fights with my mother to see the other side. I needed an educa tion, not just go to school. Around this point in time I was in high school watching a lot of my friends drop out and get jobs in daycare centers. They made good money for their age but I wondered how long that would be good pay for them. I felt like all of my friends were selling themselves short. One of my friends used to read the dictio- nary and encyclopedia to take up his spare time when he was bored. He is not 20-years-old and work ing in the back of an Olive Garden cooking and washing dishes. I re alized that I wanted more for my self than that, and I made myself believe that a true education meant intellect and the only place to get that education was at college. It took me a while to realize that you have to push yourself to acquire that knowledge. Last year I did not get involved too much. I went to classes, did the usual requirement for homework and did not do the best job because I was “settling into college life.” This year I have gone back to my original under- standing of college. I am working, doing my homework and getting involved. It is one of the most tiring things I have ever done. I work all week and then I crash on the weekends. But it is definitely worth it. Now when I go home and get together with all of my friends I am one of two people who have gone on to college. It is weird to get together with my friends because we like to set around, get coffee and remi nisce about high school. But I do not feel ready to reminisce yet. I am still doing the tests, quizzes, and homework, getting up early, stay ing up late and all of the other ex hausting school stuff. And I must say I feel great for it. Next week’s Focus section: Black History Month
Elon University Student Newspaper
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