Naomi Rockler-Gladen's Blog

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Ah, college weed out classes. These are introductory courses that are designed to scare students away from overly popular majors by weighing them down with excessive amounts of very difficult work. Here's what you need to know about these miserable educational experiences:

College Weed Out Courses

For some students, the weed out class is a rite of passage that stands between them and a major they're going to love. But for other students -- even those who make it through the weed out class with decent grades and a semblance of sanity -- the weed out class might be a message that this may not be the right major for you.

This was my experience with psychology. I took General Psychology my freshman year, as I thought I wanted to major in psych. The class was a typical weed out class, and it was miserable. The professor was unfriendly and unhelpful, and the TA was even more so. After getting a C on the midterm, I was determined not to let this class get the best of me. I got an A in the class.

However, I still let myself get weeded out. In the process of studying psych so intently, I decided that I really didn't like it much. If your major is the right one for you, you won't mind a little pain and suffering now and then as you learn the material -- and I was not getting anything pleasurable out of my hard, hard work. So I went shopping for other majors, and let myself get weeded out.

Besides, do you really want to be part of a department that seeks to get rid of prospective students? Sometimes, it's okay to let yourself get weeded out.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Senior year is fun--but it's also stressful. For many students, true independence from your family is about to happen for the first time. You also have to say goodbye to the identity of being a student and figure out who you are in the real world.

I remember Senior Week at Rutgers University. Everyone was having a good time, but there was an undercurrent of sadness that no one was talking about. I was standing on a balcony overlooking the Raritan River with my friend Steve, and he voiced what a lot of us were thinking. "I'm scared about what I'm going to do with my life," he said.

This surprised me, as Steve was one of the brainiest and most practical people I knew. Sure enough, he went into software design and has become very successful. I knew he would.

Myself, I wasn't stressed out about the future too much because I thought I had all the answers. Lacking financial support from my family, and too chicken to experiment much with the real world, I got myself accepted to grad school so I could become a professor. I stayed true to this safe path for a long time and was a professor for eight years, until I finally realized what an awful choice this was for me. So then I got brave and became a freelance writer.

Seniors, if you're freaking out about the future, hang in there. You really don't have to have all the answers. Steve didn't, and he did fine. I though I did, and it took me a long time to make the right turn-- and I'm fine, too. Trust in yourself to go fumble around the real world for awhile and discover your path.

Here's more about the senior year graduation blues.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

The Princeton Review's coveted annual list of top party schools is out, and the University of Florida is on top. But how much does this list matter? Should worried parents automatically cross these schools off their list? Should students who want to party flock to these places? Like all of The Princeton Review's helpful rankings, students and parents need to understand that these are just a tool. They can help you gather information about what a school is like, but they shouldn't be your only source of information.

A few years back, I spent a year teaching at Indiana University. Lo and behold, that was the year IU was voted Top Party School. I wondered if my classes were going to be filled with students who could care less about academics.

Here's the thing: they weren't. Sure, I had some slackers, and more than one student who slept through my 1:30 p.m. class. But overall, my IU students were more interested in learning and thinking critically about issues than any students I've ever had. No lie.

IU is a big place--as are most of the schools on the top party list. Many students party--and many are involved with all the other things that campus has to offer, like sports, political activism, music, and yes, great classes. Even though I've not much of a partier, I would have loved going to IU.

So, don't rule out party schools--or rule them in without thought. Yes, there are campuses where partying really does dominate. But on others, partying is just one of many things students do.

Read more about the significance of the party school list.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Yes, I'll admit it-- when it comes to TV, my tastes can be somewhat sleazy. So yes, I've been watching CBS' light summer favorite Swingtown, a nighttime soap about 1970s suburbanites that sort of pretends to be a period piece.

Anyway, amidst all the lurid bedhopping of the middle aged adults, Swingtown features a budding relationship between the main couple's college student daughter, Laurie, and her philosophy professor. Apparently he's quite fond of dating his students--but only his smart students.

Granted, Swingtown isn't exactly the best source of realism, but I'm always amused--and a little bit disturbed--by how professor student relationshops are portrayed on TV and in the movies. Yes, these relationships are sometimes portrayed as the source of job-related problem. In the case of Swingtown, Laurie's stereotypically dumb lifeguard ex-boyfriend is threatening to report her relationship with his uber-smart competition to the school. Nonetheless, these relationships always seem easier than they really are, without the complicated power discrepancies that can exist between a student and her (or his) current or former teacher.

Remember when Ross dated one of his students on Friends? Ross eventually dumped her because she was too immature, but he seemed awfully quick to jump at the chance to date a student. Most professors (most, I say, not all) have the sense to stay away from these kinds of entanglements.

Thinking about dating your professor (or your student)? Here's what you should know about professor-student relationships.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Ever think about taking a year off beforecollege? For many, this isn't just a fantasy. The so-called "gap year" is becoming so common that industries have sprung up to help young people plan activities during their year off. During the gap year, students do all kinds of things--earn money, travel, do charity or missionary work, teach English or work abroad, and so forth.

Is this the right choice for you? Clearly, there are advantages and disadvantages to the gap year-- and it's not for everyone.

However, my experiences as a professor lead me to think that many students would benefit from this alternative. Seems to me that an awful lot of students are in college because they feel they have to be. A gap year could help students figure out if college is really for them.

And yes, in my experience, many students don't have the maturity they need to get the most out of college. Heck, I'm not completely sure that I had this maturity. A year of having to make your own decisions, and of seeing the world from different perspectives, can make a difference as you begin your college experience.

Keep this in mind: in many countries, it's not the norm to go right from high school to college. For example, in Israel, high school graduates have mandatory military service (three years for boys, two for girls). And after the military, young Israelis commonly travel for months or a year before finally going to college. With that kind of experience in your past, you're bound to be able to handle common college stressors better.

Again, the gap year isn't for everyone. But if you're unsure if college should be your next step, investigate this option, which is growing in popularity quickly.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

For students who don't want to be a "number" on a huge state university campus, liberal arts colleges provide a welcoming alternative. But are these schools affordable? A year at an average state school will run you about $13,000, including tuition, room, board, and fees. At a liberal arts college, the price can easily be three times this amount-- or more!

So are liberal arts colleges only for rich kids? Absolutely not. In fact, most liberal arts schools are pretty anti-elitist, and the last thing they want is to fill their campuses up exclusively with kids who can afford a $160,000 education out of pocket. If a liberal arts college thinks you're a good enough student and a good enough match to get admitted, they will try their very best to make sure you can afford it.

Liberal arts colleges regularly give large need-based awards that are based on the data from your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Many schools will give students need-based scholarships that cover a large percentage of their projected need--and some schools give awards that take care of most or all of the need. On top of this, students can take out loans and receive addition financial aid from outside the school.

In addition, there's also merit-based scholarships. If you're an excellent student, you may be eligible for both a large need-based and a large merit-based scholarship. Students in this category may find that a liberal arts college is actually more affordable than a state school.

Of course, this doesn't include everyone. Those price tags are high, and there may just be schools you cannot afford no matter what. But if you're committed to the idea of a liberal arts education, you absolutely should not let the price tags prevent you from applying.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

When I was a professor, I always felt a pang of envy when I watched students take notes on their laptops. Being a bit of a techno-geek, I would have loved that!

Sadly, back in the day when I was an undergraduate, I didn't even own a computer. Very few students, as those coveted little Apples ran around $3000 apiece--over three times as much as the fabulous laptop I use to type these blog posts-- and contained only laughable amounts of memory. I stood in line for hours sometimes for the privilege of typing my papers on a computer in the campus lab. So the concept of being able to actually carry around a computer and use it to take notes in class was like something out of a science fiction movie.

So I'm the kind of student who would have loved to have taken notes on a laptop. But is this the best strategy for you? Cool as this concept may sound, it requires that you have above average typing skills and lots of comfort with your computer. It also means you need to be able to resist temptation. Sadly, my own powers of concentration aren't stellar, so I suppose Facebook and IM and Solitaire and all the other cool stuff you can do on a laptop besides listening to that soporific history professor would have a problem for me! If you can't resist the goodies, maybe you should stick with a pen and paper.

Here are some pros and cons to keep in mind of laptop computer class notes versus paper class notes.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Thanks to the Internet, it's become easier than ever for prospective students to check out college campuses. Colleges and universities have their own websites, where you can find valuable information about majors, student life, financial aid, and all kinds of stuff. Many websites even offer virtual tours, so you can get a good idea of what the campus looks like. And with lots of college ranking sites online, like the Princeton Review, students can get lots of information about schools without ever leaving their computer.

But does all of this replace a traditional visit to a college campus? Of course not. Yes, if you truly are unable to travel to a campus you are considering--for financial or other reasons--a campus tour might be a decent substitution. But if at all possible, spend at least a day on campuses that interest you.

Why is this so important? Well, for one thing, keep in mind that the college website is, in part, a public relations tool. The website isn't going to lie about what's available on campus, but they also want to portray the school in the best light possible. You need to get a feel for the campus, warts and all.

In addition, there's really no substitute for being there, walking around, attending a class or two, and finding out what everyday life is like on campus. Shopping for a college isn't like shopping for a sweater, which you probably feel perfectly comfortable buying online. Shopping for a college is like buying a house. You're going to live there for a significant period of your life. You wouldn't buy a house online-- and you shouldn't buy a college this way either.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

High school students: are you ready to go to college? Really ready? If you're not sure, here's an article that may help you:

Are You Ready for College?

Here's the thing: higher education involved a major commitment of time, money, and willingness to learn. It's also a choice, and in my experience as a professor, I don't think that students always recognize this. Colleges and universities are filled with students who are miserable and/or resentful because they really don't want to be there, and don't realize that they don't have to be there.

Here are some reasons why people choose to go to college. If these are the only reasons why you want to continue with your education, consider other alternatives:

• It's the "thing to do" after high school is over.
• It's the norm for people in my community and/or social class to attend college after high school.
• My parents expect me to go.
• My high school friends are all going.
• My boyfriend/girlfriend is going.
• People will think I'm dumb or lower class if I don't go.
• I have to go because otherwise, I won't be able to live the lifestyle I want.

All of these reasons point to one major expectation: people see higher education as a prerequisite to a middle class lifestyle. There's something to this, as people with college educations often have more earning potential. However, this isn't always the case--and it's also the case that people with technical or business school degrees, or no degrees at all, can do well financially.

Look into all your options. If you step into that college classroom that first day and don't feel at least a little bit excited, you may be in the wrong place.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Looking for a great professor? Here are some tips for choosing a college instructor or professor:

How to Choose a Good Professor

However, keep this in mind: the best professor for you might not be the best professor for everybody.

In fact, looking for a teacher that suits is a little like dating. (No, don't date your professor, as that's generally a bad idea.) In the dating world, there's always this "perfect catch" who has all those qualities everyone wants: looks, smarts, charisma, a good income, a good family, and so forth. That's the obvious choice, and this person is probably in demand.

On the other hand, if you open your mind when dating, you're likely to come across a "diamond in the rough" candidate who doesn't look as good on paper (or probably in person) than the "perfect catch." But the more you get to know this person, the more you realize he or she has other unique qualities, and that he or she does possess those things you need, if not in such an obvious way.

Some professors are the equivalent of the perfect catch. They're charismatic, entertaining, and probably great teachers. But there are other shyer, weirder, and possible even somewhat boring teachers on your campus that have quite a bit to offer as well-- and these teachers might be a better match for your needs than you realize.

When asking student's opinions about why they do and don't like their professor, listen hard. Are these reasons that are actually important to you? And remember, public opinion isn't everything. Stop by a lecture or two or a professor's office hours to get a better feel for what this person is really like.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Commuting-- that's a great way for students to save money, right? Live with Mom and Dad in your old room, eat their food, and drive to school every day. Oh wait... there's that "drive to school every day" part, huh? Now that gas prices are commonly up to $4 a gallon and more, suddenly commuting is no longer such a cost effective alternative to living on campus. Read more about this problem in this article from The Houston Chronicle:

A Change in Course for College Students

One solution that students are choosing is carpooling. Students don't always love this, as it limits their freedom to come and leave campus as they like-- but they do love the reduction in fuel expenses. And for some students, public transportation to school is becoming a popular option--although this only works for those who live in relatively urban areas.

So, students are making do. But what an incredible shame that commuting is becoming such an expensive option. College students have become the victims of two economic crises-- rising tuition and rising fuel prices. The ability to live at home can help offset the expense of tuition a bit, but when commuting becomes expensive as well, students have fewer options. And like everything else, it's students and families who don't have much money in the first place who are burdened most by this double whammy-- including nontraditional students who are trying to balance work, family, and school.

If you can make do without a car, students, do it. Here's an article that might help:

Should College Students Own Cars?

Best of luck with school, students-- and with getting there.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

As high school students prepare for college, how involved should their parents be in the process? Families differ quite a bit in their approach. In some families, parents do it all; the FAFSA, help with the applications, keeping track of deadlines, driving their kids for college tours, the works.

And in some families (like mine, as a matter of act), parents don't help much at all. Kids are mostly on their own, except for the FAFSA, which parents have to fill out if they want their kids to receive financial aid.

Of course, there are lots of families that fall somewhere in between as well. So what approach is right for you?

As a former professor, I can tell you that some kids really need a lesson in figuring things out for themselves. They seem lost by the simplest of problem solving tasks, and completley overwhelmed by time management and deadlines. Thus, I suspect that many parents help too much with things like college applications, and would do better to let their children figure things out for themselves-- or at least some things, like deadlines.

On the other hand, some kids--like myself--received precious little help with this confusing process. Parents can be a huge help to students in helping to organize paperwork, visiting schools, and just being a source of moral support. A lack of help can put kids at a distinct disadvantage.

Talk to your kids about the college application process, and figure out what role you will play in assisting. If possible, meet with the student's guidance counselor to help figure this kind of stuff out. Good luck with the college application process!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Let's face it-- not everyone gets into their first choice colleges. But if you have your heart set on your first choice school, should you try to get in the following year by transferring in from a backup school?

This depends on your situation. If you're going to try this, you need to make sure the first choice school really is the best choice for you-- and that the backup school can't offer you exactly what you want or need. Keep in mind that transferring is a big hassle. You usually lose credits, and you have to go through that horrible freshman year adjustment period all over again. If you're going to go through that, make sure the transfer is absolutely worth it.

Second, do your research and find out how difficult it is to transfer to your first choice school. If you can, visit the school and talk to admissions officer. At some schools-- especially elite ones-- it's more difficult to get in as a transfer than it is a graduating senior, even if you do really well your freshman year at your backup school.

If you're attending a school with the intention to transfer, do everything you can to make the most of your life at your new school. This is important partly because a transfer is no guarantee. It's also important because if you give your new school a chance, you may find that it's a perfect wonderful match for you-- and then you can avoid the hassle of transferring. And even if you do transfer successfully, it's a good idea to make the most out of your time at the backup school, as you'll be spending a year or two in this environment and want to have the most valuable experience that you can.

Good luck with your college applications!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Is it a good idea to get married as soon as you graduate from college?

Sometimes. I certainly know people who have been together since college. My sister in law got married right after college, and she and my brother-in-law are now expecting twins-- and I can't imagine a couple that's more compatible. And a good friend of mine who got married during college has been with her husband for almost 15 years.

But I also know quite a few people who got married right after college who got divorced, and quickly. I was so excited to attend the wedding of one of my students last summer, only to find that they split up less than a year later. And this story is not the least bit unusual.

Students, if you are considering getting married, please think about putting it off for just a little while-- even if you're pretty sure you know it's the right decision. This is such a major commitment, and the last thing you want to have going on as you start your new life is a bad marriage and/or a divorce. Take the time to get to know each other in a setting outside of school, and spend a little time getting your career and your life outside of college together before you make this huge commitment.

In some places, it's common to get married young, so people feel pressure and get married because it seems like the thing to do when college ends. I taught at a little college in small town Minnesota for a few years, and those rings started popping up on girls' fingers like a fashion trend. Thankfully, many of those marriages are going strong. But others are not.

Here are some things to think about regarding marriage after college.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

When I taught college, one of the most frustrating things for me was how ill prepared students were to write college level papers. Many high school students are not graduating with skills that professors expect them to understand.

This results in both frustrated students and frustrated professors, and with grades that aren't as high as they should be. Unfortunately, this also sometimes results in lowered standards, as many professors give up after reading enough inadequate papers and don't require elements of paper writing that students really do need to know. Of course, this hurts no one but the students.

In my experience, one thing many students are not learning adequately in high school is this: how to cite sources correctly. Students need to come to college with an understanding of how to cite sources within the text of a paper and in the bibliography. They need to be able to use APA, MLA, or Chicago style-- and they need the understanding of style guides in general to be able to figure out how to use unfamiliar style guides.

I can't tell you how many bibliographies I've seen where students had no clue how to cite information correctly. The most frustrating thing I came across frequently was the citing of web sources with just a URL.

Another thing that students often have no idea how to write is a literature review. This is a more advanced skill, but students really ought to have some understanding of how to do this before college. Here's some information on how to write a literature review.

A final skill that students often lack is one of the most basic ones-- how to write an introduction. Students: first impressions count, so you need to master this skill!

Here's some more information about how to write a college term paper.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Ever notice that dorm room posters tend to lack variety? Here's a great blog entry that claims to list the most overused dorm posters ever:

Top 10 Most Cliche College Dorm Posters of All Time

When I moved into a dorm 20 years ago, the list of cliche posters was a little bit different-- but it was also pretty similar.

I don't think the clever but completely overused "Periodic Table of Mixology" was available 20 years ago. In abundance, however, were dozens of posters about alcohol-- especially beer, and including those tacky neon light beer signs that look like they were stolen from a restaurant, but that actually came from a cheesy mall gift shop. Let's see... can you think of anything more stereotypical that could be in a college student's room than a picture of beer?

Oh, wait, there might be one thing more stereotypical than beer decorations-- and that's the semi-naked woman poster. That "High Street Honeys" poster (you know, that "five naked women" poster that you've seen a zillion times) wasn't around back in the day, but there were no shortage of pinup girl type posters around the dorms. Guys, here's a newsflash for you: if you want to impress the real-life girls of campus (the kind you do not find in posters), don't hang tacky pictures of half-naked women on your walls. That doesn't exactly scream "great dating prospect."

Of course, the "look at me, I have culture" art prints have always been popular too. When I was in college, everyone had Van Gogh's "Starry Night" hanging from their wall. Including me.

Looking for some other ways to decorate your dorm room? Here's how to give your space a cheap dorm room makeover.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

I wish I had Facebook when I was a college freshman-- and not just because I'm kind of a computer geek. It seems to me that Facebook is making the process of getting adjusted as a freshman so much easier by allowing new students to get to know each other before coming to campus.

My little sister is going to college in the fall. She's been accepted to St. Mary's College in Maryland. And for several months now, she's been corresponding with other incoming freshmen on Facebook. Her new class-- which doesn't even officially exist yet-- has a discussion group, and fellow students are adding each other as friends.

How cool is that? For me, one of the hardest parts of going away to college was not knowing anyone. You come to school to this sea of faces and know nothing about anyone. Thanks to Facebook, that's no longer true. Students who come to campus already know each other--well, at least a little bit. They've had the chance to find a few people that seem like potential "real life" friends. When they walk into the cafeteria alone for the first time, there's a pretty good chance they can look around and find someone they've met online.

So, as I've been thinking about Samantha's new college experience, I had a related experience of my own, coincidentally. I found Steve, the very first person who I met during college orientation before my freshman year-- on Facebook, of course. So I may not have had the opportunity to meet fellow freshmen online before college began, but at least I can "re-unite" with old friends.

Need some info on freshman year? Here's a list of college dorm room necessities and freshman year 101 survival tips.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Should a college education be tax deductible?

U.S. presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both think so-- or, at least, they think that a significant portion of a college education should be tax deducatable. Both have included proposals in their campaigns to achieve this. Obama's plan is more generous than Clinton's, but the two plans are very similar.

Obama proposes to make the first $4000 of a college education fully tax deductible. By fully, this means that a student's parents (or the student, if he or she is not a dependent) will receive $4000 back from the government to pay for college expenses. Obama wants this tax break to be annual-- that is, $4000 a year for as long as a student is in college. He also proposes that this money be based on last year's tax returns so that the money will be available when tuition is due in the fall.

Clinton proposes that the first $3500 of college expenses be partially tax deductible. She wants the first $1000 to be fully deductible, and then the second $5000 to be 50% deductible. Clinton also favors that the funding be available at the beginning of the school year to pay for tuition costs.

Is this financially feasible? With the rising cost of tuition, I sure hope so! Ideally, the money spent by the government would be compensated in the long run, because college graduates make more money and pay more in taxes over a lifetime. In addition, the government could theoretically save money because they would not have to manage so many student loans.

Read more about Barack Obama & Higher Education and Hillary Clinton & Higher Education.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

College students hate the ridiculously high price of college textbooks. And professors hate the high cost too. Most professors have quite a bit of compassion for the young people they spend so much of their time with, and publishing companies that go out of their way to exploit these young people for a profit are resented by professors.

As the price of textbooks gets higher and higher, professors are fighting back by ordering cheaper books and by making use of digital resources instead of textbooks. Here's an article about this issue in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:

Faculty Members Fight High Cost of Textbooks

Now there's something else professors can do to help students save money on course materials. Student PIRGs (Public Interest Research Group), a popular student activist group on many college campuses in the United States, has created an "Open Textbook Faculty Statement of Intent." Available on the Student PIRG website for professors to sign, this document states, "

"By signing this statement, faculty members state their intent to include open textbooks in their search for the most appropriate course materials, and they declare their preference to adopt an open textbook in place of an expensive, commercial textbook, if the open textbook is the best option."

Professors, come read the petition and sign it!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Students: are there some things you wish you had known before you went to college? Here's some things I wish I had known.

I wish someone had told me not to live in the freshman dorm. For some reason I thought that would be a good idea, but unfortunately it was like High School Part II. I would have been better off with a more mature mix of freshmen and upper classmen. For that matter, it wouldn't have been so bad to live in a single sex dorm instead of a coed dorm, but at age 18 that idea sounded horrible to me.

I also wish someone had told me to register for a full load of classes my first semester, and then to drop the class I liked the least. That would have saved me a semester with the calculus professor from hell. Someone did convince me to take fewer classes my first semester, which was a good idea.

And I wish someone had warned me to stay away from the drama. Honestly, it doesn't make the least bit of difference who's dating who, or that someone said something about someone else. Years later, I have no idea what the drama was about, but it sure seemed important at the time.

I also wished someone had persuaded me to get a summer internship. Because I had to work during college, I figured I wouldn't have time for an internship. But that's not true, as many internships either pay or expect students to work for free for a limited number of hours, leaving time for a part time job.

Here are some things that every student should know before freshman year.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

When it comes to interactions with students, professors all have their pet peeves. (For me, it was students who turned in papers without staples. Grr, it makes me cringe just to think about those papers with crinkled edges! But I digress.) One of the things students do that drives professors crazy is to ask the following after missing a class:

"Hey, did I miss anything important today?"

Why do professors hate this? Well, some of them get ticked off because they're on a bit of an ego trip. They want to believe everything they do is important, and the inference that some of the things in their class might be deemed as unimportant is maddening.

But even for professors who aren't on a major ego trip (and yes, believe it or not, most professors really aren't egomaniacs), it's annoying to hear someone ask, 'Did I miss anything important today?" The majority of professors really do put a great deal of effort into creating meaningful classes. The last thing they want to do is waste students' time with information or activities that isn't important. To suggest to a professor that a whole class period's worth of information might be deemed unimportant discounts this effort.

Appropriately sarcastic responses to this question might be:

"No, I just spurted out random useless information that won't be on the test, as always."

"No, class wasn't the same without you there, so we just sat around and moped."

Here's a few other things you should never say to a professor.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

OK, I've officially found the coolest thing on the Web in a long time, thanks to MTVu. It's a format for professors to respond to anonymous student comments on RateMyProfessors.com. It's brutally honest and it's hilarious. Check it out:

Professors Strike Back!

The comments about me on RateMyProfessors.com are fine, so there's no need for me to respond to those. But the comments about me on the MySpace "Grade My Professor" page are nasty. Here's the worst.

"Worst teacher I have ever had at ANY level. She honestly seems a little retarded, and she can't give a lecture at all. On top of that she expects way too much considering she is a bad teacher. AVOID AT ALL COSTS."

In the spirit of Professors Strike Back, here's my response:

No, I never expected too much from my students, especially in the easy 100 level pop culture class you apparently took from me. If you couldn't keep up with the workload in there, maybe you're the retarded one.

And don't worry. Avoiding me at any cost will be easy. I'm not a professor anymore. And the best part of that is, I don't have to deal with rude, ungrateful students like yourself who don't have the class to tell me what they think of me to my face.

Hmmm. That felt good.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Are college textbooks no longer necessary? Here's a recent article here at Campus Life by D. Chen that makes this argument:

College Textbooks No Longer Necessary

As a former professor, I do agree with many of the points in this article. The college textbook industry is notorious for its exploitation of students who are required to purchase materials for their classes. Thanks to technology, there are so many other low cost ways for students to get much of the same information they might find in a textbook-- and in ways that are potentially much more interactive. In addition, today's Generation Y college students are accustomed to using technology to find information, and many young people learn better in an interactive format.

But obsolete? As a professor, I'm nervous about what we would lose if we cut out textbook reading completely from our classrooms. Reading requires discipline, and it's very much needed to develop strong writing skills. One problem with today's fast-paced technology is that students do not have as much patience and discipline for learning as they need to be successful in the working world. At work, students are going to have to sit down with material that is tedious and dry and make sense of it independently.

I'm a strong advocate for multiple modes of technology in the classroom, and I certainly think we're past the days where textbooks are used almost exclusively. But let's not get rid of them yet.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

I've heard so many college students say how much they dread taking history classes. This seems like such a shame to me, as I've always thought history classes are some of the most valuable you can take-- especially at the college level, since these classes tend to be much more in-depth and though provoking than high school history.

Here's why you should take a college history course-- and why you shouldn't dread it!

• An understanding of history will help you understand current events much better. As a voter, you'll understand the issues in a more in-depth way and be able to incorporate you knowledge into your voting decisions.
• To understand other cultures and their traditions, it's very helpful if you understand about a culture's past as well as the present.
• History will help you understand all kinds of subjects better, from political science to economics to communication.
• History is about much more than just memorizing dates and names (which may be what you did in high school, but there's much more to it in college.) In college history classes, you learn to analyze how events and people influence each other, and also how the past influences the present. This is much more interesting than memorization.
• History is the most fascinating story there is-- and a good professor can make this story and its wild cast of characters come to life for you.
• High schools typically do a pathetic job teaching students about current events and history. Let your college education fill in the gaps!

Here's some college history class tips to help you choose the right class and excel.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

When I was a professor, one of the things that annoyed me most was when was when students failed to do assigned readings.

After teaching for awhile, it became painfully apparent to me how many students were blowing off the readings altogether, or doing them at the last minute. Only the minority of students regularly completed the readings for the days they were assigned. And many students read selectively, searching for material that might be on the exam, and nothing else.

The prevalent attitude that "the readings are a waste of time" makes me so sad. Students, the readings aren't busy work. Your professor can only tell you so much about a topic during lecture, but large amounts of material can be presented through a reading assignment. If you don't do the reading, you're losing the opportunity to learn a large fraction of the course material. Your grade will suffer, and you simply won't learn as much.

In addition, college level reading is an important skill. By not reading, you not only miss out on the material itself-- you miss out on the opportunity to build your vocabulary, reading comprehension, and writing skills. All of these are skills you will need in the workplace-- especially writing. In order to become an advanced level writer, you have to read lots. There's no way around that.

I know, I'm getting a little preachy, and I try not to do that. But the growing attitude that it's no big deal to blow off the readings really bugs me. Students, please make an effort to do your readings, and to complete them for the day they are assigned.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Should U.S. colleges and universities with large endowments be required to set aside at least 5% of their money for financial aid and to offset tuition costs? Several proposals in Congress back this demand-- and quite a few well-endowed school are fighting back with lobbyist muscle. From a city with more than its share of wealthy and prestigious institutions of higher learning, here's a story about the issue in The Boston Globe:

Colleges Guard Soaring Endowments

Why are colleges and universities opposed to this legislation? Much as they may sound like misers, their reasoning is sensible, at least somewhat. Endowment money, which largely comes from alumni donations, is invested tax free and is used as a buffer to prevent against hard times. It makes sense to use endowments conservatively. In addition, schools are always nervous about government involvement, as freedom of speech and expression in the academy is a crucial principle to preserve. On top of that, schools argue that financial aid to elite schools has increased quite a bit in recent years, and many students from less-than-wealthy families are attending at little to no cost.

But did I mention that this argument is only about 5% of the endowment?

Elite institutions like Boston College and Harvard University can't spend 5% of their endowments to help offset student costs? As The Boston Globe article points out, Harvard's endowment is bigger than the gross domestic product of Montana.

And 5% is unreasonable? Give me a break.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Are college students coming to college with the necessary study skills? Are high schools preparing students by teaching them how to take lecture notes, read and process difficult material, outline and write polished essays, and study effectively for multiple exams?

High schools are all different, and the answer to this question may vary by school. However, as someone who taught college students for 14 years, my experiences indicate to me that high schools are doing a terrible job.

One thing high schools need to do much better is teach students how to take lecture notes. I was lucky: my 12th grade English teacher, Ms. Mauger, took it upon herself to sit down with her students and go over our notebooks. She explained what I was doing wrong and helped me improve. As a result, I knew how to take notes in college.

Other students are not so lucky. I can't even tell you how many times a freshman student came to me to discuss why they did poorly on an exam. Frequently, a look at the student's notebook revealed the problem. Many students told me that no one had ever taught them how to take notes, so no wonder they were struggling.

This is just one area of college prep where high schools need to improve. When students come to college, they're spending too much time just learning how to be students. To some degree, this will always be true, as nothing can fully prepare you for the college experience. But high schools could sure do a better job.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Oh my God, not again.

Today--February 14, 2008-- a gunman stepped from behind the curtain at a crowded lecture hall at Northern Illinois University. He shot 21 people, including the graduate student who was teaching this ocean science lecture class. At the time of this writing, six people have died, including the shooter, and at least two others are in critical condition.

After the massacre at Virginia Tech this spring, this tragedy is all the more raw and horrible. As someone who spent 18 years of my life as either a college student or instructor, this just breaks my heart.

Colleges are emotional places filled with stress, anger, and occasionally, rage. Students are anxious, angry, and frustrated about grades. For graduate students, who commit such a major portion of their lives to school, these feelings are all the more intense. The NIU shooter was a former sociology grad student, and one can only imagine his motivations.

To everyone at Northern Illinois University: my thoughts and heart are with you.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

The majority of students change their majors while they are in college-- so if you're thinking about changing yours, don't feel like you're doing something unusual or wrong.

When I first went to college, I was going to major in psychology. Then I took general psych. As many students know, general psychology is one of those "weed out" classes that's used to try to keep a popular major from becoming too overcrowded. The class is made intentionally difficult so that students are discouraged by their low grades and go major in something else. In my case, I actually got an A in general psych, but I weeded myself out anyways because I disscovered the major wasn't what I thought it was.

Then I took some history classes, since I liked that subject so much in high school. I liked them and became a history major. The next year, I started taking communication classes, and liked that so much that I became a double major.

My experience was pretty typical. After all, how can you know exactly what you're interested in when you just enter college and haven't even taken any courses? In my case, I knew nothing about the communication major when I started college, so of course I didn't choose that major right away.

The problem with changing majors occur when it causes you to stay in school longer. In my case, I changed early enough that I easily graduated on time. However, if you change your major after you've already taken a bunch of classes, you might add semesters or even years onto your time in college.

Is changing majors the right decision for you? Here's an article to help you decide if you should change your college major. Good luck with your decision!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Should children of illegal immigrants be entitled to the same in-state college tuition benefits as other in-state students? Along with other immigration issues, this has become a major issue in the Republican presidential primary.

Whenever I hear Republicans debating this issue, my first thought is this: don't you have anything more important to discuss?

There's a laundry list of serious crises in the United States. A health care system that's clearly failing the people. A Social Security system that's about to run out of money. Global warming. A looming recession. Not to mention the War in Iraq, the threat of terrorism, and serious foreign policy messes in Iran and Pakistan.

So are we really worried about an 18-year-old in Arkansas who's going to have the opportunity to <gasp!> go to college? With everything else that's going on, is this kid who's jumping at the chance to sit in a college classroom a serious threat to national security?

The issue here is whether the kids of people who immigrated illegally should have the opportunity to attend college at in-state rates. These are kids who were born in the United States, and who therefore are citizens. They're not looking for a free ride-- only the opportunity to pay for college at an affordable in-state rate. This will open doors to these young people to higher paying careers-- along with higher levels of taxation to help pay for someone else's college education.

This is really a threat to national security?

The immigration debate is complicated, and we need to work hard to find some workable solutions that are fair to everyone. But keeping a kid out of college is not going to solve any problems at all. Republican candidates, please. Choose from the laundry list of social problems and real threats to national security and abandon this ridiculous issue.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Online college classes are becoming more poular every year. To a large degree, many of the students in these classes are nontraditional, older students who would not be able to attend college without this relatively new option. Here's an interesting article about the growth of online college courses among nontraditional students in the Seattle area:

Seattle Students Flocking to Online Study

To what degree is this a positive thing? Overall, I think the positive benefits of online classes definitely outweigh the negatives. Access to education is paramount to the quality of a democracy. Not everyone has the money or life circumstances that allow them to spend four years of their lives on a college campus in their teens and early twenties. For people with young children, online education can suddenly open up a world of new options.

However, I worry that as online classes expand, it may create educational class disparities in new ways. Will we reach a point where the "haves" get a college education in a traditional classroom, and the "have nots" only have access to online learning? If this becomes the case, it seems likely that the quality of online education will suffer, and that employers won't take online education nealry as seriously as they should.

The thing is, online learning works fabulously for many students-- both nontradition and traditional. And for some students, it's not an optimal way of learning at all. (Here's some thoughts on the advantages and disadvantages to online education). A truly accessible educational system would make both traditional classroom learning and online distance learning affordable and available to everyone, regardless of their learning styles.

In other words, the growth of online higher education seems quite promising, but it' shouldn't be seen as a panacea to our educational problems.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

The graduating class of 2008 is facing more anxiety than ever about getting into the schools of their choice. Here's an article from the New York Times that focuses on Connecticut-- but this is a nationwide trend:

Class of 2008 College Entrance Anxieties

Much of this has to do with simple demographics. College students of today-- the so-called Generation Y college students--are members of a baby boom generation. The original Baby Boom generation, born between 1946-1966, consisted of children born to those returning from the service and starting a family. The oldest of the Baby Boomers are retiring, and everyone's in a frenzy about the economic consequences of this huge generation on Social Security.

But that's not the only crisis. The Baby Boomers had a generation of babies of their own, and these kids are going to college now and facing a daunting application pool. And other factors are at work as well. The price of a college education is monumentally more expensive than it was after World War II. Even without the G.I. Bill, which helped thousands of servicemen pay for college, the post-war price of education was much more within the reach of families and individuals. Today, there's more competition than ever for scarce financial resources, making college out of reach for many.

Another problem is today's notion that a four-year undergraduate degree is necessary. Other nations have much stronger technical education programs. In the U.S., this kind of education is not as common, and it's seen by many as inferior. As a result, many students go to college who would be better served by a technical education, further increasing competition.

As this presidential election unfolds, we can only hope that candidates will address some of these issues. A strong nation depends on the available and affordability of first-rate higher education.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

As the primary season hits full swing in the United States, something exciting and unusual is happening. The votes of college students are being taken seriously, especially by the Democratic candidates.

That's something we just don't see enough of in this country. There's a vicious cycle going on. College students voter turnout is low, and candidates don't pay much attention to them and their issues-- like rising tuition costs, student loans, and the quality of college education It's hard to say which comes first, but it's certainly a cycle that most certainly is detrimental to young people n the United States. It's quite the opposite with senior citizens. Seniors vote in large numbers, and issues such as Social Security and Medicare are always at the forefront of the election debates.

Largely, this unusual fight for student votes has been fueled by Senator Barack Obama, who won in Iowa in part because of his ability to win the votes of young people. Obama's emphasis on change is getting noticed by Generation Y college students, many of whom have grown up jaded by politics that include an unpopular war and the Monica Lewinsky scandal. And now that Obama's got the young vote, Hillary Clinton is fighting for these votes as well. In her New Hampshire primary victory speech, Clinton positioned herself in front of a rallying audience that consisted largely of young people. She spoke out against "predatory student loan companies" and applauded students for voting their "hearts and their minds" (a not-so-subtle jab at Obama).

Wow, do I ever hope this continues. Students, whatever your political interests, get involved in this election and make sure these candidates don't forget you.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Spring Break travelers: here are some important Spring Break travel tips to keep in mind. Most are pretty obvious. If you're going to drink, do so with caution. Pay close attention to your belongings. Avoid Spring Break travel scams.

But here's a Spring Break problem you may not be familiar with-- students falling off hotel balconies, sometimes to their death. This is sometimes known as "balcony diving." This has become a big enough problem in Florida that climbing balconies is now illegal, punishable by fines.

Why in the world does something so pointless like this occur? Of course, alcohol is usually involved. Students sometimes get too close to the edge and fall. But what often happens is that balconies become a mode of transportation. It's late at night and someone wants to get to a party on a different floor, and the elevators are packed. So they climb the balconies to get to a different floor. Or, they climb the balconies just for fun, impaired by alcohol You don't have to be an honors student to know this isn't the smartest thing to do.

I don't like to get preachy in my blog, but for heaven's sake, students, don't climb on balconies. Do you really need to risk your life in such an utterly pointless way to have a good time? If the elevator's out, take the stairs. If you're smart enough to get into college, you're smart enough not to do something this stupid.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Here's an interesting twist to the upcoming U.S. presidential caucus and primary season (which starts January 3, if you can believe that). The Democratic race in Iowa is so close right now that every vote really does count. Therefore, candidates are paying extra attention this year to a group that usually doesn't get enough attention-- college students, and in this case, out-of-state college students who attend Iowa colleges and universities. Legally, they are eligible to participate in the caucuses, which despite al the hoopla, only draw about 1 out of 10 voters. With participation that low, an increase in student participation in the race could potential make a significant impact on the Iowa caucuses and perhaps on this historic election.

Senator Barack Obama, a candidate who has a fair amount of appeal among young voters, has made an extra effort to enlist the support of out-of-state college students in Iowa, as reported by the CBS Evening News:

Barack Obama Enlists Out-of-State College Students in Iowa

The Clinton campaign and some Iowa voters have complained, saying this puts an unfair amount of political clout into the hands of young people who do not live in iowa for the full year. However, I must say that I'm always delighted to see a candidate who takes students and their concerns seriously. If this gets more students involved-- and encourages candidates to pay attention to the needs of young people as well as the needs of the elderly-- then this is terrific. Besides, this isn't an Iowa election-- it's a national one, so the issue of getting voters who don't live permanently in Iowa involved doesn't seem terribly relevant. Good for you, Senator Obama.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Semester breaks are one of the most wonderful things about being a student. Life as a student can be very stressful, but don’t underestimate what a luxury it is to be able to leave it all behind at the end of the semester. In “real life,” you won’t have the opportunity to leave your job for weeks at a time. You also won’t get a chance to catch your breath for awhile so that you’ll be nicely refreshed for the workload in the coming months.

The other wonderful thing about semester breaks is this—if things didn’t go so well last semester, you get to start over! Did you hate your biology class? Did you do lousy in your history class? Were you classes okay this semester, but did you find yourself eager for a change towards the end of the semester? Once the semester is over, those classes are done for good and you have a fresh opportunity to excel at a brand new set of classes. In “real life,” it doesn’t work that way—you hate you job before Christmas, and then you hate your job some more after Christmas. Semester breaks are a fabulous thing, and it’s too bad all of life come with them.

I hope you are all having a restful break and enjoying some quality time with friends and family—and that you’re not thinking too much about final exams and all the stress of the final semester! Take a deep breath and put it behind you.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

As a college instructor, i encountered many young women who tried to play down their intelligence to make themselves "less threatening" or "more likeable," or whatever. What surprised me, though, was that my male students did this almost as often as the female students. Typically, I'd have one of these guys per semester who surprised me when I realized they were exceptionally bright.

Here's an example: my last semester teaching, I had a baseball-cap clad young man who liked to joke around and make funny comments during class that made everyone laugh. He wasn't rude or distracting, but he certainly didn't come across as particularly bright. Then the first exam came around, and he got the highest score in the class. I was plenty surprised. I handed the exam back to him and said, "I'm on to you."

He came by after class with his test. "Um, what did you mean by that?" he asked nervously.

"Oh," I responded, "I just meant that I'm on to the fact that you're really bright and a good student.'

He blushed. 'Thanks. i thought you meant you thought I had cheated.' We went on to chat about his plans to go to graduate school.

Guys, don't play dumb. It's a shame when women do it, and it's a shame when you do it too.

Here's some more advice for college guys,

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Finals week is like an athletic event! You need to push yourself as hard as you can, and sometimes this results in fatigue. When I was a student, I always spent the day after finals curled up in bed for a long, long time.

You can make the finals week endurance test easier by taking care of yourself-- as least as best as you can. When you're working this hard, nutrition and sleeping and exercise definitely can get pushed to the background. But to be successful, athletes need to take care of thie bodies-- and so do you!

In my opinion, the most overlooked area of self-care for students is sleep. Although sleep may seem like a luxury, you need it to be successful at just about everything. As much as it's possible, get a decent amount of sleep during finals. You might just need to make sleep a priority over other obligations during finals week. The extra sleep will help you relax and may help you do better on your exams.

Eating well is also important-- or at least somewhat well. Try to eat nutritious meals at regular times. Of course, pampering yourself a bit with treats during finals is fine, as long as you don't overdo it. Here are some exam week snack ideas.

Finally, try to get in a little exercise. No, don't go and blow three hours a th the gym, because you don't have time. But a little exercise really does lift your spirits and helps you clear your mind. Work in something as simple as a brisk walk as a study break, or treat yourself to 45-minutes at the gym, and you'll feel better. (If there's a hot tub at the gym, by all means, take advantage of this stress-relieving godsend!)

Best of luck during finals, students!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Here's a thought-provoking international issue relating to college students. In France, college student shave been protesting and striking proposed changes to their university system. Read about the conflict here:

French Students on Strike

So what's the problem? The privatization of universities. Previously, state universities in France have been exclusively public. They haven't been able to receive outside funding from corporations and outside sources. they also had to follow strict government regulations about issues such as tuition hikes.

Now, as part of President Sarkozy's new reforms, state-run universities have become privatized. This means they will be able to receive donations from outside organizations and can make their own rules about issues such as tuition hikes. Proponents of the system argue this change will make French universities and students more competitive and bring more money into the system. Opponents argue that outside money will taint the quality of education and make education less universally accessible to French students.

What's fascinating to me about this debate is that it's so far removed from what's going on in the United States. Here, "state" universities have become so heavily influenced by private interests that we don't even notice anymore. Corporations pump money into research projects all the time. When i taught on year at a business school, the rooms themselves in the building were named after companies that had donated money! Most students never consider the implications and the possible conflicts of interest of outside interests having a say in our education.

And the concept that by controlling tuition costs, we could keep educational universally affordable? We're so far removed from that idea that it sounds Utopia.

Hopefully the French strikes will spark some debates in U.S. college classrooms. By looking outside of ourselves at a system that's so different, perhaps we can better critique our own educational problems.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Can you believe the semester is almost over? The last few weeks of school always come so quickly, don't they? The end of the semester is awesome, especially in the fall, because a long break and the holidays are in your immediate future. Unfortunately, in the even more immediate future is a harsh reality: final exams week. This is the time of the year when it's not so fun to be a college student.

So how do you get through final exams without going insane and without destroying your GPA? Here's an important tip, students, and trust me on this one. What you really need to do is plan. Final exam week is stressful because you have too many obligations to take care of all at once. A 12-page paper for one class, exams in the other three classes, plus work, holiday shopping, and everything else that a student has to do--- eek!

Juggling these conflicting obligations will be so much easier if you sit down with a piece of paper or blank document and figure out exactly what you need to do and when it needs to be completed. Figure out how much time you'll have to complete each task and assign yourself appropriate time slots. And once you've written your schedule, stick to it. it won't take away final week stress, but it will make you feel much more organized and efficient- and that's half the battle.

Need some more tips on surviving final exams week? Here's an article about studying for midterms and finals that I hope will help. Best of luck, students!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Most graduate students have their moments when they're ready to evacuate. Maybe this happens at 2:30 in the morning when you're banging on your keyboard trying to crank out something intelligible before your morning deadline. Or maybe it's at an academic conference, as you listen to people with PhDs fling verbal grenades at on another over a theoretical issue of infitesimally minor importance. It's just like marriage and other lifelong partnerships. Even in the best of relationships, there are moments when you look at your partner and wonder, "What have I gotten myself into?"

But what if you're not just having momentary pangs of existential relationship angst? What if you're seriously considering leaving your graduate program-- and, in effect, getting a divorce from grad school?

Leaving grad school is a difficult decision for some of the same reasons that leaving a relationship is a difficult decision. You've made an intensive commitment of time, financial resources, and emotions. It's become an integral part of your identity, and it may be hard to imagine your identity outside of the academy. And people love graduate school and their topics of study. It's always heartbreaking to realize that even though you're in love, it just isn't right for you.

If you're thinking about leaving, take the time to weigh your decision carefully. Find someone to help you talk out the decision and give you good advice, like a trusted faculty member, recent alumni, career counselor, or even a psychologist. You can think of this person as your graduate school "relationship counselor." Think carefully about the pros and cons of staying in school, including career possibilities . And take the time to research other career possibilities. Don't stay in grad school just because it seems easier than finding something else.

Best of luck with your decision!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Hey, graduate students and prospective grad students, need a little advice about your endeavors? Here are a few articles to help you figure it all out.

First off, how in the world do you write an effective graduate school essay? If you're applying to school in a competitive field, you may be competing against hundreds or maybe even thousands of applicants, so your essay better stand out and catch the committee member's attention quickly. You really have to think of the essay as part of your effort to market yourself, which may sound a little creepy, but that's reality. To help you out, here's a four-part series by Timothy Dzutilla about writing graduate school essays that work

1. Researching Grad Application Essays
2. Brainstorming Topics for the Application Essay
3. Writing the Graduate Application Essay
4. Editing Graduate School Essays

Once you're in graduate school, one of the things you're going to have to think about soon is your dissertation or thesis topic. You don't need to know what you're writing about from day one--especially if you're a master's student who's just getting their feet wet as a grad student--but the sooner you have a general idea, the better. You'll want to tailor the projects in some of your classes around your topic and start doing some reading. Need some help? Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing a dissertation or thesis topic.

Another important choice you're going to have to make: choosing an advisor. This faculty member is going to have quite a bit of influence on your future career, and you're going to be spending an awful lot of time with this person, so choose well. Here's what to think about when choosing a graduate advisor.

Best of luck to you in your studies!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

I ended my career as a professor in May, and I don't miss it. Well, I do miss a few things, like intellectual conversations and interactions with students, but there's one thing about academia that I don't miss one bit. And that's the experience of the academic conference.

If you've never been to an academic conference, it goes like this. Every year, hundreds and possibly thousands of professors and grad students in an academic discipline (like communication, or philosophy, or aerospace engineering) meet for about four days in a hotel. During this time, they give presentation on their research and listen to other people's presentations. They also do lots of schmoozing and networking. In their off time, they get to do some exploring of the conference city.

I had fun at some of my conferences. I met many amazing people and had the opportunity to visit cities like New Orleans, Miami, Seattle, and San Francisco. But overall, the experience was a bit dreadful. I'm a little on the shy side, so the huge morass of people wandering around and networking was overwhelming. And I guess I just had problems taking the whole thing seriously. There are so many panels that you're lucky if you get 10 people to listen to your presentation. I would wander around and try to network and wonder, is this worth the taxpayer dollars it cost for my school to fly my here and put me up in a hotel?

Anyway, I realize i have a bad attitude. Some people do enjoy conferences and find them beneficial tot their careers. And here's some helpful advice about surviving your first academic conference.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

If you're looking to spruce up your dorm room for the holidays, here are some tips:

Holiday Dorm Room Decorating Ideas

But what if you live in a dorm and want to light a Hanukkah menorah? The thing is, candles are almost always forbidden in dormitories. When so many people live in close quarters, fire hazards are a serious concern, so open flames are a big no-no.

However, lighting the menorah in one's home is an important religious ceremony. Hanukkah celebrates the miracle of the Temple candle that burned for eight days even though there was only enough oil for one day's worth of flame. Because of this, electric menorahs and other substitutions don't share the religious significance of physically lighting a menorah.

So what is a Jewish college student to do? On campuses where there is a significant Jewish population, organizations such as Hillel light the menorah. Other schools have menorah lighting ceremonies in the student center or in public dormitory areas. For many students, this satisfies the need to light a menorah in one's "home." However, other Jewish students feel they have a religious obligation to light menorahs in their rooms. And for Jewish students who do not attend a college with a significant Jewish population, public menorah lightings aren't an option.

What to do? Some students light their menorahs regardless, and colleges often look the other way. Whether this is a good idea, colleges and universities really need to address this issue in a way that is fair to Jewish students. Perhaps the no-candles rule can be lifted with certain precautions (such as a fire extinguisher in the room), and perhaps schools can go out of their way to provide public candle lightings on campus, even if there are only a few Jewish students.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

One of the most heated debates at U.S. public college and university campuses is whether Christmas trees and other secular symbols such as Santa Claus and wreaths ought to be displayed. Read about the controversy here:

Christmas Trees on College Campuses

This issue is so often presented in black-or-white terms, but this strikes me as an issue that would benefit from a bit of compromise.

Here's an idea: why not give religious groups on campus (Christians, Jews, Muslims, and any other group with a population on campus, including atheists) a large public spot on campus to decorate as they choose? In their space, they could display whatever they want--religious symbols, cultural symbols, secular decorations, and anything else as long as nothing hostile about another group is included.

These spaces could be used year round, not just during November and December, which potentially could have quite a bit of educational value. Most Americans don't know much about holidays that aren't Christian, so this could be a way of teaching students about Muslim holidays such as Ramadan and Jewish holidays such as Rosh Hashanah (and anything other than Hanukkah, which is by no means the most religiously significant Jewish holiday). And Christians on campus could get a chance to educate students about their religion and customs as well and perhaps break down misconceptions.

Would this work? Certainly there would be some issues. Groups might fight over how much space they are allocated and where. Sadly, vandalism is a possibility, especially when it comes to Muslim displays. Perhaps campus police would have to be responsible for close monitoring. But problems or not, it seems to me that creative solutions like this could be very educational. Students would be able to display religious symbols on campus without any one religion being dominant.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

The U.S. Congress is considering legislation that will limit the ability of credit card companies to offer credit cards to students who have little or no income. Why?

If you've attended a college campus at any time in the last few decades, you've probably seen been deluged by dozens upon dozens of credit card applications. Students are a favorite target market for credit card companies, and corporations are often willing to give students credit even if they don't have an income. The results? Many students use their new credit cards responsibly, which allows them to build up a good credit rating that will make it easier for them to buy things like cars and houses years from now.

Unfortunately, many student don't know enough about credit and do not use the cards wisely, and they wind up starting out their working lives with huge amounts of credit card debt at high interest rates. With such heavy debts, students find themselves able to make small payments, which means more and more debt as the years go by. They also incur late charges, which are costly. To make matters worse, some credit card companies practice something called "universal default," which means that if a student is late on a payment for another bill of any kind, the credit card can raise the student's interest rate to a very high amount.

Needless to say, credit cards make a fortune off of the irresponsibility and financial hardships of young people. Congress is trying to do something about this, thank goodness, by outlawing practices such as universal default and making it more difficult for a student to receive credit, especially if they have little or no income.

Read more about college students and credit cards.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Here's an interesting development in the college rankings controversy. Over the past year, a growing list of private colleges and universities have been boycotting U.S. News &World Report's annual ranking of U.S. schools by refusing to participate in the Report's surveys. Why? Many schools feel that the ranking system is biased and unscientific and pits schools against each other. They also feel the ranking system is not particularly useful because students are all looking for different things. A college that fits one student's needs ideally will not necessarily meet another students needs at all, and therefore students should spend some time visiting schools instead of relying on college rankings.

The schools who are boycotting U.S. News &World Report' have gone a step further. The protesting schools have formed an organization called The University and College Accountability Network--or UCAN-- and together they have created a new website that offers students detailed information about private colleges and universities--without ranking them against each other. This information comes directly from the schools themselves and includes facts about admissions, ACT and SAT scores, degrees, diversity, and more.

Want to take a look? Here's the UCAN website.

Pretty neat, huh? Students can log onto the site and compare information about schools. They can create their own personal ranking systems based on whatever criteria they themselves find important. By not comparing themselves against each other, schools help to take away this notion that colleges ought to be in competition with one another. It's too bad the site only contains information about private colleges--but maybe down the road that will change.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Colleges and universities compete to bring in big name speakers. Securing a popular speaker is a great way for a school to land some positive media coverage. So I have to ask--what was Columbia University thinking when they invited Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak? Surely they must have known the amount of controversy this would evoke-- especially in New York City, of all places.

Seriously, I'm curious about Columbia's motives. Is it all about free speech? The introductory remarks of Columbia University President Lee Bollinger attest to this motive. To quote Bollinger, "The scope of free speech and academic freedom should itself always be open to further debate. As one of the more famous quotations about free speech goes, it is “an experiment, as all life is an experiment"...[T]his is the right thing to do and, indeed, it is required by existing norms of free speech, the American university, and Columbia itself."

In light of the recent mess at Colorado State University, we need to be very concerned about the issue of freedom of spech on college campuses. But does freedom of speech mean you have to invite controversial speech of this nature? I don't know the answer to that question.

Perhaps part of the point of the speech was to let Ahmadinejad hang himself on his own free speech noose. Thanks to Columbia, we all got to hear Iran's leader claim there are no homosexuals there-- and we got ot hear his evasive and creepy answers to questions about Israel, the Holocaust, and nukes.

Honestly, I'm not sure what I think of Columbia's decision to bring Ahmadinejad to campus. But it must have been one heck of a day on campus, huh? To read the play-by-play of the Iranian president's visit, check out the Columbia Spectator's Ahmadineblog.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

I taught at Colorado State University for four years, and I've got to say that when it comes to politics, it's a quiet campus. Not exactly Berkeley. A bit apathetic, actually. So I was quite surprised to witness the local controversy surrounding CSU's campus newspaper, The Rocky Mountain Collegian. On Friday, September 21, the Collegian printed a four word editorial in very large print. It read:

"Taser this! F-- Bush! This is the view of the Collegian editorial board."

Why? Well, it was kind of a commentary on the recent tasering of a student at a John Kerry forum at the University of Florida. A student "got out of hand" when expressing his opinions, and the police tasered him--and his fellow students sat back and watched. So "Taser This!" is all about students not being afraid of speaking their mind.

The consequences of these actions haven't been determined. The newspaper has lost an undisclosed amount of advertising revenue. Editor David McSwane may lose his job. Free speech or not, CSU's Board of Student Communications has the authority to fire him.

If McSwane is fired, I'll be disgusted, and so should the entire CSU community. Bravo to the editorial board for stating their opinion, and in effect, loudly defending the principle of free speech. I know that not everyone agrees with the controversial opinion they stated in the paper-- but that's not the point. We all benefit from the freedom of speech in newspapers and on college campuses in general, and the cost of silencing student journalists who speak their mind is great.

And hooray for CSU students for not being apathetic! Check out this massive outpouring of reactions to the editorial on the Collegian website. It makes me proud to see students concerned with politics, regardless of their views.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Every year, The Princeton Review comes out with its list of college rankings. (Here are some of its more unusual rankings). By far, their most publicized ranking is the top 10 "Party School" list. This list is determined by tabulating " a combination of survey questions concerning the use of alcohol and drugs, hours of study each day, and the popularity of the Greek system." According to the Princeton Review 2008 Best 366 College Rankings, these are the best party schools in the U.S. As you can see, the South dominates the list.

1. West Virginia University
2. University of Mississippi
3. University of Texas
4. University of Florida
5. University of Georgia
6. Penn State
7. University of New Hampshire
8. Indiana University
9. Ohio University
10. University of California Santa Barbara

This list makes me wonder: does being ranked on this list attract more students, or detract them? are there students who use this list to help pick out a school? Are there parents out there saying, "No way are you going to West Virginia University!"

I also wonder if this list really offers valuable information, or if it's just a humorous conversation piece. Really, I don't know if these "party schools" are all that different from any other big school--with lots and lots of activities going on, including parties. The thing is, I taught at Indiana University during the year it was named the number one party school. Was that accurate? Kind of, I guess. The Greek system is very popular, and partying was definitely a priority for some of my students. However, there was so much more going on at IU-- including academics, theater, music, and protests against the War in Iraq-- that the title of party school seemed misleading.

Like all college rankings, take this one with a grain of salt, because it's only moderately useful.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

When students search for the perfect college, they often rely on college ratings of everything from academics to where to find the best party school. For guidance, students look at sources such as The Princeton Review, Peterson's, and the U.S. News and World Report. (Here's a list of some of the goofier college ratings). But these days, college ratings are under fire. Over 60 colleges have universities have publicly declared a boycott, which means they won't be supplying U.S. News and World Report with information.

So what's the problem? Well, schools have declared that the methodologies used in the data collection for these rankings is flawed and biased. Here's an analysis of objections to the ratings systems in Student Life, a newspaper that serves students at Washington University in St. Louis.

Some of the objections to ratings systems are less scientific. Critics argue that ratings systems have the potential to give students information about a school's quality, but that they have limited ability to help students pick a school that's the best match on an individual level There's this assumption that Ivy League schools and traditional criteria for evaluating education are good for everyone--and that's just not true. Students have different needs and learn well in different environments.

So are college rankings useful? Sure, but only if they're used as one of many tools that students use to make the decision about where to go to college. You need to get a feel for what's right for you. As you narrow your college choice, do your research, and use the college rankings selectively.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Class participation-- is that a part of your education that you enjoy. or something that you dread? Many college students welcome class participation as a welcome change from lectures and an opportunity to express their thoughts But others feel nervous about having to voice their opinions openly in front of their peers and professor.

Need some tips on how to participate actively and productively? Here's an article with some information that may help you:

How to Participate in Class Discussions

If you have the opportunity to participate in class, take advantage of this! When I was a professor, I strongly encouraged class participation because I felt it enhanced the learning experience of students immensely. Here are some reasons why you should get your voice hear in class:

1. Do you really want to hear the professor lecture all the time? Discussions are a welcome alternative.
2. You'll get to know your fellow students better, and your professor.
3. Class participation means your more than just a number on a crowded campus. Your professor and your classmates will remember your name and your contributions.
4. You need to learn how to speak up! You'll need to speak up later in life--at work, in your community, and so forth. The classroom is as safe an opportunity as you're going to get to practice speaking out.
5. Students learn from each other's experience, not just from what the teacher has to say.
6. A good discussion will help you retain the material and grasp concepts better.
7. Class participation forces students to be active participants in their education. And don't you want that? You're not there to have someone insert ideas into your head. You're there to think and ponder and learn.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

So, college is in session again, and so is rush. College students everywhere are thinking about rushing and pledging a fraternity or sorority. But is Greek life at a college campus the right environment and experience for you? Here are a couple of articles to help you decide:

Fraternities and Sororities: Advantages

Fraternities and Sororities: Disasdvantages

If you're not sure if you should rush, do a little investigating. One thing you can do is watch your friends go through the process, and talk to a bunch of them about their experiences. Actually, I did this. One of my best friends pledged a sorority, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to, so I watched her experiences and asked questions. She wound up quitting the sorority. That's not the only reason I decided against Greek life, but it was a valuable way for me to obtain information.

If it's your first semester freshman year, seriously consider putting off the process until next semester, or even next year. Some schools don't allow students to rush first semester, and I think this is a good idea. Freshman year is tough. It's a challenge to move away from home and get accustomed to the academic rigors of college. Rushing and pledging is very time consuming and involves a manjor commitment. Sure, you might be able to handle it perfectly well-- but why put yourself through this?

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

So, college students, the first day of school is here! Do you come to class, or stay home? When I taught college, I was always surprised by how many students didn't show upon the first day of class. I suppose they thought it was just an introduction day and therefore disposable. But the thing is, it's not!

TOP TEN REASONS TO COME TO CLASS THE FIRST DAY

1. Your professor will think you are a loser if you don't. I'm not kidding.
2. Your fellow students might also think you're a loser.
3. If the class sucks, you'll want to know that right away! Otherwise you might not know until it's too late to drop the class and take something else.
4. If there's an attendance policy, you don't want to eat up all your absences at the beginning of the semester! Save them up for later, when you have a big exam or a big hangover.
5. You might miss important information. Yes, most of that information is probably on the syllabus, but your teacher will be able to stress what's most important on there. Plus there might be additional info that you need to know.
6. You want to start off on the right foot psychologically, so not coming to class is a bad idea. Get yourself into the habit of being a good student on day one, and it's more likely you'll remain a good student throughout the semester.
7. You might miss lecture notes. Some professors really do lecture on the first day.
8. Many professors spend the first day setting the tone for the class and describing in detail what the topic's all about. This can be very helpful background information, so don't miss it.
9. You'll have a chance to meet your classmates, and the teacher too. Take a minute to introduce yourself to the professor. No, this isn't brown nosing. It's polite.
10. It's tradition! Don't you want to show up to class in your new outfit, and check out everybody else's outfit? And don't you want to use your shiny new school supplies? No? Well, then read number 1-9 and come to class anyways.

Oh, and if you can't come to class, email or call the professor ahead of time. Apologize for the fact that the airline lost your luggage and rerouted you to Iceland, or whatever the problem is. This will prevent your professor from thinking you're a loser.

Have a great semester, folks!

--Naomi R-G

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Wow... is summer almost over already? Can you believe school is about to start? So how do you feel? Excited? Dismayed? Both?

Here's one cool thing about being a college student: you get lots of opportunities to start over. We all make New Year's Resolutions at the beginning of each year, and if we cheat, we have to wait until the next year for a fresh start. When you're a college student, you get to make a fresh start every semester! You can take a good look at whatever didn't go so well last semester and resolve to make things better now.

As the new semester begins, be sure to get off to a good start. It can be tempting to blow off the first day of class and put off work for a couple of weeks as you get used to being back in school. But don't. If you start out the semester by going to class every day, doing all your homework, and generally taking things seriously, then you're going to have a whole lot less stress for the rest of the semester! And besides, if you're a good student now, then later in the semester you can slack off just a little bit if you want.

Here are some suggestions for starting off the new semester right. And here's a few articles that I hope will help you do fabulously in school this semester:

• How to take effective notes
• Common mistakes to avoid when writing a paper
• Study tips for midterms and finals
• How to take a multiple choice test

Have a great semester, everyone! Be sure to stop by College/University for more helpful tips.

--Naomi R-G

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

At the University of Michigan-Dearborn, controversy is brewing over the installation of $25,000 foot baths in several campus restrooms. About 10% of students on campus are Muslim, and they need to wash their feet for their five-times-daily prayers. Since students were washing their feet in the sinks, the university installed the foot baths as a simple accommodation to help out a large portion of the campus population.

An uproar ensued. People argued the campus was promoting Islam and therefore violating the separation of church and state (or mosque and state, I suppose). They called it hypocritical that campuses across the U.S. have faced pressure to cut down upon or eliminate Christmas decorations at the same time that Muslim students were being accommodated with these foot baths.

I'm a huge advocate for the separation of church and state. But I don't see these foot baths as a violation of church and state at all. Here's why.

There's no need to get deeply into the argument of whether Christmas trees would be allowed on campus. (I think they should, in moderation and alongside secular ceremonial symbols of other religions and cultures). The foot bath issue is not the same thing as the Christmas tree issue. If Christmas decorations are banned from a college campus, this doesn't hinder Christian students from practicing their religion. On the other hands, Muslim students are required by their beliefs to wash their feet before their prayers. The foot baths are not necessary for that to happen, but they certainly makes this easier.

The foot baths are the equivalent of another college and university (and, in fact, federal) tradition-- closing campus on Christmas, and centering the winter break around Christmas. This allows Christian students to observe their holiday and to spend time with their families at this important time. Is this a violation fo church and state? No. It's a way of accommodating the needs of a very large portion of the student population. At the same time, colleges with large Jewish populations often close school on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur to accommodate the needs of the Jewish students. And yes, days off from school cost money-- and quite a bit more money than those foot baths.

Colleges and universities are there to serve students. If a large portion of the population needs something that doesn't force other people to observe a religion that is not their own, schools should do their best to make reasonable accommodations.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Here's a somewhat startling new trend in higher education: charging more for certain majors than others. This coming semester, the University of Wisconsin will be charging an additional $500 extra per semester for students working towards a business major. A few other schools are considering similar actions.

Why? Well, from an economic perspective, this makes perfect sense. Courses in engineering, business, and the hard sciences are more expensive to teach than courses in the humanities and social sciences. For one thing, professor salaries in those fields are substantially higher. And in the case of engineering and science, expensive equipment and computer software are required to teach students. Part of the argument is that these students will be making more money than most humanities and liberal arts students when they graduate, so why shouldn't their degree cost more?

Much as this makes economic sense, I can see some serious problems looming. This kind of pricing system will almost certainly increase educational discrepancies between the rich and poor, especially if the price difference between majors is large. A higher proportion of poorer students will major in the more inexpensive subjects, which will lead to lower paying jobs and an increased wage gap.

In addition, do we really want to put a price on knowledge in such a literal way? Of course engineering careers pay better than philosophy careers-- but does that mean that engineering knowledge is more valuable? The pricing system will exacerbate the problem that many students see education as something you purchase to gain the ability to earn a paycheck-- and nothing else. There's already such a strong spirit of anti-intellectualism on college campuses, and this will make it worse.

Here's a real solution to the fact that schools are scrounging for money to fund their more expensive majors-- better funding! State colleges and universities were created to educate the public, and it's time we made education a priority and funded it properly.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

If you're gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered and you're looking for at colleges, you probably have some concerns about finding a place where there's a thriving gay community-- and a place where you won't have to worry about discrimination and homophobia. Well, if you live in the U.S., you're in luck, because there's a detailed guidebook that discusses the top 100 gay-friendly campuses in the country.

The book is The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students: A Comprehensive Guide to Colleges and Universities with the Best Programs, Services, and Student Organizations for LGBT Students by Shane Windmeyer. Read my review of the book.

I graduated from Rutgers University, and one of the many reasons I'm glad I did is this: I learned a great deal about LGBT issues. "Patriotic" as I am about my school's proud history of inclusiveness, I was kind of sad to see that Rutgers didn't make the guidebook's elite Top 20 list (although it most certainly made the top 100). During Gay Pride Week, two men were photographed kissing on the front page of the school paper, and the handful of disgusted letters were answered with the point that a straight couple was photographed kissing on the Valentine's Day paper, so why was this any different? Rutgers was that kind of place-- it made students think about issues like that.

Oh, and I happened to live down the hall from James Dale, a fellow who was kicked out of the Boy Scouts of America because they found out he was gay You may heard of James Dale because he sued the Boy Scouts, and the case went to the Supreme Court, where the Boy Scouts won by one vote. I was sad that he lost, but proud of his courage.

But I digress. Students, this is a very well researched book and a terrific resource. I highly recommend it.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

As college students move into their new dorm rooms, their biggest concerns are usually getting along with their roommate and shopping for dorm room necessities.

Most students aren't concerned about the possibility that their room might be a major health hazard.

Unfortunately, at SUNY New Paltz, many students may find themselves wondering if their room might contain dangerous levels of deadly carcinogens. A heated debate rages on about whether four of the dorms there are safe. In 1991, the explosion of a PCB generator contaminated four dormitories, along with a science building and a theater, with high levels of PCBs and dioxin. The buildings were cleaned, but environmentalists argue that the buildings have never been properly tested and contain dangerous levels of carcinogens.

Want to know more? Read Victoria Anisman-Reiner's article about possible PCB Health Risks for SUNY Students. Andread Debbie Kwiatowski's article for the other side of the SUNY New Paltz story.

SUNY has strongly denied the accusation that buildings on their campus are dangerous. In a statement about the 1991 PCB incident on the SUNY New Paltz website, the school claims that extensive cleaning and testing has been done, and that routine monitoring of the buildings for toxins continues. They also state that in 1994, "SUNY New Paltz became the first SUNY campus to be 100 percent PCB transformer-free."

I sincerely hope that SUNY is right. Basic safety is one of the minimum expectations students should have of their college or university-- a fact reinforced by the Virginia Tech massacre last semester. Clearly this situation needs to be resolved, for the sake of the student's safety and the reputation of the school.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

When it comes to being ecofriendly, college campuses have both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, college campuses generate an awful lot of waste. Campuses can have as many people as a small city crammed into a fairly small geographic location, so that can add up to quite a bit of concentrated trash.

In addition, the student lifestyle can generate an abundance of garbage For starters, there may never be a time in your life when you use so much paper. Combine that with the student need for quick, easy food and beverages, and the resulting mountain of paper plates, plastic utensils, and cans add up to an environmental nightmare.

There's a plus side to college campuses and environmentalism though, and that is this: college students are becoming more and more aware of their impact on the Earth. Many young people are more than willing to recycle and to do their part. In addition, many college campuses are progressive when it comes to waste disposal and other environmental issues. It's not difficult to find recycling bins near dorms, office buildings, and throughout campus.

College campuses have something else going for them too: they're usually pedestrian friendly, and many offer good public transportation systems that are free or inexpensive. Many students can get by without a car, and if they have cars, they don't have to use them frequently.

Interested in doing something for the environment? College students can do more than you might. Here's a guide to being a green college student.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Are today's Generation Y college students lazy? Do they lack a work ethic that previous generations of college students shared? Or have professors always complained about students who don't live up to the standards of a mythical former generation who committed themselves fully to school? Here's a July 1, 2007 New York Times commentary on the subject, written by University of Richmond professor Joanne B. Ciulla:

The Work Ethic, In a Modern Guise

Many of today's students, argues Giulla, are very goal oriented and do not value education for its own sake. It's all about the end result-- the grade, and ultimately the diploma and the corresponding job. She argues that students feel they are entitled to grades that reflect their level of effort, as opposed to the quality of their work, as if the grade was a paycheck for the work put into the assignment. When students enter the workforce, this very well may hurt them, as employers are looking for both quantity and quality of work and aren't much concerned about effort.

As a professor who recently left academia, I've got to say that this rings true to my experience. No, this certainly does not reflect all of my students, and probably not even most of them. But the lack of pride that many students show in their work, and the sense of entitlement they have about grades for effort, is very disturbing. I share concerns with Dr. Giulla about what will happen when these students enter the workforce.

At the same time, I think it's important to emphasize that many students are committed to their work and are a pleasure to teach. It's also important for teachers to avoid taking a doomsday attitude towards their students. There are some commendable qualities to the learning style of today's generation. Students tend to be efficient and results driven, which can be annoying when they seem obsessed with a grade and nothing else. However, in a fast-paced world driven by technology, this no-nonsense attitude can be a valuable attribute.

So hang in there, teachers. Every generation causes their elders to panic a little because of their newfangled attitudes. Yes, many young people could stand to have a better work ethic. At the same time, many professors could stand to be a little more patient.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

At a family gathering a few years ago, I was stunned to hear a 19-year-old relative tell everyone all about her fake ID which she used to get into bars. She didn't think it was a big deal, especially since so many underage people on her college campus carry these things. Besides, they're hard to detect. Fake IDs used to be shoddy and easy to spot, but thanks to the Internet, anyone can purchase fake licenses that look an awful lot like the real thing.

I'm not going to lecture you all about knowing your limit and the dangers of binge drinking. Truth be told, I think the drinking age should be 18. We trust 18 year olds to put their lives on the line in Iraq, and we don't trust them to buy a beer? But folks, fake IDs are a different issue.

What happens if you get caught with a fake ID in the United States? It's against the law in every state to use a fake ID (and it's against the law in some places to even own one). In most states, it's a misdemeanor, which can mean hundreds or even thousands of dollars in fines and possible jail time. Some states have made Fake IDs a felony, which will limit your career choices and possibly your right to vote.

What's the big deal about kids wanting to go to a bar, you ask? The thing is, legal crackdowns on fake IDs aren't inspired by underage bar hoppers. These crackdowns have to do with a post 9/11 political environment where lying about one's identity has become a whole lot more serious. It also has to do with concerns over identity theft. In addition, fake IDs can be used to buy firearms by people who have lost that right legally, and they can be used by illegal immigrants.

In other words, the government thinks this is serious business, and if trends continue, fake ID laws are going to become harsher. Forging your identity not get a drink is not worth it, kids.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Thinking about getting a college internship? What are they all about? College internships are opportunities for students to get work experience while they are still in school. Companies hire college students to work in a position similar to one they might have as a college graduate. Some internships are paid, but others are not.

Does the though of getting an internship intimidate you? Do you feel like you're not ready to go out into the working world? Take a deep breath and give it a try. Few college students or graduates feel fully prepared to go into the working world, so you might as well get at least some of the nerves out of your system now.

Do you worry that you don't know enough to get an internship? Relax. Students get internships because they have little or no relevant job experience. Your employers will fully expect that when you walk through that door the first day, you're going to be very green around the ears. You are going to make mistakes, and everyone expects that will be the case. Internships are a learning experience. What you can hope to gain from the internship is the confidence to walk into your first non-internship position after college with the knowledge that thanks you your internship, you do know what you're doing-- at least somewhat!

One of the most frustrating things about internships is the money question. Can you afford to take an internship that pays little or nothing? There's a built-in disparity in the system because students who don't have to worry about money can take unpaid internships and have yet another advantage in life, and students who can't afford internships because they are working their way through school wind up with yet another disadvantage.

As best as you can, try to make room for the internship. Spend time looking, and you might be able to find an internship that pays. You'll also find that many unpaid internships do not ask for an excessive amount of student hours. If you're working your way through school, there's no doubt that an internship can be an extra burden, but the ultimate payoff will likely be more than worth it.

To help you out, here's an interview with Colorado State University career counselor Wendy Rose. For more information, here's some ideas on how to find a college internship and what to look for in a college internship.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Choosing a college can feel pretty overwhelming because there are so many choices out there. What's better for you--- a small college or a big one?

Liberal arts college usually have one big disadvantage-- cost! On the other hand, small class sizes really do make a difference in the quality of your education. At a small school, you won't have to worry about surviving those lecture hall classes that are so common at many big universities. You'll be part of a community where you will get to know your professors. Here are some advantages and disadvantages of liberal art colleges to keep in mind.

On the other hand, there are advantages to the large school experience to keep in mind as well-- and not just the cost savings. I went to a large state university-- Rutgers-- and I loved it. Yes, I would have benefitted from a good advisor and more attention from faculty. On the other hand, I was exposed to so many different kinds of people and new ideas. The campus bulletin boards were always overflowing with flyers for every political and ethnic organization on campus. It felt lonely at first to be in such a big place, but at a big school, you can friends that you can really relate to-- and I did. Plus learning to fend for myself was not a bad thing. I taught at a liberal arts college for awhile, and while I was impressed by the quality of the education my students received, I also was concerned with how much hand holding they got.

If you're looking at schools, take the time to weigh all the factors and figure out what's most important to you. Best of luck!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

As everyone knows, the price of college tuition these days is out of control. There, is, however, one thing that students can do to try to make college more affordable, and that is to apply for scholarships and grants. There are billions of dollars of scholarship money out there waiting for someone to grab it. Some grants and scholarships are extremely competitive, but others are not.

One very important tip about finding scholarship money: put a good deal of effort into applying! Sure, this can feel like a royal pain, especially because there's no guarantee of a payoff. However, with college as expensive as it is, it's worth the effort to try. Apply to as many scholarships as you can. Ignore scholarships that you aren't qualified for or that you clearly have little chance of winning, but if you're eligible, give it your best shot. Expect rejection letters for the majority of scholarships to which you apply. This is an awful feeling, but unavoidable, so suck it up, Keep trying.

How do you find scholarships? For some help, here's an article that discusses strategies about how to search for college scholarships. Over the next few months, I'm going to be posting specific information about various kinds of scholarships for minorities, women, students who want to go into fields like nursing, and so forth. For starters, here's an article about African American scholarships that are available. In addition, check out these weird scholarships that you just might be eligible to win.

Best of luck! Remember, be persistent, and don't let rejection scare you off.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

So, parents, you did it. Your kid has officially survived childhood! Graduation 2007 is here, along with parties and tearful graduation speeches, and this marks a huge rite of passage for both your child and you.

What teenagers often don't realize is that this transition is just as difficult for parents as it is for high school graduates. Regardless of how close kids are with their parents, the excitement and chaos of high school graduation, combined with the trepidation of surviving freshman year, can make kids feel pretty overwhelmed and caught up in their own thoughts. They don't realize that parents feel pretty scared about the whole situation as well. Similar to their children, who are dying to get out of the house but are terrified of leaving, parents have a mixed set of emotions as well. To make things more difficult, the summer before college can be a trying time. You and your child may struggle with issues of autonomy as the question of parental authority becomes a little fuzzier.

Parents: while you're helping your kids get used to this big transition, take the time to take care of yourselves as well. To help, here's an article about parenting a college freshman and learning to deal with empty nest syndrome and the confusing process of developing an adult relationship with your child. And if you're concerned about what happens during Thanksgiving and holiday breaks, here's some food for thought about how to make visits home as stress-free and rewarding as possible.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Have a term paper you don't have time to write? Do a simple Google search, and you'll find dozens of companies that will sell you their essay writing services! The sites brag that these papers are all "original," and therefore there's no way a professor could track down the paper using plagiarism detection software. They also justify their services by claiming that they provide "sample" papers that students purchase for guidance. Uh-huh.

There are many good reasons to avoid plagiarism and refrain from academic dishonesty. But just in case you need a good reason to refran from using essay writing services, here you go:

Many essay writing services are frauds. Several websites have popped up to expose fraudulent essay writing services. For starters, check out EssayScam.org.

Some essay writing services are "honest," so to speak. These sites employ educated writers to write papers that may earn students a decent grade. As a freelance writer, I see help wanted ads in search of "academic writers" all the time. If I didn't have a shred of morals, I could make money writing for these services.

But here's the thing: many of these services are bogus. They hire incompetent writers to write papers that are garbage, and then ignore customer complaints and demand for refunds. In fact, many of these services employ offshore labor. Companies hire writers in impoverished countries who may only speak English as a second language.

If you're feeling freaked out about a fast approaching deadline, an easy way out may suddenly sound tempting. But deep down, most students are honorable and know better. Here's just one more reason why you should write your own papers.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

The sun is shining and it's gorgeous outside. The last place you want to be is in a classroom, right?

Summer school classes may sound like a pretty raw deal. However, there are advantages to summer classes that you don't find during the semester. Courses are short and sweet, so if you have a lousy professor, it'll be done before you know it! The material is condensed into a short period of time, which may feel overwhelming, but it will be easier to take tests when everything is fresh in your mind. On top of all that, summer classes can be small and laid back, and they might give you an opportunity to register for classes you can't get into during the regular semester. And, of course, summer classes can make graduation day come a little more quickly.

Here are some tips for having a successful summer school class:

Summer School Classes

The biggest problem with summer classes is this: you cannot fall behind. As long as you keep up with the work, you're likely to do well because everything stays fresh in your mind. But there's simply no time to slack off. The pace is quick. if you take a summer class, make sure you schedule in quite a bit of daily study time. Remember, it's a whole course squished into a short period of time. It's generally a bad idea to take more than one summer class at once, and as much as possible, limit the hours you work.

Above all, try to have a good attitude. The professor would probably rather be at the beach too, but that's life, right? Enjoy yourself and make the most of your summer course.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

A few years ago, I was browsing through artwork at an expensive local festival. I overheard a conversation between a woman and her daughter. Apparently the daughter was going off to college soon, and the mother wanted to make sure she had one nice piece of sophisticated framed artwork for her room.

Come again?

In my dorm rooms, I had posters stuck to the walls. So did everyone else I knew, even the kids from wealthy families. When did spending on college dorm rooms become so out of control? Some parents and students are treating dorm room decorating as an expensive home improvement project.

Parents, you don't need to buy your child a room full of brand new and expensive things for their dorm room. Sure, you want to make sure they come equipped with dorm room necessities, and you may want to treat them to a nice cozy comforter set or something to make the room feel like home. But part of parenting a college freshman is letting your child take responsibility for his or her education and living situation. They need to learn how to keep track of their money and how to live frugally, because when else are they going to learn this?

It's tempting to want to spend as much money as you possibly can on your kids. But learning to let go is a gift as well. Your child will do just fine with posters. Trust me.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

I've been teaching college for a long time, and students have sometimes come to talk to me about serious problems. By far, the most common problem students have approached me about are eating disorders.

Anorexia, bulimia, and other eating disorders represent a crisis on college campuses. Educators, parents, and students need to know more about this issue. In the last few decades, we've become more aware of other problems on college campuses, such as excessive alcohol consumption and sexual violence. Eating disorders needs to be right up there as a major college health concern.

The pressure that young women feel to be thin can be magnified on college campuses. Young women have told me that they feel pressure not to eat too much around their fellow students. And no, they weren't just talking about male students-- they were talking about other girls, who give them dirty looks if they choose a cheeseburger over a salad. Students with eating disorders have told me how difficult it is for them to eat with their friends because everyone is always talking about their weight as they eat. On top of all this, there's this ridiculous pressure on young women to conform to this Girls Gone Wild image of the of the hot college girl who most certainly is not valued by how hard she works in her physics class.

If you or someone you care about has an eating disorder, or if you would like more information about this college health epidemic, read this interview on College Students and Eating Disorders with Lori Henry, the Feature Writer for the Eating Disorders section of Suite101.com.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

In the post 9/11 era, the balance of safety concerns with privacy concerns has become a delicate matter. Sometimes, concerns about safety clearly cross the line and invade people's privacy. The University of Northern Colorado has done just that.

Here's the deal: In response to concerns about safety on campus that have arisen since the Virginia Tech shootings, the University of Northern Colorado has posted on their website the names and pictures of students and other individuals who have been banned from campus. Public response to this controversy has been heated. The full story is in the Denver Post.

After what happened at Virginia Tech, it's completely understandable that college campuses are making more of an effort to keep their campuses safer. There are many rational and helpful things colleges can do to make this happen. Campus police officers can receive additional training. Campus wide emergency communications systems can be installed and updated.

But posting pictures of people who have been banned from campus on the web? Is this supposed to help? College campuses are huge places. Anyone can slip in quietly and do something as simple as throw on a baseball cap to evade recognition.

Besides, Seung-Hui Cho wasn't banned from Virginia Tech. He was a student in good standing.

The tiny possibility that this website might stop a killer does not even come close to outweighing the privacy rights that it violates. The University of Northern Colorado's reaction to the Virginia Tech shootings is completely irrational and inappropriate, and they can most certainly expect to see lawsuits in the near future.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Diversity is such a catchphrase. It almost sounds cliche to talk about how important it is in the classroom. But the thing is, it's true. Diversity is crucial in colleges and universities, and not just because it's so important that everyone has access to education. It's important because students learn from each other as much (and sometimes more) than they learn from teachers, and if there are many different kinds of students around, students are exposed to a multiplicity of viewpoints and experiences.

Here's a recent experience from my classroom. I teach at Colorado State University, which, sadly, is not a very diverse place. In one of my classes, I have only two African American students and a small handful of other minorities. Today, I brought up the subject of cultural naming practices, and the two African American students chimed in and debated each other. The female student said that she was grateful that her parents had given her a "white" name, because she felt blacks were at a disadvantage if they had names that marked their race. The male student disagreed and said names are important cultural markers that people shouldn't avoid..

The other students listened to the exchange, and they learned about a debate that their teacher does not have personal experience with. These are the kind of educational experiences diversity brings. What's sad is that at a place like CSU, this doesn't happen often. If my classroom had been full of students from different backgrounds, we could have had a lively discussion of different cultural practices. It's also sad that in an environment like this, minority students sometimes feel like they are seen by others as representatives of their culture, while non-minority students are just seen as individuals who represent only their own opinions..

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Yesterday, I asked my students what they didn't like about their education. The topic immediately turned to the core curriculum. Colorado State University requires general education requirements in areas like science, math, government, and history.

"Geology was the most boring class I've ever taken," said one student, who claimed she didn't remember anything from her geology class a few years ago. "It was completely irrelevant to my life."

I agree," said another student. "Why does a communication major have to take geology?"

I couldn't sell them on the importance of geology, but I did try to sell them on the core classes. CSU is a state university, not a technical school. Universities strive to create well-educated students. They're not supposed to be job training facilities.

Why do so many students fail to see the value of education for education's sake? Of course I understand that students want to leave college with some marketable skills, and there's nothing wrong with that. But what happened to the value of knowledge in and of itself, and the value of being an educated person? As a culture, how are we failing to teach our children to love learning?

A few students spoke in favor of the core, and geology even got a few thumbs up. They talked about , fabulous field trips across Colorado, which seems to me would be one of the best places in the country to take a geology class. Heck, that made me want to take geology.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

A stunning tale of humanity has emerged in the news coverage of the Virginia Tech massacre. Liviu Librescu, 76, a distinguished lecturer of engineering science and mathematics at Virginia Tech, sacrificed himself to save the lives of his students. When the gunman tried to enter his classroom, Librescu blocked the doorway with his body so that his students could escape. (Read the whole story in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.)

Professors whine about their students, just as their students whine about them. But ideally, professors feel a sense of responsibility for our students and their well being. It's not just about assigning grades and filling students' heads up with information. It's about giving them valuable pieces of guidance that will make their lives richer. The love that Librescu showed to his students is inspirational.

This story is even more poignant because Librescu was a Holocaust survivor. As a Romanian Jew, he was one of the lucky ones amidst so much death and despair. In Jewish law, there is no act of human kindness (or mitzvah) greater than giving one's life to save another. There is something deeply moving about someone who escaped death during the Holocaust and then, after living a full life, sacrificed himself to save a room full of young people.

As a professor and the granddaughter of Romanian Jews, I am deeply proud. Thank you, Professor Librescu.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

After I first heard about the Virginia Tech shootings, I walked into my 11:00 a.m. class and turned on CNN. What do you say in response to news footage like that, especially when you're sitting in a classroom on a college campus?

In our discussion, comparisons to Columbine immediately came up. Columbine is a sensitive subject at Colorado State University. A few years ago, several survivors of the shootings were students in my classes. In fact, Friday marks the eighth anniversary of Columbine. So school shootings pack an extra punch of empathetic pain around here.

People talk about the need for more security on campus, and they're probably right, although it seems like an almost insurmountable task logistically. Big campuses are so open. How many doors can you lock? How many security cameras can you hang?

One student mentioned how it was weird that recently, I had commented in class that I was surprised there wasn't more violence on college campuses. I did make that comment. University campuses are so full of stress and rage, and this anger is directed at students, professors, and everyone in the community.

I hope that the Virginia Tech massacre encourages us to have conversations on campuses about how to improve our support systems. After Columbine, there was much talk about improving security in high schools. But there was not enough talk about improving the culture of high schools to prevent bullying. I hope this incident will encourage us to reflect on how colleges and universities can better help students cope with the stress of college life.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

The scene is being described throughout the media as "pandemonium" and "mayhem." Here's the latest news report from CNN:

Virginia Tech breaking news

As I sit here on my own college campus, where I've been meeting with students for the last hour, my heart and prayers go out to everyone at Virginia Tech. We like to think of colleges as safe places where students come to learn and grow, not as battlefields.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

This week, college campuses across the United States and the world are holding Take Back the Night marches and rallies. These marches create a powerful rallying call against sexual violence. During Take Back the Night marches, women march together through dangerous parts of town to 'take back" their ability to walk where they choose without fear of violence. After the marches, women (along with men) rally against sexual violence and discuss their own experiences.

Let me tell you about my experience with Take Back the Night when I was an undergraduate at Rutgers University. I marched, which was a powerful experience, but what really stuck with me was the rally. Organizers set up a small bonfire in a "sexist trash can," and women were encouraged to stand at the microphone beside the trash can and talk about their personal experiences with sexual violence. They then threw paper into the trash can as a symbol of freeing themselves from the shame and pain.

Woman after woman bravely stepped forward and talked about molestation and rape at the hands of fathers, brothers, teachers, priests, and fellow students. Being one of the lucky ones, I had no such story to present before the trash can, and I was shocked by the stories I heard. I had no idea sexual violence was such a huge problem.

College students, if you've never gone to a Take Back the Night march and rally, go. I learned more at those rallies than I did in many of my classes.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis is in trouble. Again. This time he's charged with tax evasion.

If you've seen any late night cable TV in the past five years or so, you're probably familiar with those ads for the Girls Gone Wild DVDs. These soft-porn productions feature college girls exposing their breasts and making out with each other. Often they're on Spring Break and drunk. Francis, who is only 34 years old, has become a multimillionaire with his soft-porn empire.

So is this exploitation? Well, you might argue, the girls are doing it willingly, right? If this is indeed the case, then it's not really exploitation. Sleazy, yes. Stupid, yes. Contributing to the objectification of women, yes. But if it's consensual, then can you really call it exploitation?

Here's the thing, though: there's been some question about whether or not all of the Girls Gone Wild antics actually are fully consensual. Read this Los Angeles Time article about Joe Francis and his empire. If it's not consensual, then it's not silly fun anymore.

Consensual or not, though, it's disturbing that this is the image of the college girl that's so prevalent in the culture. Drunk, partying, willing to take her shirt off in exchange for a Girls Gone Wild tank top. I teach classrooms full of young women who want to be taken seriously as students and women and future members of the work force, and GGW makes it that much harder for them.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

I'm a proud Rutgers University alumni woman. I don't take kindly to people who call Rutgers women "nappy headed hos."

By now, you've probably heard the story. The Rutgers University women's basketball team went to the Final Four, losing only the final game. The team consists largely of freshman and were not expected by anyone to do so well, so they were flying on air. Then notable radio talk show host Don Imus made an offhand remark about how these scary "tattooed" women were "nappy headed hos." A national uproar ensued and African American community leaders like Al Sharpton got involved, and Imus was fired.

Read about what they're saying about the controversy in the Rutgers University Daily Targum.

Some people protest that firing Imus is going too far. Why can't he just apologize? He's entitled to free speech, isn't he? Well, yeah, he's entitled to free speech. But free speech doesn't mean there aren't repercussions. The community's angry response to Imus is free speech too.

And really, is "nappy headed hos" much different than using the n-word? This phrase combines two historically loaded and extremely derogatory slurs about Black women leveled against a team of proud young college woman who should be hailed as role models. This isn't a bunch of political correctness gone too far. It is a big deal.

So, Scarlet Knights, shouts out from Naomi from the Class of 1992. You've handled this situation with eloquence, grace, and determination, just like I'd expect from my fellow Rutgers women.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

The infamous Duke University Lacrosse scandal has come to an end. Three former players who had been accused of raping an exotic dancer were acquitted of all charges.

False accusations of rape are an awful thing. However, what people need to know is that false accusations are by far the exception. What makes me very nervous about these widely publicized case and its outcome is that it may cast doubt on other women who accuse men of rape, or discourage rape victims from coming forward.

According to the American Association of University Women, 20 to 25 percent of women will be raped during the college careers! That means that for every college classroom where there are 20 female students, 4 to 5 of those women have been or will be raped. 65% of these assaults are not reported, largely because women are afraid that the attack is their own fault or that no one will believe them. Please take the time to read these extremely disturbing statistics about rape on college campuses.

If you are a rape victim who is reading this, please understand that what happened was not your fault. It doesn't matter how you were dressed, how much you had to drink, or how you behaved. No one deserves to be raped. If you haven't done so, seek psychological counseling at your school's counseling center or a woman's clinic. And don't be afraid to press charges. Yes, there are people who won't believe you, especially in light of the Duke University incident, but they are wrong to doubt you.

Help is out there , and you need and deserve it. For more information, contact the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Remember those standardized tests you took in high school to prove that you could read and write? Well, those tests may be coming to college soon. Concerned that the standards of higher education have been dumbed down, the U.S. Department of Education is seriously considering a set of federal standards to hold students and teachers accountable for learning on the college level..

Want to know more? Read about proposed federal standardized testing for college students in the April 9, 2007 Christian Science Monitor.

Is this a good idea? Critics argue that the program may have the same problems as the No Child Left Behind Act-- namely, that schools gear their efforts way too much towards teaching students how to pass the tests. There's also concern about government intrusion into the college classroom. As Catharine Hoffman Beyer argues, college "success" means different things to different people and cannot be measured in a standardized manner.

I am sympathetic to these arguments. On the other hand, I've read a few too many papers in my times written by college students who do not know how to use a verb. I'm leery of testing as a solution to this problem, but I do feel strongly that something has to be done to raise higher education standards.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Happy Passover, students!

I just got back from a Passover seder run by Hillel, the largest campus Jewish organization. My husband and toddler daughter and I shared a lovely dinner with a table full of Colorado State University undergraduates. The guys at my table had a bit of a maror eating contest (that's horseradish, basically), and we traded recipes for matzah pizza. Oh, and my daughter found an Afikommen (well, the woman who hid it actually told us where it was).

There's something special about being surrounded by a room full of Jews on Passover, especially if you're away from home and missing your family. If you're Jewish and you haven't checked out the Hillel or Chabad (a more traditionally religious organization) on your campus, do so. Along with the religious functions of these organizations, they give Jewish students a home away from home, especially on campuses like mine where we are very much the minority.

I'm off to raid the kosher fruit slices in the cupboard that my mother sent me. Good yontif to all!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

A recent Columbia University study found that binge drinking and drug abuse on U.S. college campuses has reached more dangerous levels than ever. According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, almost half of all full time college students binge drink or abuse illegal or prescription drugs. Almost a quarter of students meet the medical criteria for substance abuse, which is over twice the rate of the general population.

I'm no expert on drug and alcohol abuse, but I am a concerned educator who has spent an awful lot of time on college campuses. I tend to be pretty skeptical of the media's over-hyped "scare of the week" stories-- bird flu, SARS, poisonous peanut butter, or whatever it is that's supposed to be killing us now. But in my experience, the binge drinking and drug abuse issue isn't a bunch of media hype. This is something that's deeply impacting the lives of college students and the culture of college campuses.

Several years ago, Colorado State University (where I teach) was shaken deeply by the alcohol poisoning death of Samantha Spady. Read about my thoughts about this binge drinking tragedy and about the issue in general.

What should be done about this crisis? Part of the issue is an individual one, and students need to take responsibility for their behavior and know their limit when it comes to alcohol. But the issue goes beyond individual behavior. Something needs to be done about the culture of college campuses to prevent these tragedies and to stop alcohol from being such a major part of the the college life experience. I'm no expert, but what I do know is we can't just dismiss this as normal or expected college behavior. It's gone beyond that, and we need to make a change.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

As a professor, one of the things that troubles me is how ill-equipped many students are to take good notes. Whenever I give an exam, I inevitably go over the test with students who did poorly and do not know why. Often the problem is that they have taken inadequate class notes, which I discover quickly when I ask to see their notebook. Here's an article that I hope will help:

How to Take Effective Class Notes

So why is it that so many students lack note-taking skills? I suspect that one problem is that high schools are not doing nearly enough to prepare incoming college students for this important task. When I recently looked over the notes of a student who had done poorly on my test, he told me that no one had ever looked at his notes before or instructed him on how to take notes properly. This is a problem.

Another problem, of course, is the issue of Generation Y college students and their poor attention spans. This generation has been inundated by music television, iPods, hypertext, and a world full of fast-paced technology and fun distractions. They are not used to paying attention. This seems like all the more reason for high school and college instructors to make sure students know how to be active listeners. Instead of bemoaning poor attention spans, we should try to help improve them.

Related to this problem is the overuse of technology to present information to students. Of course technology can enhance education, but it has to be used properly. Some students are so accustomed to bullet-pointed PowerPoint slides and other high-tech organizational tools that they are ill-equipped to take notes in a more traditional environment. Unfortunately, the world does not come with bullet points, and neither do meeting with bosses and other professional settings where taking good notes is essential.

In recent years, many schools have come to emphasize basic skills such as reading and writing. We need to recognize note-taking as an important basic skill as well.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

If you're looking for persuasive topics for speeches or term papers, one great place to look is in the newspaper. Current events make great topics because they are timely and haven't had time to become tired topics.

As promised, here are a list of persuasive topics based on current events in March 2007. (Look here for the January/February 2007 list.) Most of these are U.S. related topics.

• The U.S. troop escalation in Iraq: is it working?
• The death of Anna Nicole Smith and the media circus surrounding her death
• U.S. Attorney Alberto Gonzales and the scandal surrounding the firing of federal judges
• Vice President Dick Cheney, Scooter Libby, and the Valerie Plume CIA-leak scandal
• The uproar surrounding Ann Coulter's comment that presidential candidate John Edwards is a "faggot"
• The 2008 presidential candidates
• Global warming and the new research on this topic
• Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth": do you agree with Gore's arguments?
• State requirements that girls must receive the HPV vaccine
• Nuclear proliferation talks surrounding North Korea
• France's extradition treaty with China, which is controversial because China has the death penalty and France does not
• Mine safety issues in Russia
• The issue of Iraqi refugees
• The Israeli boycott of the new Palestinian government

Need some more persuasive topics? You've come to the right place! Here are some articles to help you out.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

You walk into your physics or calculus classroom, and you quickly realize the instructor does not speak English well. What do you do?

If you feel frustrated, that's very understandable. Instructors that speak English as a second language can be difficult to understand and often teach complicated science and math classes. Your discomfort does not mean you are a racist or a mean person. Many universities do not put nearly enough effort into making sure that instructors can communicate effectively with their students.

However, it's important to be polite and respectful to your instructor and not assume this person is a poor teacher. Remember, this instructor is probably a long way from home, so be a good host to your "guest" and make sure he or she does not feel unwelcome. Try to put yourself in his or her shoes. This is probably a more difficult situation for your instructor than it is for you, so have a heart.

The best way to do well in a class with an ESL instructor is this: listen! Pay extra attention as he or she speaks. This not not a situation where you can text message your friends or otherwise zone out for awhile. If you are willing to put in extra effort to pay attention, and the instructor is willing to put extra effort into communicating with the students, the class will go just fine. Keep in mind that these are skills you are going to need later in your life. In our increasingly global marketplace, you can count on having business and personal relationships with people who do not speak your language fluently.

Having an instructor from another country can be a challenge, but it can also be a treat. There's a reason your college or university has hired this person or recruited him or her to be a graduate student. In all likelihood, this person is exceptionally intelligent and worth your time to get to know. Instructors from other countries can bring valuable new insight into you classes. If you find yourself with a foreign instructor in a class such as Intercultural Communication or World History, you're in luck. The occasional aggravation of the language difference will be outweighed by an excellent educational experience.

Something else to keep in mind: never assume that someone from a different country does not speak English well. English may be their native language as well, or they might have an excellent grasp of the language. Also, never assume automatically that someone with darker skin or an ethnic name is from somewhere else. I know quite a few Asian American teaching assistants who have lived in the United States their entire lives and have been complemented by students on their "English skills."

So, if you encounter an instructor who does not speak your language well, be patient and be polite. Unless this person is a terrible teacher, the situation will go fine if everyone makes a little extra effort.

Want to learn more about your professors? Here's a few articles that may help:

Six things you should know about your professors

Professor pet peeves

A guide to bad professors

What should you call your professor?

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Thinking about moving into a coed dorm? Here's an article that discusses the pros and cons of mixed-sex residence halls:

Coed Dorm Life: Advantages and Disadvantages

Many incoming freshmen assume that mixed-sex dormitories are the best kind of on-campus housing. I know that I did. At age 18, the concept of a same-sex dorm sounded antiquated and ridiculously conservative to me. In retrospect, though, I wonder if a same-sex dorm would have been a much better option for me freshman year.

I spent my first year of college in an all-freshman coed dorm. The experience wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great either. Most of the guys on the floor were very nice, but a few were immature and behaved inappropriately around the female residents. They acted and spoke as if they lived in a big locker room and said sexually inappropriate things to the young women on the floor. In a few cases, I would define this behavior as sexual harassment, as it made me and other girls on the floor very uncomfortable and created a hostile and degrading living environment. At age 18, I didn't understand what sexual harassment was and that that my feelings of discomfort were not my fault or a case of "oversensitivity."

After my freshman year, I moved into the 'funky" dorm and had a much better experience. This dorm was as coed as could be. Bathrooms were officially same-sex, but this rule was generally ignored. Male and female students would frequently crash in each other's rooms and walk around the hallways in various states of undress. The general maturity level in this dorm was relatively high, and sexual harassment was not a problem like it was in the freshman dorm. I felt very comfortable in this coed environment. Nonetheless, I'm sure that some people felt uncomfortable with things like coed bathrooms and that some students chose not to live in this dorm because of this casual attitude.

Coed dorms are fun. However, don't assume that a same-sex dorm isn't a good alternative. Students need a place to live where they feel comfortable and safe, and a coed dorm might not be the best place to provide that.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Hey, freshmen, are you having problems with your roommate? Graduating high school seniors: does the idea of sharing a small dorm room with a complete stranger make you nervous? Here's a few articles about college dormitory life that hopefully will help you out:

• College roommate etiquette tips
• Coed dorm life
• How dorm life is like South Park
• Cheap dorm room furniture ideas

The freshman year roommate experience is a difficult experience for most college students. Let me tell you about my freshman roommate, who I'll call C.

C. and I were as mismatched as you can get. We were kind of like cardboard cutout teen movie stereotypes. I was a shy brainiac who desperately needed to come out of my shell. C. was a party animal who drank every weekend and slept past noon whenever possible. We were horrified by each other. She made fun of the nerdy map I hung on the wall for decoration, and I thought her pinup guy poster was juvenile. I thought C. was a snob and she thought I was a weirdo. One day during midterms, my buddy Aaron and I put a boombox in the lounge and let off steam by dancing to Paula Abdul. (Yes, folks, back in the 1980s, Paula really did used to sing.) I looked up and saw C. standing there with her snobby friend down the hall, observing with horror my public display of personality.

Things improved between me and C. because we both changed. I developed a close group of friends second semester and found myself out as often as she was. C. buckled down in her classes, and I think she wound up on the Dean's List.

In retrospect, it's a shame we didn't communicate better, because I could have helped her study and she could have helped me come out of my shell. I wish I could have met C. under different circumstances, because she was a neat person. She had this awesome North Jersey accent and an attitude to match, and had a wardrobe full of enormous sweatpants and sweatshirts in every color. She wanted to be an elementary school teacher.

So C., if you're reading this, best of luck to you, girl! And I still have a map in my office, so pfffflt!

Anyway, I hope that your freshman year roommate experiences are better. Remember to communicate with each other. Chances are, the random person you've been placed with in your room isn't someone you'd normally hang out with, so be patient with each other's differences.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

I've been in academia way too long. Aside from one year off, I've been either a college student or a professor since 1988. Egads! I started college before the first George Bush took office, and I'm still here. (And so is Bush, Jr. He's about to make a career change too, although his is mandated by the U.S. Constitution is mine is not. But I digress.)

You know what's going to be weird about not being a professor anymore? The schedule! I'm so used to being in school that it's ingrained in my head that the year begins in September and ends in May. I keep telling people that I'm leaving academia at the end of the year, and they think I mean December. Unlike most people I know, January 1st doesn't feel like New Year's Day to me. I'm like a permanent third grader, eagerly awaiting the ringing of the final bell so that summer break can finally begin. It's going to be truly odd when September rolls around and I don't have that half-excited, half-dreading feeling about classes starting again.

Of course, the Jewish New Year begins in September as well. Maybe that's why there's so many of us Jews in academia. It fits our calendar.

Seems to me that the academic schedule issue is symbolic of how academics are encouraged to think foo themselves on a much different path than anyone else. There's a sense in academia that what we do is very different than all those 9-to-5 business folks out there, as if somehow academia is less of a "job" than working in a cubicle.

So off I go into the "real world," where the calendar starts in January and ends in December. Of course, in about three years, my daughter will be going off to kindergarten. So perhaps I'll be back in the school year mentality sooner than I think.

Wow, the semester is half over. Please join me as I continue to blog about my last semester as a professor!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Not all college students are 18-23 years old. Thousands of older adults and other nontraditional students want to get a college education, but are frustrated because many colleges and universities are ill equipped to meet their needs. Nontraditional students are frustrated by rooms full of fellow students they can't relate to and school policies that are designed to help traditional students only.

Because of this, many older adults are turning to institutions like The University of Phoenix, as well as online institutions such as The University of Phoenix Online. These programs are designed exclusively for working adults and accommodate busy schedules. Classes usually are very "real world" oriented, and students get an opportunity to meet and network with people in similar situations.

These programs can also be beneficial to people who live in rural areas or who otherwise do not have easy access to a traditional college campus. The University of Phoenix has campuses all over the country, mostly on the outskirts of metro areas, and online classes offer even more geographical flexibility.

Before you commit to one of these programs, though, investigate whether this is your best option. Are programs such as the University of Phoenix right for you? Are online programs right for you? Here are some articles to help you answer that question.

The University of Phoenix: Pros and Cons

Online College Courses: Pros and Cons

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Should college students own cars, or explore other alternatives? Here's some thoughts on the matter:

College Students and Cars

And here's some advice: students, if you can get away with not having a car, do it. You'll save quite a bit of money, especially when it comes to car insurance, which is plenty expensive for college students. With rising tuition costs, students are graduating with crippling levels of debt. Living without a car will keep your debt more manageable.

On some campuses, having a car is a terrible hassle. Parking can be a nightmare, and expensive as well. I know college students sometimes figure in the price of parking tickets into their budgets ahead of time, because they know illegal campus parking will be a necessity if they're running late. And if you live in the dorms, the parking situation may be even worse. When I was an undergraduate at Rutgers, dorm residents with cars had to park them on Livingston Campus, which was in another town! You had a take a twenty minute bus ride just to get to your car. At that point, is it really worth it?

Some campuses and college towns offer better public transit than others. If it's available and reliable, why not try it out? Public transit gets a bad rap in the United States, where we're all so car obsessed, and that's a shame. I remember riding the bus through Minneapolis once when I was a grad student, and a group of brand new freshmen got on the bus, presumably to explore downtown. One of the girls looked terrified, and she mustered up all of her courage to ask if she could sit next to me, which of course was an unnecessary request. It was cute, but sad. What was she so afraid of?

Two other great alternatives are walking and biking. What better way to work exercise into your busy schedule? You might consider walking or biking as a secondary form of transportation even if you have a car.

Young people are so excited about owning cars. But think of it this way. You have your whole life to deal with car payments, car insurance, maintenance, parking, traffic, and all the annoying hassles that come with owning a car. If you can get by without one, why not do it?

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Wow, my last semester as a professor is just about halfway over. Spring Break starts tomorrow. And this week I gave my students a midterm exam, for the very last time.

I'm not going to miss giving exams. The experience is such a strange one! You hand out the test and the room becomes dead quiet, and people with miserable expressions on their faces spend an hour frantically trying to answer your questions. Their hands hurt. They haven't had enough sleep. The time they spend in the room with you that day is scene as a painful hoop that must be jumped through to get on with the rest of their lives.

Some days I feel like more than a dentist than an educator. If a dentist does a good job, inevitably some of her patients will hate and fear her. I imagine some professors enjoy the power trip, but not me.

After years of teaching, though, I must say I think the discipline that testing gives students is an important lesson. I used to give more take home exams and extensive papers and other more "democratic" methods of evaluations. But my rose colored glasses are off now. No, I haven't given up all my teaching ideals, but I also think that students need to learn to manage their time and learn to study systematically. The world may not ask them to define terms like hegemony and polysemy, as I did on this test, but the world will ask them to be disciplined and to handle stressful situations successfully and professionally,

But someone else can give them the tests from now on. I've done my part.

Please join me as I continue to blog about my last semester as a professor!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Here's an cash incentive for college students and high school students to get good grades: cheap auto insurance discounts for good students!

As student drivers quickly find out, finding cheap auto insurance rates is a challenge. Car insurance rates are higher for anyone under 25, especially men. Also, auto insurance rates in college towns tend to be plenty high. So anything that can make car insurance cheaper is more than welcome.

So how good a student do you have to be to qualify for these cheaper car insurance rates? Remember, eligibility differs by state and other restrictions can apply, so check with your insurance company. But generally, auto insurance companies will give students a good student auto insurance rate discount if they are under 25 and meet one of these criteria:

1. They are in the top 20% of their class
2. They have a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale
3. They have a grade average of B or higher
4. They were on the Dean's List or Honor Roll their last semester

Of course, proof of eligibility is required. Recent college graduates who are under 25 may also qualify for these discounts if they maintained these criteria as a student. Also, if a student is on his or her parent's insurance policy, parents may be eligible for savings if the student has good grades.

Stop by College/University at Suite101.com for more money saving tips for students!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Want to participate in a research study about how college students purchase college textbooks? Read the description fo the study below.

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Greetings! I am a University of Connecticut MBA student conducting academic research on the purchase and resale of new and used textbooks, both on-line and at bookstores. Let us know your thoughts by going to the linked survey below. My fellow team members and my self thank for all your help. We appreciate it.

University of Connecticut Textbook Study

There are no risks for participating in this survey. You do not have to complete this survey if you do not want, to but we appreciate your taking the time to do so. It should only take you around 5 minutes to complete the survey. Your responses are anonymous. The University of Connecticut Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the Office of Research Compliance may inspect the researchers' records to ensure such protection. If you have any questions concerning your rights as a participant in this study, you may contact the University of Connecticut Institutional Review Board at (860) 486-8802.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

College students: what percentage of your research do you do while sitting at your desktop computer, or while lounging with your laptop computer at a coffee shop with wireless Internet access? Computers are fabulous, aren't they? They've revolutionized the college research paper, saving students time and making an incredible amount of information available on databases and the web.

Unfortunately, not everything is available on the Internet, and it probably never will be completely. There are still plenty of good reasons to do research at the college library. Problem is, many college students are so accustomed to doing research on their notebook computers that they never master the art of library research.

I had a funny conversation with an outstanding student the other day. He was starting to research the paper for my class (bless his heart, the paper isn't due until the end of the month). He told me he was having a problem. He wanted to write about some Wall Street Journal articles for my paper, but lo and behold, the articles were not available online. He cursed the Wall Street Journal for being so "miserly" with the information on their website, which required a subscription.

"Well," I said, "I'm sure they have the Wall Street Journal bound at the library, or on microfilm."

My student frowned.

"They charge you, like, 10 cents a page for microfilm or photocopies," he said. "And it's such a pain!"

I laughed. I could feel a "in my day, sonny boy" lecture coming on.

"How do you think I did research when I was in college?" I asked. "The web barely existed back then, and no one used it for research papers. We made photocopies and screwed around with those stupid microfilm machines. And we used a lot of dimes."

Funny how things change so quickly, huh? I graduated from college in 1992. I'm not archaic. And yet, when it comes to technology and college education, I may as well have graduated in 1952.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Is government student loan consolidation right for you?

Federal student loan consolidation is a simple idea: it just means combining your student loans into one. As a result, you'll only have one monthly student loan payment, and you are likely to have lower student loan interest payments

If you're thinking about consolidating your federal student loans, here's some information about the pros and cons of government student loan consolidation. And here are a few helpful questions to ask yourself before you consolidate your federal student loans:

1. Will the interest rate on my consolidated loan be cheaper than the interest on my current loans?
2. If I extend my loan so I can have lower monthly payments, how much money in interest will this cost me in the long run?
3. What percentage of your loans are outstanding? If they're close to being paid off, it might not be worth it to consolidate.
4. Will consolidating my loans cause me to forfeit the benefits of some of my loans, such as the Perkins loan?
5. Will you be impacted negatively by the fact that consolidated loans accumulate interest while you are in graduate school, even though these loans are deferred?

Federal student loan consolidation often is very helpful for college graduates. However, it's not the solution for everyone, so do your math and weigh your options carefully.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

This past Friday, my 9:00 a.m. class was awesome. (No offense, 11:00 a.m. class. You're awesome too! ) It made me remember why I decided to become a professor and why teaching can be.... well, awesome.

We've been talking about the U.S. corporate media system, and a few days ago I presented arguments for and against our current market-driven media system. I showed a documentary called "Rich Media, Poor Democracy" that harshly criticizes corporate media. As a guiding question, I asked students whether or not they agreed that the corporate media was antidemocratic.

The room lit up with passionate and intelligent responses! One student launched into a fabulous declaration about how the media violates anti-trust laws. Another student declared quite eloquently that the media condition us not to question the powers-that-be. It was so wonderful to see students this engaged with the course material.

On days like this, I feel like I've given students a gift. I've encouraged them to think critically about their culture and exposed them to new ideas. And although I don't think I'm going to miss teaching all that much, days like this give me a feeling of satisfaction that some of the thousands of students in my classrooms left with some valuable information and insight.

Join me as I continue to blog about my last semester as a professor!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

One of the most heated deabtes in academia right now is whether professors and university programs are biased and try to indoctrinate students ideologically. Most (but not all) of these criticisms come from the right from pundits like David Horowitz. In response to these criticisms, educators have expressed concern that this debate is a masked attempt to silence professors with controversial opinions.

For some prospective on this issue, I spoke with Luann Wright, the founder of a website called NoIndoctrination.Org. On NoIndoctrination.Org, students can anonymously complain about professors and college programming that they feel constitute indoctrination. The students' claims are investigated and are not published on the website unless they appear to reflect valid concerns.

Here's my interview with Luann Wright, founder of NoIndoctrination.Org.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

It's midterm exam time again, folks. Hang in there! Here's a few articles that may help you out:

• Study tips for midterms and finals
• Tips on acing an essay exam
• Tips on acing a multiple choice exam
• How to form an effective study group

In my department, it's become the norm for professors to provide study sheets for students before midterms and finals. I never used to do this and had some reservations about doing so, but I caved in and started making study sheets in which I summarize the important parts of the lecture notes and readings. Now, I regret this.

Are study sheets a bad idea? Not necessarily. Unfortunately, I suspect they are not nearly as helpful as students think. If used wrong, they can hurt a student's performance.

Study sheets can work well when they are used to reinforce studying. Students should go through the readings and their notes first, and then refer to study sheet for reinforcement. Unfortunately, many students rely too heavily on the study sheet. This technique lends itself to memorization as opposed to understanding how the material fits together. Students might look at a book chapter only in search of the terms listed on the study sheet and miss the larger point of the chapter. In addition, study sheets don't always include everything, so they can cause students to miss something they need to know for the test.

Worse, some students try to use the study sheet as a substitute for going to class or doing the reading. Obviously, this isn't a good idea.

But here's what I find troubling about study sheets: they take away the "problem solving" lesson that comes with studying for an exam. When a student takes notes and studies for a test, part of the challenge is to figure out what's important. The professor needs to present the material in a way that makes this relatively easy, but ultimately it's the student's responsibility to figure this out. Study sheets take this away, because they tell the student what's important to study.

A friend of mine who also teaches was asked by her students to "bullet point" her lectures and overheads so that they would know what was important. This is troubling. Thing is, real life doesn't come with bullet points. Problems occur, and people need good problem solving skills to get through them. In a global economy that shifts dramatically all the time, problem solving skills are more important than ever. The world just doesn't come with as many "rules" as it used to.

And when a boss asks an employee to write a report, there's no bullet pointed study sheet available to know what's important to include.

I do understand that students are very busy people, and that anything that can take the burden off of studying a little bit is greatly welcomed. Unfortunately, I have serious doubts whether the time saved with study sheets is worth the cost.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Is academia a good place for women?

If I bluntly said "no," that would be way too simplistic. Many women thrive in academic careers, and after all, the new president of Harvard University is a woman. But as a woman who's about to happily leave a career a a college professor, let me put in my two cents about the state of women, tenure, and academia.

If you're interested in this issue, you should read Tenure Denied: Cases of Sex Discrimination in Academia, a 2004 report by the American Association of University Women (AAUW). The report argues that despite the fact that women are graduating from both undergraduate and doctoral programs in record numbers, the upper echelons of academia are very much a boys' club. Only one-fifth of full professors are women, while the majority of poorly paid lecturers are women. According to the report, "The burgeoning pipeline of women professors with doctorates has yet to translate into full gender equity among tenured faculty."

Why is this?

Much of this has to do with women's decisions to have children. In most career paths, the decision to have children results in a downwardly mobile career path for a disproportionate number of women, while the opposite is true for men who have children. Pregnant women frequently face discrimination, and studies show that pregnant women's competency is questioned by both men and women.

The busiest and most stressful time in an academic's life usually is their stint as an assistant professor. In most cases, this takes place when a professor is in their late twenties and thirties. And guess when most people start and raise a family?

You would think that academia would be a progressive place where academics would be bending over backwards to make things easier for those juggling a family and a career. After all, many academics are self-proclaimed liberals who vociferously speak out against sexism, racism, homophobia, and other kinds of discrimination. And many academic workplaces do help parents quite a bit. But many do not. Colorado State University, where I teach, does not offer maternity leave. None. Zilch. I was able to secure a part-time maternity leave, but only because my department was willing to do so.

Perhaps more than anything else, women struggle with the culture of academia. As academic jobs have become more competitive, these jobs have drastically ratcheted up expectations of assistant professors. Publishing and service expectations are exponentially higher than they were in the days when almost all professors were men. Getting published in academic journals has become extremely competitive. It's pretty much impossible to get tenure without putting in long, long hours. Professors who are not willing or able to make this overwhelming commitment are frowned upon and do not get tenure.

Academia is no longer just a job. It's a lifestyle choice. And it's not necessarily one that's conductive to other goals, such as having a family.

In addition, the old boys' network in academia never went away. It's run by some of the same men who profess to be the most progressive of thinkers. The research interests of these men often are highly theoretical, while many women are turned off by abstract theory and are drawn to (1) applied research that has a direct impact on the real world and (2) <gasp!> teaching.

The system is broken, badly. Our children continue to be educated by male professors, and the world of academic knowledge continues to be dominated by male thought.

I'd love to hear what you have to say! Please join the discussion, and join me as I continue to blog my last semester as a professor.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Winter 2007 has been a bear. Here in Colorado, we've had one winter snow storm after another, and all over the U.S. and Canada, snow shovels and snow plows dot the landscape.

So why don't colleges and universities have more school closings and cancellations when winter weather is this bad?

From the perspective of colleges and universities, it's about money. Lots of money, so you do need to understand where administators are coming from. College campuses employ thousands of people and lose thousands of hours of productivity when all those people are sent home. This can be a big problem for colleges in cold climates, so these schools rarely close for inclement weather. Students at these schools need to get themselves some warm winter clothes and snow boots, because school isn't going to close very often.

Nonetheless, there are some awfully good reasons to close down school when weather conditions are potentially dangerous.

For one thing, most college students spend a fair amount of their day walking across campus, and have lots of opportunities to fall and injure themselves. They also have no choice but to expose themselves to cold weather, which in some cases can be downright dangerous. Trust me, as someone who went to school in Minnesota, I'm not exaggerating. When the weather reports warn that exposed skin can be frostbitten in 30 seconds or less, it's time to close school.

Even more dangerous is the issue of commuting. Refusing to close school during a snow storm means students will be driving under adverse conditions. Many students are inexperienced drivers and drive cars that belong on Pimp My Ride more than they belong on an icy freeway. And many students have long commutes that become unbearably long and possibly dangerous in bad weather. Students who bus or walk to school may have it a little easier, but still have to contend with icy sidewalks and lots of exposure to the cold.

The other reason why keeping school open on snowy winter days is a bad idea is this: many students don't show up! They balk at the hour long commute on an icy road, or simply look outside and say, "Heck no!" And much as I'm a stickler about attendance, can you really blame someone for not wanting to go to their 8:00 a.m. class when the windchill is below zero? Since children in the area probably have the day off, students with kids may have no choice but to skip school and stay home. (This is a problem for professors, too!) The students who do show up for class come to half full classrooms, and the teacher may need to go over the material again for students who missed.

I understand that cancelling classes is difficult, and that students really do need to learn how to deal with cold weather. But there's a point at which a school needs to cut their losses and remember that the safety and sanity of students is priceless.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

So you've decided to leave the dorms for your first apartment, and now you need some easy kitchen cooking tips and kitchen basics. Do you feel a little lost? Everybody does. To help you get started, I've compiled some quick and easy recipes, as well as some grocery lists to help you stock your kitchen. Check out these articles:

Easy Tuna Noodle Casserole Recipe

Bean Burrito Lasagna and Guacamole Recipe

Quick and Easy Egg Scramble

Quick and Easy Pasta Toss

Quick and Easy Snacks

Grocery List for Frozen Foods

Grocery List for Fridge Foods

Grocery List for Pantry Foods

Grocery List for Spices and Condiments

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

According to movies, there are only two kinds of teachers. First, there are the teachers who give mind-numbing lectures and are completely out of touch with their students. Think Ben Stein in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. (Bueller? Bueller? Trickle down economics?)

At the other extreme are the fabulous teachers who transforms the lives of all of their students, usually against great obstacles. And there's nothing in between. Either you're a fabulous teacher, or you're a lousy one. High expectations, don't you think?

Think Mona Lisa Smile, where Julia Roberts liberates the minds of her Wellesley girls with the magic of art history. Or Good Will Hunting, where the math professor and psychology professor save the brilliant but troubled young genius. Or for the high school version, there's the transformative poetry professor in Dead Poet's Society (Robin Williams seems well suited for this godlike teacher role.) And of course there's Michelle Pfeiffer in Dangerous Minds, who transforms the lives of inner city high school students in a variation of the troubling white-person-saves-the-day story.

Another example: The Mirror has Two Faces. This movie is interesting because it has a "good" professor and a "bad" professor side by side. Jeff Bridges plays a mind-numbing Columbia math professor who never talks to his students. In contrast, Barbra Streisand portrays an idealized English teacher who holds magically engaging class discussions.

Of course, there's not a direct correlation between how teachers are portrayed in movies and how they are perceived in real life. But there's something going on here. Students hold teachers to very high standards and expect something akin to this Hollywood magic. As part of the sense of entitlement that many (not all, but many) students have these days, they feel entitled to teachers who are entertaining, transformative, and magical. Some students have little sense that they themselves are largely responsible for making their own educations meaningful and transformative!

Just a thought. And on a related note, why are transformative movie professors always at big name institutions? Columbia? MIT? Wellesley? Don't they have Hollywood-quality teachers at state schools?

Please join me for more random thoughts as I blog about my last semester as a professor. And hey, please join the discussion!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Do you need some information about writing a graduation speech for a high school or college graduation ceremony, a graduation party, or for a public speaking class? Here are some resources to help you write a great graduation speech:

• How to write a graduation speech
• Graduation day song ideas
• Graduation day quotes

A good graduation speech makes the audience feel included. The students, as well as the parents, teacher, and others in the audience, should all feel like the speaker is making the speech significant and memorable for them.

To illustrate this concept, let me tell you about the worst graduation speech I've ever heard. This was the graduate student commencement address at the University of Minnesota, where I received my PhD. My husband and I dubbed it the "Diseased Tonsil Speech."

There were hundreds of graduate students in attendance, and we were a diverse bunch of both master's and PhD students. Many of us had traditional research oriented degrees. However, the majority of the students in attendance were professional students who were going into industry or teaching. Nonetheless, it was the norm at U of M graduate school graduations to bring in a commencement speaker to talk about his or her research and the importance of research. Therefore, the students who were not going on to careers in research (most of the graduates) were not acknowledged by the speaker.

This year, the speech was especially bad. In addition to being noninclusive, it was, well, revolting.

The speaker's point was that even though you may think your research is insignificant, it may help someone down the road. To illustrate, he talked about his own AIDS research. AIDS researchers apparently have found some helpful clues from old research about scabies, a repulsive skin disorder that affects sheep. They've also found some clues from old research about kuru, a neurological disease associated with cannibalism. Interesting? Yes. However, the speaker's graphic accounts of scabies and kuru weren't exactly the inspiration one might expect in a graduation speech.

Somehow research about AIDS, scabies, and kuru are all connected to the study of diseased tonsils. I don't remember how. What I do remember is that to illustrate his point about diseased tonsils, he used an enormous slide (we're talking floor to ceiling length) of a graphic photograph of a diseased tonsil. He then went on to wax eloquent about this amazing tonsil.

Not exactly the inspiration we were looking for.

So remember, make your audience feel included. The speech isn't just for you and the people close to you. It's for everyone in attendance, so keep your audience in mind as you write your speech.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

When I was in graduate school, I killed a television set. The ill-fated set, which rested on top of an AV cart, projected its last images into my morning argumentation class. It didn’t survive the elevator ride back to the department AV room. Unfortunately, the elevator and the fourth floor were not level, so when I pushed the cart out, the television plummeted to its death. A few sparks flew as the cathode ray lit for one last time and burned out.

After several department members calmed me down, I recognized the poetic resonance of the moment. The thing is, that's what I was doing in graduate school-- killing televisions, albeit metaphorically. As a media studies student, I spent my days writing about the negative implications of television programs upon culture. That's called ideological criticism, and I was good at it. I was a professional television assassin.

This was the second worst moment of my academic career. (You don't want to know about the worst one, believe me.) It happened almost 10 years ago to the day. RIP, my television friend..

Was ideological criticism a waste of time? No, I don't think so. It's important for people think critically about media, and we don't do it enough. I intend to continue to write articles about television, but in formats other than academic journals.

But now, as I end my academic career, I suppose the televisions in my neighborhood can sleep more soundly.

Read more about my last semester as a professor, and join in the discussion!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Hi there, College/University readers! Would you like to participate in a college discussion forum about everything from tuition, exams, persuasive speech topics, cheap furniture, gifts for college girls, and much more? Look no further! The Collge/University discussion foum has been newly updated, so please stop by and participate!

The College/University Discussion Forum

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

One thing I've learned as a college professor: people are not very creative when it comes to choosing baby names! I've been reading class rosters since 1992 and watching name trends come and go. Since I've never taught at a very racially diverse school, most of my students have been white, so I've always had classrooms full of students with the top 10 names from 18 years ago.

It's been kind of fun to watch, actually. I think name trends are fascinating.

When I first started, there were the Jennifers. Lots of Amys and Kellys and Lisas too. Then the Megans and the Lindsays started. The first time I had a Lindsay was in 1997, and I remember complimenting her on her neat name. Apparently lots of people felt that way around 1977, because I don't think I've had a semester since then without a Lindsay. When I started getting the 1980s babies, that's when the Ashleys and Brittanys and Emilys started. My most common girl's names? Probably Jessica and Sarah. Or maybe Kristen.

And boy's names? There's just so few of them. Last semester, out of 80 students, 11 of them were named either Michael or Shawn (or, in one case, a Sean-Michael). Lots of Brians and Ryans, and an endless supply of Matts. Recently I've been getting the trendy boy's names of the 1980s, like Hunter and Baker.

As a kid, I hated having such an uncommon name like Naomi, but now I like it. I've only had one Naomi student, ever. And I haven't had any students named Gwendolyn, my daughter's name.

So, my days of watching the name trends in my classes are over. If I want to watch name trends, though, I can always go to the playground and meet the future college students of America. Eighteen years from now, the classrooms will be filled with all the "Ailey" girls (Hailey, Bailey, Kaylee) and "Aden" boys (Aiden, Caden, Jaden, Braden). Maybe a professor will see Gwendolyn's name on a roster someday and be impressed.

Do stop by and read more about my last semester as a professor, and join the discussion!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

It's Valentine's Day, and you're single. Bleh! Yes, you know that it's all a bunch of Hallmark hype aimed at selling chocolates, flowers, and jewelry. Yes, you know you're a perfectly fabulous person and you don't need a boyfriend or girlfriend in your life to feel fulfilled.

But it still sucks, huh?

If you're single, hang in there! I spent way too much time in my college years and beyond bemoaning my single-hood. Looking back, I don't know what I was so upset about. I had plenty of friends and a very busy life, so it's not like I was lonely. Plus I had lots of freedom, which is fabulous when you're a student. I could litter my floor with a moat full of books around my computer and no one would care.

It's harder in some colleges than others to be single on Valentine's Day. Couples seem to be the norm in some colleges, as well as engagement. When I as an undergrad at Rutgers, I barely knew anyone who got married right after college. We knew one girl who got married after her sophomore year, and the general consensus was that she was nuts. (No offense to people who choose to get married when they're young. This was just our snooty 19-year-old opinion.) But when I taught at a small liberal arts college, lots of students got married right after graduation. Engagement rings were everywhere.

If it seems like everyone is part of a couple but you, relax. College romances sometimes lead to lifelong relationships, but most often they do not. And post-graduation marriages sometimes lead to lifelong marriages, but they sometimes lead to disaster. Believe me, it's way better to be single than to be stuck with the wrong person. I got married when I was 31, and I like to tell people I skipped my first marriage.

So, be nice to yourself on Valentine's Day! Get some single friends together and go out to dinner. Have an anti-Valentine's Day party. And don't let Hallmark get you down. And if you need to vent, join the Valentine's Day discussion!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Are you looking for a persuasive speech topic for your public speaking class, or a persuasive essay topic? Here are some articles about persuasive speech and essay topics to help you out:

• How to choose a topic for a persuasive speech
• Great persuasive speech topics
• Tired persuasive speech topics to avoid
• Fun persuasive essay and speech topics
• How to choose a topic for a term paper
• Good ideas for persuasive essay topics

Another good place to find a persuasive speech or essay topic: the news! Current events make great persuasive topics because they're fresh and have not been overused. They may also be easy to research.

Here are some January/February 2007 current events (mostly U.S. current events) to consider for persuasive speeches and essays. I'll post more in months to come!

• President Bush's proposed troop increase in Iraq
• The President's State of the Union address
• The switch to a Democrat controlled House and Senate
• Iran's role in the Iraqi War
• The Patriot Act
• The conflict in Darfur
• The 2008 presidential hopefuls
• The possibility of a woman or African American president in the United States
• U.S. legislation to lower student loan interest and make college more affordable
• Global warming
• Stem cell research
• An increase in the minimum wage
• Wildlife deaths in the Pacific Ocean due to toxic algae
• The Scooter Libby trial
• Job outsourcing
• Bird Flu
• The HPV vaccination
• The ban on saturated fats in New York City restaurants
• Anti death penalty legislation in France

Good luck with your speeches and papers!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

So, I've been writing about my last semester as a college professor, and a few days ago, I received in the mail my very last academic journal. It was the latest issue of Critical Studies in Media Communication, one of the more prominent journals in my field. As a graduate student, I longed for the day that I would be published in this journal. And a few years ago, I was. I published an article about The Boondocks, the controversial comic strip created by Aaron McGruder.

I met Aaron McGruder. It was an awful experience, but kind of cool in retrospect.

A few years ago, I was teaching at Indiana University, and my article about The Boondocks had just been published. Then, to my delight, the campus Black Culture Center invited Aaron McGruder to be the keynote speaker for Black History Month. I contacted the office, and they graciously arranged a little time for me to meet with him. Wow, I was going to meet Aaron McGruder! Was I ever nervous and excited.

So after the keynote address, we met. I told him about my article and about a scholarly book chapter that had come out recently about The Boondocks. He told me he had read that book chapter, or tried to, but gave up after a few pages because the writing was so obscure.

Aaron McGruder proceeded to denigrate academic writing, saying that this kind of writing was a complete waste of time and had no relevance to anyone or anything outside of academia. He also had some unkind words about white people like myself who wrote about African American issues (a point well taken, which I addressed in the Boondocks article which he certainly never read).

I left totally embarrassed and a little freaked out. In retrospect, though, it was a neat experience. How many people get to say that they were personally insulted by one of their favorite celebrities?

So, back to my last issue of Critical Studies in Media Communication. I can't even tell you how many dry pages of journal articles I've plodded through and how delighted I am that I'll never have to read one again.

Was Aaron McGruder right?

Well, partly. But mostly not, in my opinion. Academic journals provide a format for scholars to contribute to the academic body of knowldge, which in turn influences our students and shapes our academic fields. Scholarly thought is an important part of a society that values knowledge and learning. Nonetheless, it's a shame that professors are discouraged from writing for popular audiences and using their knowledge to impact society more directly.

Anyways, if I ever do come across Critical Studies in Media Communication again, I probably will read it. After all, I still read The Boondocks.

And hey, stop by and read more of my acount of my last semester as a professor and leave comments in the discussion.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

When I first went to college, I thought of myself as a college girl. Then, a few women's studies classes later, I joined the campus bandwagon and decided to call myself a woman instead of a college girl. I decided that "college girl" didn't sound like someone who took herself seriously. The term "college girl" just has too many drunken party girl connotations, like "college girls gone wild." Besides, I wanted to declare my independence and call myself a woman.

Semantic issues aren't as important to me anymore. In fact, I even have a few articles on this site that contain the term "college girl," like Gift Ideas for College Girls.

Nonetheless, this still strikes me as an interesting issue. For male college student, the term "guy" serves as a midway point between "man" and "boy," so we can talk about college guys. Female college students don't have the same option. Yes, there's the word "gal," but has anyone actually used that term since 1953?

When I ask students about this, they often say that they don't consider themselves adults, and therefore they're fine with being girls and guys instead of women and men. Or sometimes they go Britney Spears on me and declare that they're "not a girl, not yet a woman."

I guess that surprises me, because as a college student, I was gung-ho about being an "adult," whatever that means. (Sometimes I'm not so sure I ever became one!) I would hope that to some degree, college students consider themselves to be adults. Even if a student lives at home or is supported financially by parents, you're still responsible for your own well-being now.

When students come into my classroom, I think of them as young adults. If I wanted to teach girls and boys, I would be teaching third grade. (Some days I feel like I am teaching third grade, but that's another story). So, whether or not you call yourself a girl or a woman or a guy or a man or whatever, consider thinking of yourself as a bona fide grown-up.

What do you think? Please join the discussion!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Independence Day is over. Will Smith has left the building. The credits are rolling. I will never watch the film Independence Day ever again.

You see, for years I've been giving the same lecture and having the same discussion about ideology and the media with my students. I illustrate my points with a discussion about a clip of the film Independence Day. I've watched this same clip over and over again for maybe ten years now, and I can recite the president's corny speech to you word for word. "We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight!" We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!"

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not the proverbial 80-year-old physics professor who's been using the same lectures for decades. But this particular Independence Day thing seems to work, so I've used it over and over. I even tell the same jokes, which still get a few laughs from the students, but seem extraordinarily old to me.

When you start boring yourself with your own jokes, it's time for a career change.

I can honestly say, I felt sad after my class walked out today. The discussion about ideology went well in both of my classes, and I was treated to a lively flow of ideas from two rooms full of receptive young people. A student stayed after class and chatted with me about how much her views have changed since she came to college. These will be the teaching moments that I miss.

But you know what I won't miss? Independence Day. I used to like it, before the 14th or 15th time I watched that same clip.

Read more of my series about my last semester as a professor! And join the discussion.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

We all know that college tuition costs in the United States are rising at an astounding rate. But it wasn't always this way. Using this handy inflation calendar, let's compare the cost of college today with the cost of college when my mother and father went to school.

My mother went to the University of Minnesota from 1963-1968. (Kennedy, incidentally, was killed during her first semester.) During the 1963-1964 school year, the price of college tuition was $255. For the whole school year. My mother worked part time and during the summer, and she was able to pay her own tuition easily.

So, what's $255 in today's dollars? According to the inflation calculator, $255 in 1963 is the equivalent of $1557.55 in 2005. Therefore, if the cost of the tuition had only risen at the rate of inflation since 1963, a year of tuition at the University of Minnesota would cost $1557.55.

Wow, wouldn't students' lives be different if a year of tuition was $1557.55? Most students could easily earn that with a part time job, and many parents could easily afford to write a check for that amount. Or a student could take out a loan for the whole four years and owe a little over $6200.

Of course, tuition is much more expensive than that. During the 2005-2006 school year, in-state tuition at the University of Minnesota was $8040. Accounting for inflation, tuition is up over 500% at the University of Minnesota since 1963.

My father entered the University of Minnesota in 1957. Tuition for the whole year was $111. If tuition had only risen at the rate of inflation since 1957, a year at the University of Minnesota would cost $754.36. Accounting for inflation, tuition is up over 1000% since 1957.

If this makes you angry, contact your representative in Congress or your Senators.

And hey, do you need to vent about tuition costs? Please do so in this discussion!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

A few years back, I taught at a liberal arts college. It was a wonderful school, and I think most students leave with an excellent education.

However, there are drawbacks to small liberal arts colleges, and one of the disadvantages of this school was the lack of diversity. The scarcity of minority students was one issue, but I always felt a more overlooked issue was the lack of socioeconomic diversity . No, not all the students were rich or upper middle class, and there were plenty of students who were struggling along with their parents to pay for school. But the majority of students in this school were well off.

Here's one experience that I had at that school. I was helping incoming students register for classes, and two young women were at my registration table, chatting with each other. One said she was nervous about rooming with a stranger. The other agreed, and said, "But at least we know that our roommates are the kind of people who can afford to go to a school like this." Her new friend nodded in agreement.

I wish I could go back to that moment. I didn't say anything, and should have. I should have gently told them that I paid for much of my own state education, and there was no way I could have afforded to attend a private school. My husband paid for his state education on his own. He came from a family that struggled to put food on the table.

I should have asked them, gently, if people like myself and husband would not make good roommates. It could have been a good learning moment for them.

Later that afternoon, I helped register a more unusual student. I learned from her file that her family had been on welfare for much or her life and that she had worked throughout high school to help her family. I hope she wound up as the roommate of one of those other girls. They would have learned quite a bit from her.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

So, are you enrolled in a public speaking course this semester? Are you a little nervous? Well, I've taught lots of public speaking classes, so I may be able to help you develop useful public speaking skills! Here are some articles that will get you on your way.

• Public speaking class tips
• Fear of public speaking
• Ideas for persuasive speech topics
• How to choose a persuasive speech topic
• Tired persuasive speaking topics to avoid
• How to write a graduation spech

Here's a few misconceptions students have about pubic speaking classes:

1. The students who do the best are the ones who are naturally charismatic and outgoing. No. The students who do the best are the ones who work hard, same as in any other class. Charisma is big bonus, but it isn't everything.
2. Shy students are doomed. No. Being shy makes things a little harder, but you'll do fine if you put in the effort. Put it this way, I'm shy, and I teach public speaking.
3. The most important thing is how you deliver the speech. No. Yes, it's important to use your voice and body effectively. However, if the speech doesn't have strong content, you're not going to get a decent grade.

Good luck with your public speaking class!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Here's another entry in my ongoing series about my last semester as a professor.

So this semester, one of the classrooms I teach in is in the Animal Science Building. Don't ask me why Speech Communication classes are in the Animal Science Building, but whatever. As long as the VCR works (which is never a foregone conclusion), I don't really care.

Anyways, this classroom is set up in a very hierarchical way. My ideal classroom has the desks placed into a circle so that everyone can discuss with each other easily, and so there's not such a strong sense of professor-student hierarchy. Unfortunately, the classes in my department are too big to do this, but I still like to ask students to put their desks into small circles to discuss issues.

In this classroom, none of this is possible. The room is on an incline, and instead of desks there are tables in ascending rows like bleachers. The chairs are attached to the tables, so they can't be moved around. I felt a little sad when i walked in and saw that set up. Have we not gotten past the idea that the role of the professor is to stand in front of the room and insert knowledge into the brains of passive rows of students?

I've had worse classrooms though. As a graduate student, I taught in a classroom where the seats were attached to the floor with heavy chains. I suppose in some professor's minds, that's the next best thing to chaining the students down to the desks, To maximum classroom hierarchy, the front of the room had a raised platform for the professor. To maximize impersonality, each desk had a huge number printed on it! Happily, that classroom isn't there anymore because the building was considered uninhabitable and condemned, so my students and I will probably get some bizarre form of cancer twenty years from now.

My current classroom has its own random weirdness. Since we're in the Animal Science Building, the walls are filled with posters of farm animals that presumably are to be raised and eaten. A big poster of sheep proclaims something about "dual purpose." And one of the cow posters says, "The udder side of the beef industry."

A special touch of randomness for my last semester.

Here's the index to all fo the articles in my ongoing series about my last semester. More to come soon! And hey, I'd love it if you would leave some comments in the discussion.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Jan. 17, 2007-- The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill to cut interest on federally subsidized student loans in half over the next six years. The bill was introduced by Representative George Miller (D-CA) and received much bipartisan support, with 124 Republicans joining Democrats for an overall vote of 356-71. (Here's information about how your Representative voted.)

The bill calls for a reduction in student loan interest from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent over the next five years. According to the U.S. Public Interest Group, this could save students an average of $2,300 over the course of a 15 year loan. The bill is expected to receive support from the Senate as well, where Senator Edward Kennedy has introduced a similar bill that also raises the maximum Pell Grant to $5,100.

The Bush Administration and other critics argue that the bill isn't all that helpful because it doesn't help potential incoming students afford college, and instead only helps those who have graduated. The student loan industry also opposes the bill. For more on this issue, read the account in the New York Times or the Washington Post.

By the way, do you know what the average debt is of a U.S. student graduating from college?

$18,000.

Oh, and if you're interested in reading more about educational issues, check out Barbara Pytel's thought-provoking Educational Issues site on Suite101.com.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

This is the second entry in an ongoing series about my last semester as a college professor. (Here's the first entry about my last semester).

So today was the first day of class, and I taught two sections of my Critical Media Studies class. Another sign that I am ready to be done with this career: I didn't plan ahead what to wear. Thing is, I've always had an outfit in mind for days before the first day of school. In 6th grade, it was the purple frilly shirt and white pants (circa 1981). In 9th grade, it was black stretch pants and an oversized magenta shirt (circa 1985). Even as a professor, I continued the ritual of picking out a new outfit to wear on the first day.

But today, as I wandered into my closet, I realized I had nothing picked out. What to wear? Since it's colder than Siberia here, I chose a warm, comfortable outfit and shoes with enough traction to reduce the odds of slipping on the ice. The ritual was over.

I told my classes that they were my last students ever. Then as an ice breaker exercise, I had them introduce themselves and discuss one thing about education that needed to be changed. Kind of a negative exercise, of course, but it did get them talking. (Hopefully students can also appreciate their education, which may be problematic, but truly is a privilege.)

So what things do my 80 Generation Y college students want to change about education? Most of their concerns had to do with how they felt the university failed to prioritize the basic needs of students. Common complaints were:

• Classes are too big. Students don't get enough individual attention, and discussion is difficult with so many students.
• Students can't get into the classes they need for their major. This is a big problem in the Speech Communication Department, where there aren't enough faculty members and instructors to teach enough classes to meet our high demand.
• Graduating in four years has become very difficult, largely because of core curriculum requirements. Most students didn't seem to feel the core should be demolished, but that it had to be smaller and more flexible. Transfer students have an especially rough time, as does anyone who decides to change their major.
• So where is all the tuition money going, asked my students? The price of education is increasingly making it less accessible. My students want to know why they are paying so much and still can't get into the classes they need and want. Several students argued that the university operates too much like a business that tries to profit from students.
• Classes need more "real world" application.
• Students don't receive enough guidance from advisors.
• Lack of parking. A seemingly minor issue, but on a frigid icy day, it truly sucks. At CSU, faculty members park in the "A" lots and students park in the "Z" lots. Talk about hierarchy!

Other concerns included the lack of diversity on campus, the price of textbooks (here's some ideas on how to get cheap college textbooks), and liberal bias in the classroom, which I'm glad students felt comfortable enough to discuss (here's some of my thoughts on bias in the classroom).

A good last first day, overall.

Here's the index to my ongoing series about my last semester as a professor. I hope you'll join me!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Many college students would rather play MMORPGs than come to class. (MMORPG stands for "Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game," but don't worry. I won't ask that on the test.) Of course, professors and other unhip adults bemoan this, using words like "addiction" and even "Satanic," and blame poor class attendance on games like World of Warcraft. Funny thing is, we've heard this before. When I was in college, professors bemoaned the lower-tech MUD (Multi User Domain, which is basically a stone-age version of a MMORPG). Before that, there was the big Dungeons and Dragons scare of the 1970s.

Not that these games aren't potentially addictive (although what isn't?) Sad, though, that science fiction related pastimes are berated for being addictive, while more socially acceptable "addictions" like sports are seen as normal.

But hey, why fight the MMORPG craze? In the spirit of the online classroom and distance learning, why don't we just hold our classes on World of Warcraft?

There's no reason this couldn't be done. The professor and the students would create characters and log on. The characters could interact much like students and teachers do in a normal classroom with the help of headsets. It would be like an online class, but better, because there would be "face to face" interaction, albeit virtual. Nobody would have to leave their rooms, and when class is over, everyone can go play WoW.

Or hey, if World of Warcraft isn't your thing, why not hold a SIM classroom?

Am I being facetious? Mostly. But technology savvy Generation Y college students respond to unconventional teaching methods that incorporate technology. Who knows? A virtual online MMORPG university may be coming sooner than we think.

If you'd like to read some of my other goofy musings about education and technology, read these:

Education and technology in the year 2056

The future of college student blog wars: DoILikeYou?.com

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

On January 16, 2007, over 70 people were killed and over 169 injured in an attack at a Baghdad university. Established in 1223 and one of the oldest universities in the world, Mustansiriya University has been subject to continual violence since the beginning of the Iraq war, as have universities all throughout Iraq.

Did you know that since this conflict began in 2003, thousands of academics have been systemically targeted and killed? Here is a list of killed, threatened or kidnapped Iraqi academics. In July 2006, The Middle East Studies Association and the American Association of University Professors released a joint statement expressing their horror over the peril faced by professors and students in Iraq.

And yet, students and professors still come to class. Although many have stayed away, many others adamantly refuse to let terrorists take away their right to an education.

Tomorrow, as I prepare to begin the new semester, these noble professors and students will be close to my heart. The aggravations I face in academia are laughable. Students who text message in class? Classroom equipment that breaks down?

And students, please, appreciate your education because it's a privilege. Your 8 a.m. class, your boring professor, you endless stack of reading-- all of it is a privilege that your fellow students halfway around the world are dying for. If you can walk to class and not have to worry about if you're going to make it there, it's a good day.

And perchance that a professor or student is reading this in Iraq, please know that you are in my heart and I stand with you.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

So Wednesday begins the first day of my last semester as a professor. I teach two classes this semester, and then I'm done. I'm off to fulfill my dream of becoming a professional writer.

I'll be including in my blog an ongoing series about my last semester! Won't you join me throughout the semester as I reflect upon my last days? I'll be reflecting upon the state of college education, the broken parts and the beautiful parts, and I'll be remembering good and bad memories of my days as a teacher and scholar.

Thinking about becoming a professor, or about getting out of academia? I hope this will help you make up your mind! Here's a few articles I wrote about the advantages of being a professor and the disadvantages of being a professor.

So, I have the roster of students who will appear in my class this semester. I love reading the roster. It's like picking a promising novel off the bookcase with anticipation, hoping this will be a book filled with unforgettable characters and a life-affirming story line. That may be what I have liked most about teaching: the fabulous cast of characters who gather in my classroom every semester and gift me with a glimpse of their lives.

The characters that have shared their stories with me have been a treasure. There was the student from New York who abandoned his business aspirations after 9/11 and instead wanted to join the CIA to protect his country. There was the girl who gave a speech about her snake, Drake, and brought him in as her visual aid (which didn't go so well, because a student who worked for housing was in the class, and poor Drake was deported from the dorms). I've had single moms, a Hollywood stuntman, former soldiers (including a Navy sailor who was on an infamous submarine that capsized a Japanese fishing boat), aspiring teachers, aspiring pastors, and all kinds of ordinary students with amazing stories. I've had girls with eating disorders, a student with AIDS who probably is no longer with us, and a very sweet student who broke my heart when he died in a bar fight.

So, please join my as I reflect upon my last semester as a professor! Here's the index to my ongoing series of blog entries. I'd love it if you would leave comments in the discussion, as I want to know who's reading this and what's on your mind.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

From GetAnnoyed.com, here are some things you can do in school to be thoroughly annoying:

"Type every word in a different font. Alternate really big fonts with really small fonts."

"Write the entire paper on Post-it notes and turn it in by sticking them all over the professor's door. "

"Leave a Snickers bar in the toilet."

Read the whole list of Annoying Things to Do at School at Annoyed.com. This is so funny. I wish I had thought of this.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

College classrooms: should they have mandatory attendance policies? Should college students be penalized for not showing up to classes they are paying for? Is it condescending to pass around an attendance sheet to a room full of young adults?

I'm not sure how I feel about attendance policies in the college classroom. When I first started teaching, as a wide-eyed idealistic young educator, I opposed attendance policies. I've always been rebellious when it comes to rules, and I didn't want to impose this rule on my students. I wanted to have a room full of excited students who couldn't wait to discuss the 80 pages of reading that they had read every word of. Blah blah blah.

Thing is, my idealistic desire to not impose rules conflicted with another idealistic desire. I've always believed that classrooms should not be places where the all-powerful professor deposits information into the minds of passive students. (Paolo Freire called this the "banking model" of education.) Real learning happens when students are presented with information and theories and ideas and then try to make sense of it all through discussion with the professor and the other students. The classroom should be a space where students help each other question their own ideologies and the norms of their society.

To have a great class discussion, though, there needs to be a strong sense of community in the classroom. Students need to feel that they are mutually responsible for contributing to this community. And needless to say, this sense of community is contingent upon students actually being there.

So, a few years ago, I started enforcing an attendance policy, complete with a daily attendance sheet that I passed around the room. My policy was pretty lenient, at least in my opinion. Students had four free days off for whatever reason-- sickness, family emergency, desperate need to hit the snooze button, whatever. After that, points were deducted from their grade, unless they informed me of a good reason why they had to miss more than four classes.

This was a bear to enforce. I always had students who tried to negotiate points with me or claimed they had forgotten to sign the attendance sheet. One student came to my office, baffled at all the points he was losing for attendance. "I was there all the time!" he insisted. "I only missed ten classes all semester." (No, I'm not exaggerating.) I didn't know what to say to him or how to communicate with someone with such a different concept of education than my own.

With the attendance policy, I felt like I was betraying all my idealism. I was imposing a rule, and I was not creating a sense of community. I had become a police officer. So I ditched the attendance policy. Last semester, attendance was decent in my 10 a.m. class, but lousy in my 8 a.m. class. Surprise surprise.

I suppose the problem is that attendance policies are a band-aid on a much bigger educational problem. In our anti-intellectual culture, there are all kinds of ways that the system discourages classroom communities of learners and encourages students to do as little as possible to get by. Does this mean there should be attendance policies, or that there should not be? I don't know.

Students, teachers, other readers, I want to hear from you, so please participate in the discussion below. What do you think about attendance policies in college?

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Hey, students, I know that Spring Semester is just starting, but have you thought about what you want to do for Spring Break yet? If you're planning a trip, one of the best ways to save money is to start planning as soon as possible. Flights and hotels fill up fast and the cheap deals get snapped up quickly. So plan ahead! Just like it does in your classes, procrastination comes with a cost.

Here are a few articles to help you have a cheap but memorable Spring Break.

Cheap student airline tickets

Cheap Spring Break travel ideas

And here's something to think about: why not spend this Spring Break as a volunteer? The "alternative spring break movement" has become very popular. College, religious groups, and charities have been organizing student Spring Break volunteer trips to impoverished and storm-torn areas. Last year, over 30,000 students traveled to New Orleans and the Gulf Region, and the need for volunteers is still great.

If you'd like more information about volunteering for Spring Break, this article will give you the scoop:

Alternative Spring Break trips

Hope that helps! Here in Colorado, we're still digging out from two blizzards, so Spring Break sounds awfully nice to me.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Welcome back to school, college students! I hope you had a fabulous holiday break. I also hope you're looking forward to the new semester and not dreading it.

Start your Spring Semester off well. Get organized now, and you'll be much less stressed out when things get hectic. Here's an article to help you out:

Back to school study skills tips

I always found myself dreading the first day of classes, until I got there and felt excited. There's something reaffirming about sitting in class that first day. It's kind of like taking your first bite of a sandwich. By the end of the sandwich, you might be really sick of it and ready for a banana or a cookie. But the first bite is filled with mustard and cheese and bread uncrinkled by teeth, and the bread hasn't been mashed down yet by frequent bites.

Here's a few more articles to get you going for the Spring Semester:

How to buy cheap used college textbooks

Student New Year's resolutions

How to write a great college term paper

Best of luck, students!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

On September 5, 2004, a beautiful college sophomore named Samantha Spady died from alcohol poisoning after drinking too many shots of vanilla flavored vodka. A talented artist, Sam was from the small town of Beatrice, Nebraska. She also was a student at Colorado State University, where I teach. Sam was never my student, but she could have been. And she may as well have been, as my classrooms are filled with promising young women just like her.

On the CBS Evening News, I watched yet another story about how popular binge drinking has become among college and high school students. According to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control, almost half the high school students they surveyed admitted to drinking, and of those students, over half of them binge drink. And according to the SAM Spady Foundation, over 1,400 college student deaths each year are related to binge drinking. 1,400 students. That's insane.

Being preachy is not usually my style, but students, this is awful. If you drink, you need to know your limit and drink responsibly.

To students who binge drink: I have to say, I don't fully understand why you do it. Is the fun of binge drinking worth the risk to you? It seems to me there's a line between getting a little drunk and getting wasted, and that crossing the line is not worth it. Being a little drunk results in goofy behavior and maybe a hangover, but probably no regrets. Being wasted results in unpleasantries like vomiting, bad hangovers, weight gain, and blackouts-- not to mention very stupid behavior. Excessive alcohol consumption can also result in addiction, date rape, alcohol poisoning, and death. (And if you're underage, any drinking can result in your arrest.) Are those extra drinks really worth the side effects and the safety risks?

After their daughter's death, Rick and Patty Spady founded the SAM Spady Foundation to help educate students and parents about the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption. (SAM stands for Student Alcohol Management). Their website includes a list of warning symptoms of alcohol poisoning. Call 911 immediately if you see someone with these symptoms:

• Unconscious or semiconscious
• Breathing less than 10 times per minute or irregular (check every 2 minutes)
• Cold, clammy, pale or bluish skin
• Can't be awakened by pinching, prodding or shouting
• Vomiting without waking up (Source: SAM Spady Foundation)

I'm a mom, and the most horrible thing I can think of is losing my daughter. 1,400 sets of parents lose their children every year because of excessive alcohol consumption. Students, please be careful.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Freshman, you made it through your first semester of college. Congratulations! Fall semester freshman year may be your most difficult semester of college. This is the semester where you learn to be a college student along with everything else you need to learn, and it's stressful. So take a deep breath and applaud yourself. It's over!

So now what? Take a step back and evaluate how you did first semester. Do you need to figure out better studying strategies? Do you need to balance school and fun better? Do you need to get out of your room and meet new people?

To help you out, here are some New Year's Resolutions for Freshmen. Pick and choose helpful ideas from the list. Best of luck in your new semester, and be sure to stop by College/University at Suite101.com for helpful college tips.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

So, you think you might want to be a professor, huh? Check out these articles about the advantages and disadvantages of an academic career.

• Advantages of Being a Professor
• Disadvantages of Being a Professor

As you may know, I'm currently an assistant professor of media studies at Colorado State University, and I've resigned as of the end of this semester to pursue a writing career. In many ways, I feel like I fell into this career without enough thought. I loved being a student, I loved my communication classes, and hey, my father's a professor. Plus like everyone else, I was scared about trying to figure out what to do with my life, and grad school seemed like an easy path to follow. Terribly idealistic, I was drawn to media studies because of the critical lens it cast on society, and I wanted to share this subversive way of thinking with young minds in my classroom. As you can imagine, I've become disillusioned with my quasi-revolutionary efforts, which I'll talk about in a future blog.

I really hope my two articles about advantages and disadvantages can be of help to someone. There are many fabulous benefits of being in academia, and it just might be the right place for you. But please think it through carefully.

Here's my main bit of advice to you: don't become a professor unless you know you're going to love it. If you're going to be a professor, your career needs to be a rewarding end in and of itself. Otherwise the pay and the long hours and the politics and everything else will not be worth it. And here's a similar bit of advice from Robert L. Scott, a brilliant and inspirational professor I had the honor of studying with at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Scott told us graduate students that if we did not like the things we were doing as graduate students, we wouldn't like being professors. You need to love to read, teach, write academic prose, and immerse yourself in the academic lifestyle. If you don't, you may be making a mistake.

Now don't get me wrong. I do not regret becoming a professor. What an adventure it's been, and I've learned so much! It's just time for me to move on. And hey, if you're in the midst of making a big decision about your career, best of luck to you!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Eight a.m. classes, bad professors, financial aid nightmares. Let's face it: there are days that college sucks. There are serious problems with the system, and there's nothing wrong with whining and venting about college now and then. However, on days that aren't so bad, I also hope that you take the time to appreciate your college education. College education is a privilege. It may not feel that way during that 8 a.m. midterm exam, but it's the truth.

Here's some basic statistics Only about 28% of U.S. Americans over the age of 25 have a bachelor's degree. That's a little more than 1 in 4. You might come from a family and a neighborhood where everyone around you has a college education, but that's deceptive. The opportunity to earn a bachelor's degree already places you at an advantage over 70% of the population. And worldwide, the number of people with a bachelor's degree is less than 1%. Yes, you are among the privileged elite.

If you are a woman or a minority, another reason to appreciate your education is that others before you fought long and hard to get you there. Women now outnumber men on college campuses in the United States, but only after years of legal and social battles to give women equal access to education. My grandmother was the valedictorian of her high school class and was an exceptionally bright woman, but she never considered going to college. There were four boys and four girls in her family, and the limited resources paid for college education for the boys, but not the girls. African Americans only have to look back to the early 1960s to find examples of college students fighting through mobs for an opportunity to register for classes. Minority groups have struggled and continue to struggle to break down segregation and economic barriers to higher education.

And if you're lucky enough to have parents who are able or willing to fund you college education? Thank them. Thank them often. They are giving you a treasure that most people do not get. Just look around campus and you're likely to see a single mom struggling to get through school, or someone who has to work over forty hours a week to pay for tuition, or someone who is worried about having to drop of school if there's a tuition hike.

Look, you don't have to appreciate your college education every moment. But the next time you're on your way to that 8 a.m. class and feeling sorry for yourself, try to put things in perspective. An awful lot of people, past and present, would love to be walking next to you into that classroom.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

College seniors, is it your last semester and are you running out of steam? Here are some New Year's Resolutions for College Seniors to help get you through to graduation. And here are the:

Top Ten Signs that You Have Senioritis

1. You start imagining jail bars on the windows of your classrooms.
2. Your professors all sound like Charlie Brown's teacher.
3. When you wear your backpack to class, you have visions of pushing a giant boulder up a mountain.
4. The pond on campus starts to resemble an eternally burning lake of fire.
5. It no longer even feels worth it to press the snooze button.
6. You have nightmares that it's Groundhog Day of your last semester over and over again and you never graduate.
7. You wonder why there are so many children running around on campus, and then you realize that they're freshmen.
8. You start imagining that your professor has a hand puppet like Mr. Hat.
9. Your last 143 blog entries are about boredom.
10. When someone mentions graduate school, you feel nauseous.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Need some suggestions for some realistic New Year's Resolutions? Here are some suggestions.

• New Year's Resolutions for Students
• New Year's Resolutions for Teachers
• New Year's Resolutions for Freshmen
• New Year's Resolutions for Seniors

One of the cool things about being a student or a teacher is that you get two semester breaks a year to take a deep breath, evaluate how things went last semester, and start fresh. Everyone else just gets the big "resolution" time once a year.

Happy New Year students! Have a great 2007.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Looking for a fascinating television show that goes beyond the gimmicks of reality TV and offers an intelligent discussion on diversity and social issues? Looking for an educational resource that encourages students to think about these issues and identify with the perspectives of others? Teachers and students, check out the new television show by Morgan Spurlock, the documentarian best known for Supersize Me. The program is called 30 Days, and it's being shown on the FX Network.

The premise of 30 Days is this: a person takes on a new identity for 30 days in order to see the world through a radically different perspective and to illustrate the complexities of a social issue. In one episode, a devout Christian moves in with an American Muslim family for 30 days and participates in their everyday activities, including prayer. In another, a young, all-American straight man moves in with a gay resident of San Francisco's Castro district for 30 days and accompanies him to gay softball games and bars. In the pilot episode, Spurlock himself spent 30 days in a prison. Other issues covered in the program include illegal immigration, binge drinking, and the minimum wage.

What makes 30 Days an effective and appropriate classroom resource is Spurlock's approach. Yes, Spurlock has an obvious political agenda, not all that different than the agenda of the more controversial documentarian Michael Moore. Unlike Moore, however, Spurlock does not condemn the folks he disagrees with, like the homophobic straight guy and most of the other participants in his documentaries. While Moore mocks and vilifies the "enemy," Spurlock presents them as sympathetic. As the philosopher Kenneth Burke argued, persuasion is most effective and most humane when the "other side" is presented not as evil, but as mistaken. (Burke called this the "comic frame.") Viewers who disagrees with Spurlock's position are given a sympathetic protagonist with whom to identify, and thus may be more likely to consider Spurlock's arguments.

The creative and non-confrontational approach of 30 Days makes it a great educational resource to use during classroom discussions about social issues. Perhaps teachers can invite students to imagine where they might spend their own 30 days, and what they might learn from this experience.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

I have to confess that until this year, I had never used Wikipedia. Now, I often use the world's largest interactive online encyclopedia at least once a day. Whenever I have a random thought, like about what the history of Velcro might be, I consult Wikipedia. I've used Wikipedia to research political candidates, corporations, software, and even to learn about my favorite South Park characters. Yeah, I admit it, I'm kind of a Wikipedia junkie. So I can imagine that for the Generation Y college students of today, Wikipedia must provide a fabulous research tool to aid in their education.

However, not everyone is enthusiastic about Wikipedia, and I was surprised at how skeptical my students are about this phenomenon. Wikipedia raises eyebrows because unlike traditional encyclopedias, anyone can edit it. The idea is that if an expert with knowledge on a topic reads a Wikipedia article and wants to elaborate, the expert can add his or her knowledge and share it with the world.

As you can imagine, this system can be abused easily. Wikipedia does employ people to keep track of changes, and volunteers help by reporting and deleting abuse, misinformation, and spam. However, as Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert demonstrated in his now famous "Wikiality" prank, content is not above manipulation. To demonstrate the socially constructed nature of knowledge on Wikipedia, Colbert encouraged viewers to incorrectly edit the Wikipedia page on elephants with "information" on how the world population of elephants has been increasing rapidly. (Actually, they are in danger of extinction. Poor elephants.) Hundreds of people messed around with the article, which Wikipedia finally closed to edits because of "vandalism" (which is as good a word for it as any, I suppose).

So, the argument goes, Wikipedia is not a credible source because its knowledge can be manipulated by anyone and can be altered if enough people insist that a point of view is true. I ask, however, how is this different than any other documentation of knowledge? How do we know that a newspaper is accurate? Or a college textbook? It used to be "true" that the world was flat, remember? Knowledge has always been socially constructed and manipulated by individuals, cultures, and interest groups. One of the amazing things about Wikipedia is that it has made this social construction of knowledge visible. Now, this construction of knowledge is documented as users can read a log of how articles are changed over time.

As far as students go, I'm jealous that they have Wikipedia as a source to refer to throughout their education. If a topic sparks their interest in class, there's a place to go for more information. Yes, students need to be a little skeptical of the information in Wikipedia. But the thing is, they need to be skeptical of the information that comes from everywhere. Perhaps the awareness of this need for skepticisim is one of Wikipedia's greatest gifts.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

A few days ago, a little postcard arrived to tell me that my 15th year college reunion was scheduled for May. I was so excited that I forgot to feel old and even forgot to wish I were twenty pounds thinner. So it's back to New Brunswick and Rutgers University for me to walk down College Avenue past my old dorm, have a beer and a boli at Stuff Yer Face, and catch up with my old classmates from the Class of 1992. My high school reunions, now those I don't think I'm going to bother to attend. Pennsauken, New Jersey is not exactly first on my vacation list. But you couldn't pay me to miss my college reunion.

And hey, if anyone's reading this from the Rutgers College class of 1992 (or anyone else who knew me then), leave a message in the discussion or email me.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

This year, Hanukkah begins at sundown on December 15. Happy Hanukkah! Good Yontif! Hopefully you'll be through with your exams and ready to celebrate. If you're looking for a few last minute gifts for college students, here are some helpful links:

• Holiday gift ideas for students.
• Unique holiday gifts for students.
• Cheap holiday gift ideas for roommates and college friends.

As Hanukkah approaches, a sad and scary event occurred on the campus of Colorado State University. Two freshman students had chosen to display Mezuzot on their dorm room doors, and those Mezuzot were ripped off of their doors and stolen. Here's an article about the incidents in the Rocky Mountain Collegian, which is well-written (with the exception of referring to a mezuzah as a decoration, which is inaccurate). For those of you not familiar with Mezuzot (the plural of Mezuzah), they are small rectangular boxes that contain a prayer scroll. Jews hang them outside of their doors. They are a religious symbol (as opposed to a decoration, such as a cardboard dreydel that a student might hang on a dorm room door), so ripping one down is akin to ripping down someone's crucifix. They also have come to be a symbol of a Jewish home, which Jews hang proudly as a symbol of their identity. Because of that, ripping one down is an act of anti-Semitism.

My heart skipped a beat when I picked up the Rocky Mountain Collegian on the way to class that featured that story on the front page. I have a Mezuzah on my door, and I'm sick of having symbols of my identity mocked and desecrated. But we're a tough people. Try as we might, no one's been able to put out our burning oil, and a couple of Colorado State University dorm punks aren't going to either.

So, Happy Hanukkah, students! I have to go finish buying eight presents for my toddler, who's just learned how to say "Jewish."

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Concerned about how to avoid or prevent plagiarism? Here are some articles about plagiarism that may help you:

• A definition of plagiarism.
• A discussion of why plagiarism is a bad idea.
• Tips for teachers to help prevent plagiarism.
• Strategies for dealing with last minute papers that are great alternatives to plagiarism.

Thanks to websites all over the Internet that offer free college essays and college essay writing services, sites that buy and sell term papers has become big business on the Internet. The quality of these essays vary, but if a student is willing to pay enough, well-written essays are available. Students can also use these websites to pay people to write college essays. Some of these sites also allow students to hire someone to write a masters thesis or even a dissertation.

Why aren't these sites illegal? Well, in a nutshell, although plagiarism violates intellectual property law, these sites technically do not commit plagiarism (although they do aid and abet plagiarism). Term paper websites purchase people's writing and then sell it for a profit. As long as they post and sell papers only when they have the author's permission, they're engaged in a transaction like any other. Many of these websites claim that the essays are being offered only as "sample essays" to help students write quality original essays. Uh huh. Websites that sell custom paper writing services aren't technically committing plagiarism either. They're selling writer services.

Should these sites be illegal?

I hate plagiarism with every ounce of my body. Plagiarism shows a complete lack of respect for the educational process. In my opinion, these websites are among the sleaziest things on the Internet, even more so than most pornography on the web.

However, as the good web geek that I am, I fear the consequences of censoring just about anything on the Internet. Setting a precedent for legislation on the Internet truly can be a slippery slope. The freedom afforded by the Internet is worth the garbage we have to put up with, and these sites are among the garbage. Besides, regulating just about anything on the Internet is a logistical nightmare. If these sites became illegal, plagiarism sites would simply become a little more difficult to find. Look what's happened with illegal music downloads. Illegal plagiarism sites would simply move offshore, like Internet gambling sites.

I doubt these sites are going anywhere. In fact, take a look at the Google ads for this blog entry and for my above listed articles about plagiarism. I don't control the ads on this site, which are triggered by keywords. I betcha many of these ads are for plagiarism websites! How's that for irony?

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

My students assured me that at 36 years old, I am not too old for MySpace. So curiosity got the best of me, and I now have my own MySpace page. You can check it out if you want, but it's not the least bit impressive. However, I've had the page for two days and I already have sixteen whole friends. Woo-hoo! And I found out that my cousin Terry has a MySpace page, and she's twenty years older than me, so I guess I'm not too old.

I've been poking around the MySpace pages of my sixteen friends (including my cousin Terry, of course) and I find myself fascinated by the phenomenon of interpersonal communication on MySpace. There's so much drama on MySpace and Facebook! I can't believe how much drama people are willing to post about their lives on these pages, where anyone can read it and join a drama queen flame war. One of my sixteen friends showed me the MySpace page of her boyfriend's ex, who apparently is not quite over him and has been posting brokenhearted tales of her heartbreak all over her page. My friend is irked, to say the least.

Although I would have loved a MySpace or Facebook page when I was in college, it's a good thing I didn't have one. I was such a drama queen, and I can only imagine the tales of heartbreak and woe I would have spewed out for the universe to read! My page would have contained all the cheesy poems I wrote for the various unworthy men who "wronged" me, as well as diatribes about the dorm drama of the week. Freshman year, perhaps I would have taken the picture of my ex-boyfriend that I marked with a big black X and posted it on my page (along with a cheesy poem, no doubt). And perhaps I would have told the whole world about the creepy student government guy I dated who dumped me on Valentine's Day, or about the guy I dated that my friends and I named Astral Projection Man, who informed me that he was reincarnated and had been in love with a girl I knew for many, many lifetimes.

Oh wait. I did just tell the whole world about them, didn't I? What can I say? I'm guess I'm still kind of a drama queen. (Although I won't be posting any pictures of ex-boyfriends with big black X's here). I must say that overall, I like being 36 years old better than I liked being 20. Boring is better than drama. The only drama in my life these days are the 2 a.m. debates with my husband over who's going to get up and console the sleep-resistant baby.

But seriously, students. Take it from a former college drama queen, and resist the urge to post your drama all over your MySpace and Facebook pages. Venting to the world will feel good, and it's entirely likely that the individual about whom you are venting deserves public humiliation. But one day you are going to wake up and die of embarassment and wish with all your being that you hadn't posted your most vulnerable feelings out there for everyone to read, especially your ex. Save the venting for a night with your friends and a pint of Ben & Jerry's, and don't give the people who don't like you the satisfaction of seeing you at your worst.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Generation Y college students are hard to pin down! So much of their identity has to do with technology-- MySpace, Facebook, iPods, cell phones, text messaging. Yet what is Generation Y addicted to more than anything else? One glimpse into a college classroom and you'll see a room full of students obsessed with a puzzle that involves a the shockingly low-tech technology of paper and pencil. I'm referring, of course, to the mindblowing phenomenon of the Sudoku puzzle!

Sudoku puzzles (here's some Sudoku examples, if you haven't seen them of these before) are logic puzzles. A puzzle consists of a 9 X 9 square grid divided into nine 3 x 3 square grids. To complete the Sudoku, every row and every 3 X 3 square grid needs to contain every digit from 1 to 9. Puzzles start with some of the numbers already in place as clues, and the puzzles are ranked in difficulty level.

How low-tech is that? Paper? Grids? You can't even do a Sudoku with a pen, because there's so much erasing involved, so even the pen becomes replaced with the lower-tech pencil and eraser. Sure, there are high-tech versions of Sudoku that are plenty popular, in the forms of online Sudoku and electronic Sudoku. But still, in the world of complex online gaming, it's striking that so much online game traffic is driven by such a simple game. There's no special effects here, just 1 through 9.

I think the Sudoku phase speaks volumes about Generation Y, and about all of us tech-driven postmodern folks. Perhaps the most accurate defining characteristic of Generation Y is that they cannot be defined. Yeah, we all want to put Generation Y into this technology box. We want to label them as technologically overdependent kids who instant message their roommates and who do all their research on the web. Instead, it's Generation Y who's putting things into boxes-- numbers, that is, from 1 through 9.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

The last week of the semester is upon us. Woo-hoo! Here's some ideas to help you survive:

• Study tips for final exams.
• Ideas for exam week snacks.
• Ideas for effective study breaks.

I love the first week of the semester, when the campus is bursting with energy and everyone is excited to be back. By the last week, it's like you're on a different campus. It's freezing, it's icy, and everyone hates their lives! This time of the semester, students hate their teachers, hate their classes, and wonder what the heck they are doing in college in the first place. That's one of the worst things about being a student. Seasonal Misery Syndrome.

And to tell you the truth, professors kind of feel the same way, too. I have a stack of papers sitting on the passenger seat of my car that I haven't bothered to bring in yet to grade. Naomi is in denial. I told my students I'd have them graded by Wednesday. Fat freaking chance! (If you're one of my students reading this and your paper is sitting on the passenger seat of my car, you didn't hear that, right?)

Hang in there, everyone! Holiday break is almost here, Christmas and Hanukkah are almost here, and freedom is within reach. Please take care of yourselves, get all the sleep you possibly can, and enjoy some quality reality TV distractions. (I, for one, am about to get an icy glass of Crystal Lite and find out who's about to get voted off America's Next Top Model. But if you're one of my students and your paper is sitting on the passenger seat of my car, you didn't hear that.)

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

As you narrow your college search, you may ask yourself: is a Christian college or Christian university right for you? If so, what kind of Christian college? If there are any potential or current Christian college students around, I'd love for you to leave some comments in the discussion! In the meantime, here's a few articles to help all prospective college students narrow their college search:

• Narrowing Your College Search
• Bad College Search Choices

There are many different Christian colleges to choice from. I taught for three years at a Lutheran college called Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. Students had only one specific Christian requirement: they had to take one course about Christianity. There was a beautiful chapel in the middle of campus, and students had the option of attending daily twenty minute services. I was very impressed with how Gustavus incorporated religion into the world of a liberal arts college. Students were encouraged to question the specifics of their faith at the same time that they analyzed other important life questions that came up in classes. Although most students on campus were Christian, students varied greatly in the expression of their specific beliefs.

Other Christian colleges (Pensacola Christian College is a good example) are much more conservative. Some schools are guided by a covenant statement, and students are required to sign a statement agreeing to abide by its principles. Rules at conservative Christian colleges vary quite a bit, but some schools forbid students to dance, drink, have sexual relations, engage in homosexual behavior, or have physical contact with the opposite sex. Chapel and Christian courses are mandatory at conservative schools, and some do not employ faculty members who are not Christian (unlike Gustavus Adolphus College, which welcomed me a Jewish faculty member).

If you are a Christian student looking for a Christian college, no one but you can decide which model will benefit you more. I have several friends who attended conservative Christian colleges because they felt those colleges took Christianity more seriously, and because they were looking for the religious discipline offered by those schools. Some students look to Christian colleges as an alternative to what they see as liberal bias or anti-Christian bias in higher education. Many conservative Christian parents are drawn to these schools for the same reasons.

On the other hand, many students at Gustavus appreciated the opportunity to be exposed to different perspectives on Christianity and other topics as well. They enjoyed the freedom of exploring what their faith would mean to them as adults. Many students and parents feel that college should be a time to challenge one's perspectives and assumptions, and are drawn to Christian liberal arts colleges for this reason.

Remember, all Christian colleges are different, so if you're looking for one, be sure to visit the campus and the school's website. Ask faculty members and students about the school's philosophy and how that philosophy is incorporated into the everyday life of the school.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Thinking about taking an online college course? Here's a few articles for you to read:

• Advantages and disadvantages of taking a college course online.
• A satirical look at the move away from the traditional classroom to online learning.

What are my thoughts on online education? Generally, I am excited about this development. To me, the most exciting part of online education is its potential for making education more accessible. While money might still be an obstacle that limits educational accessibility, time no longer has to be. People in the workforce and busy parents can learn when they are able. How cool is that?

I am concerned, however, about the degree to which the classroom community experience will translate to the classroom. At their best, classroom communities are special places. I'm a proponent of critical teaching theories that propose that a classroom should be a place where students actively participate in their own learning and in critically challenging the world. Classroom communities are places where students have the opportunity to both explore new ideas and to develop their own voices.

Can this be replicated in a classroom? Maybe. I have personally been involved in a number of online communities, and based on my experience I know that a strong sense of community can develop in an online group. This makes me optimistic, although still wary.

It's important that we don't dismiss online education as all bad, or praise it as all good. Online classes work well for students with certain learning styles, and not so well with students who learn better in a more traditional environment. Just like traditional classes, the quality of online education will vary because of the quality of instruction, the attitudes of the particular students enrolled in the class, and lots of other factors. Not all classrooms successfully provide a sense of community, so it stands to reason that not all online classes will either.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Looking for some good ideas for holiday gifts for students? Check out:

• Suggestions for great holiday gift ideas for college students.
• Suggestions for some unique holiday gift items for students.
• Suggestions for cheap holiday presents college students can purchase for their friends.

What are some things you should avoid buying the college student on your list? Fist of all, avoid outdated tecnology, unless you want to be laughed at. An old game system? A camera that isn't digital? A CD/cassette player:? Are you kidding?

On a related note, most students aren't all that interested in another old form of technology: writing letters. When I was an undergraduate back in the Stone Ages (e.g. 1992), I loved receiving nice stationery with matching envelopes for presents. The Facebook Generation doesn't write too many letters to friends anymore.

In addition, avoid high-maintenance clothing, unless the student is about to go on a series of job interviews or something. If it needs to be hand washed, or dry cleaned, or even ironed, forget it. Who has the time? For the same reason, think twice about buying high-maintenance household items for college students. Appliances that can't be thrown into the dishwasher or washed easily by hand are probably a bad idea.

Hope that helps! Happy shopping, everyone.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Final exam week sucks. There's no better way to put it. Here are some final exam week tips to help you manage your stress and manage your time during this difficult week.

How did I handle final exam week when I was a student? Sometimes well, sometimes not so well, and sometimes memorably. One semester, a friend in my dorm named Joyce (where are you, girl?) organized a final exam week primal screaming session. Every night at a scheduled time, dorm residents would gather in the main longue and scream as loud as they possibly could. Then we would go back to studying.

Another semester, some friends and I discovered the joy of program length ads at about 1:00 a.m. After hours and hours of stressful studying, someone flipped on the TV in a lounge and discovered a program length ad for a 1-900 dating line. The women that callers could allegedly speak with were displayed on rotating stage like game show refrigerators. I don't know how long we sat there that night watching horrible ads, but it was a much needed stress relief.

Best of luck on your exams, students!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

For years now, I've attended the National Communication Association Convention in November. Without fail, I dress in my most professional clothing and uncomfortable shoes, and by the end of the day the heels of my feet feel like the hooves of an Old West work horse. This year, as I was limping past the Alamo on the way to the San Antonio Convention Center, I decided that enough was enough. I stumbled into a nearby mall and found a Crocs display, and resisted the urge to chuck my heels off of the River Walk. Yeah, the Crocs looked pretty dorky with a dress and pantyhose. And you know what? I didn't give a Texas hoot.

It was my last academic conference. I am leaving academia at the end of the year.

Now don't get me wrong. I have enjoyed being an academic, and it can be meaningful to go to a convention and mull over ideas for hours with fellow scholars. But more often than not, academic conferences have felt like an enormous amount of energy and money spent on an event of inflated importance. This year, I corraled myself out to San Antonio to give a ten minute presentation on television criticism and a ten minute presentation on something about Christmas and Fox News. Each presentation had an audience of about twelve people. Ironically, one of my papers this year was chosen to appear in a panel for Emerging Scholars. For this my department spent close to $1000 for my travel and hotel accomodations. (I paid for my own Crocs.)

Conferences make me lonely. I get to see old friends and schmooze with interesting people, and that's great, but I also spend an awful lot of time wading my way through crowds looking for a familiar or friendly face. Thousands of people show up at these things, and I feel like I'm pushing my way through an enormous high school hallway, searching for my locker.

This year, I didn't bother wandering through the halls much (my feet hurt, after all), and instead parked myself on a bench and watched the scholars plow past. I watched their faces, and I noticed how intent everyone looked, like they were rushing as quickly as they could to a locale of great import. Were they faking it, or were they truly passionate? Both, I suppose. But as I watched, it became solidified in my heart that I had made the right decision. I didn't feel passionate, and I didn't want to fake it. And I certainly did not belong in that convention center.

I don't regret my decision to become a professor, and I expect to be writing some informative articles around here soon about about the pros and cons of academic careers. But I'm done with academia. I'll be riding off into the sunset soon, hooves clad in comfortable Crocs.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Happy holidays! Hopefully, this season will be a welcome break for college students. In the month of December, students can look forward to two sources of stress and anxiety. First, there's final exams and the end of the semester. Second, there's the pressures that come with the holidays, such as buying the perfect presents, moving back home with your parents for awhile, and/or dealing with family politics at holiday gatherings.

Keep the present giving in perspective. Your friends and family know you probably have limited time to shop and limited funds. If they don't understand that, that's their problem. To help, here's an article about inexpensive presents to buy for your college friends, and also a more general article about what college students might like for holiday gifts.

Visits home to your parents can be a joy and can be complicated. Developing an adult relationship with your parents can be challenging for both parents and kids. Here's some suggestions for how to develop a strong adult relationship with your parents and enjoy your holiday visits.

Some family gatherings are more stressful than others. Hopefully you're looking forward to a cozy celebration with a room full of relatives who love each other completely and have no baggage. However, since you don't live in a 1950s television show, probably there's going to be at least some conflict with your parents and drama amongst the relatives. As much as you can, try to ignore the drama and stay out of it. Don't worry about drama that's beyond your control; if Aunt Gloria and Aunt Mabel have the same fight they've been having since 1937, accept that the fight will take place and that your energies are better spent elsewhere. Unless your family is enormously dysfunctional, there will be fun things to concentrate on, so focus on those.

A sense of humor goes a long way when dealing with family. Most family dynamics are humorous and touching novels that the world is waiting for someone to write. Accept your family as beautiful, imperfect, and uniquely quirky.

Best of luck! Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy Thanksgiving, Happy New Year, and happiness in whatever else you celebrate. I won't be around too much this week, because I'm off to Minnesota with my husband and daughter-- to stay with my mother for Thanksgiving. Hooray! My mom is the best.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Yesterday I had a bad teaching day, and wrote some fairly negative things about college education. Today, I thought I'd write about some of my favorite teaching memories.

• The canoe. The day started out badly, with an irate student disputing a grade. After he left, I peered out into the hallway, and saw two of my students carrying a canoe. "Hi, Naomi!" they said, as if it were perfectly normal to walk down the hallway with a canoe over their heads. They were on their way to my public speaking class, where one of the students gave a speech about explorers. She gave it while sitting in the canoe. When students do creative things, it's so much fun!
• The unicycle. One of my students was deathly afraid of public speaking. His solution? He decided to make his speech as terrifying as possible-- by delivering it while riding a unicycle.
• The table dance. I have an activity where students act out a movie or TV show with reversed gender roles. One semester, students decided reverse the gender roles in Coyote Ugly (they called it Guyote Ugly.) The original movie was about female table dancers, so they had a male one- who leaped on top of a wobbly table and proceeded to get down! Thank goodness the table didn't collapse.
• The war. During the beginning of the War in Iraq, I was fortunate to have a fabulous group of students in my media and politics class. We spent most of the semester watching media coverage of the war and discussing it. Students from both sides of the issue were very vocal, and we had the best conversations. I'll never forget one student in the class, who told me he wanted to work for the CIA because he lived in New York and wanted to protect his country.
• The singing TA. One semester in my popular culture class, I had a TA who volunteered to do the music lectures. She taught the students about music throughout the twentieth century by singing the lyrics and dancing. It was awesome, and students still ask me about her (and she pops by this blog sometimes, so hey there, singing TA!) That was one of my nicest classes of students. When I told them I was pregnant, they applauded.
• The trumpets. Two of my students played trumpets during my wedding ceremony. It was great to be able to include them.

I'll post more another time perhaps, as I have lots of great memories.

Oh, hey, if any of my former students have stumbled upon this website, post in the discussion or email me! I love to hear from former students.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

No, education does not suck. But let me tell you about my bad teaching day.

Actually, it wasn't all bad. I teach two classes, and the 10 a.m. class went well. The 8 a.m. class was another story. Out of forty students, nine showed up. That's right, nine. As you can imagine, attendance is always a bit of a problem in my 8 a.m. class (since I have no mandatory attendance policy), but it's never been that low. I was hopping mad.

So I tried doing the activity I had planned, but it didn't work with so few students. So the class devolved into a discussion about why education sucks. What can I say? It was 8 a.m. and freezing outside, and sometimes students need to vent.

Actually, I enjoyed listening to my students vent about education, which everyone felt had some serious problems. One student said that compared to in his grandfather's day, when students were prepared well in primary school, students were going to college without basic writing and study skills, and therefore didn't get much out of their education. Several complained that they felt like they had to be there, because, in effect, college has become a prerequisite to a middle class lifestyle. All of them complained about problems having to do with lack of funding to the university, especially that they can't get the classes they need to graduate on time because departments can't afford to hire enough instructors to meet demand.

So I let them in on a little secret. Effective the end of this school year, I am leaving academia to pursue my dream of becoming a full time writer. I told them that I enjoy teaching (usually), but that I was ready to move on, and that I too was disgusted by problems with The System. Somehow we've created a system where students always get the short end of the stick. They are taught to jump through hoops to get through college, as opposed to learning to value education. And somehow professors find themselves in an uphill batle to motivate students when so much in the culture around us is anti-intellectual.

Anyways, teaching doesn't suck. I can't even tell you how much I value the human beings who have sat in my classrooms over the years and shared a bit of their lives with me, and I truly hope they learned things from me that are of value. And education doesn't suck either. We all have those moments of disgust, but despite the problems, a college education is a privilege and a valuable opportunity to learn about the world and challenge your assumptions about it.

I gotta say, though, 8 a.m. classes really do suck.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Teacher evaluations used to be something college students filled out only at the end of the semester. Now, sites like RateMyProfessors.com and a whole host of other sites allow students to leave comments about their professors anonymously.

Is this use of technology helpful for the educational process? On the one hand, these sites provide students a source of information about their professors. They can help to hold professors more accountable for their teaching. Students might be more comfortable leaving ratings on this sites than on paper evaluations, where a professor might be able to read their handwriting.

On the other hand, are these sites reliable? Sometimes, but not always. Students who are motivated to leave feedback for a professor might do so because they either love or hate a professor, so the results may be skewed. Also, the number of ratings usually is small, and can you really know what a professor is like after reading the opinions of a few students? And while much of this professor feedback is well-written and useful, some students use these sites as an anonymous way to flame professors. Furthermore, the sites can't verify that the person who leaves the feedback is actually a student. Perhaps the professor's jealous colleague or vengeful ex-boyfriend is leaving the feedback.

As you can imagine, professors hate these sites. Thanks to these sites, if a student hates a professor, now the whole world can know about it! That includes the professor's other students, colleagues, potential employers, spouses, ex-lovers, children, neighbors, stalkers, and anyone else who logs onto the site.

Imagine how you would feel if your job performance evaluations were available to everyone on the planet. Let's say you're a restaurant server, and you're having a terrible day and give someone unusually bad service. What if your customer had the opportunity to leave a review of you on MyServerSucks.com? Now your bad day and poor service can be known the whole world over, and your vindictive ex-boyfriend or girlfriend can laugh with glee. Or imagine if there was a site called RateMyStudent.com, where professors could leave nasty, anonymous reviews about problem students. You feel entitled a little privacy, right? Professors feel the same way.

Should students use teacher evaluation sites? By all means, take advantage of them. But just remember that they're only one source of information, and that they may not be the most reliable source. And if you're going to leave feedback on these sites, please be constructive.

Oh, and check out:

• a satirical look at the future of teacher ratings websites and blog wars, and
• suggestions for how to fill out a helpful teacher evaluation form.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

My media students have been discussing the role of digital technology in society, and I had a great conversation with both of my classes about MySpace and Facebook. In one class, I asked them how many of them had a MySpace or Facebook page, and only three students did not raise their hands! It's pretty amazing. These technologies were unheard of a few years ago, and now they're a huge part of the college student experience.

I asked them what they felt the positive and negative implications were of MySpace and Facebook. Of course, they had positive things to say about how their pages allowed them to communicate with old friends. On the negative side, students complained that these pages promote superficial relationships with a long list of "friends" you barely know. At the same time, the opposite problem is true: these pages promote excessive intimacy, as people discuss all kinds of things in detail to strangers that they never would discuss face to face.

One student said that his friends get mad at him because he doesn't check his homepage often enough. He said it's not enough for him to leave them messages on their cell phones anymore; he has to go online and "talk" to them.

Another student made an interesting point: a few months ago when Facebook changed some of its policies, students all over the country were in an uproar. He said that it was a shame students hadn't put that much energy into the midterm elections. On a related note, several students complained that personal homepages are repositories of pointless content, of people posting pictures of themselves getting wasted and babbling about their angst, as opposed to focusing on more serious issues. I'm not sure what I think of this argument. On the one hand, I most certainly would like to see my students become more politically involved. On the other hand, I question how big of a role personal homepages play in distracting students from more serious issues.

One of the most disturbing things my students told me was that the conflict resolution office is in the habit of checking the homepages of students accused of questionable behavior in search of incriminating evidence. Granted, students probably should know better than to write about certain things on their homepages. Nonetheless, this is a little too Big Brother for my tastes.

One thing that cracked me up: I asked one of my classes how many of them had ever manually turned the dial on a television set. Many students had not! Some days teaching makes me feel old.

I'm a geek, so I've got to say that I think MySpace and Facebook are really cool, and I wish they were around when I was a student. At the same time, these pages bring up interesting questions about the relationship between technology and society, and I think it's always healthy to examine this.

On a lighter note: apparently the grandmother of one of my students is a big fan of Internet gambling sites, and keeps downloading Spyware and viruses onto her computer. She blames her grandson for the viruses because he stores music files there. Grandma, if you're reading this: he's a good kid, and it's not his fault! Please be careful about what you download.

Oh, and please check out my satirical article about how technology could make classrooms obsolete.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Many of today's college students have their cell phones, iPods, and laptops at their disposal, and are never too far from their MySpace or Facebook pages. The technology of the Generation Y college student is amazing, but is it impacting education negatively? (See my satirical article on how technology might make classrooms obsolete.)

My media classes are discussing technology right now, and I had a great conversation with a student named Ryan. We discussed the relationship between poor attention spans and our fragmented experiences with technology. In the 1950s, people used to watch television shows and listen to records from start to finish. Today, we can flip the remote control to a new station if we're bored, or record shows on TiVo and zap past commercials and uninteresting scenes. With digital music, we can listen to a song until we're bored with it, and then press a button and hear a portion of different song. The web lends itself more to scanning than actual reading, and there's always a hyperlink ready to take you somewhere else if you're bored.

In addition, today's media experience is fragmented because we're accustomed to multitasking and paying attention to multiple stimuli. We listen to music as we IM and skim through news headlines, read a textbook as we watch TV, and text message in class as we scan through the professor's Power Point slides. We develop valuable multitasking skills, but how much of each source of information do we really absorb?

So how is this affecting our education? Do students have poor attention spans because they are so used to enjoying fragments of media that can be switched at the touch of a button when boredom sets in? In classrooms, students are asked to sit still and listen for an hour at a time. People don't even listen to four minute songs on their iPods from start to finish!

Neil Postman, author of Amusing Ourselves to Death, argued in 1986 that thanks to the entertaining, image-based world of television, we've lost the ability to concentrate on topics of importance. Postman died a few years ago, but I can imagine that he would have felt that our fragmented digital technologies have thoroughly destroyed students' ability to pay attention.

Now, Postman was kind of technological determinist, which means he ascribed an awful lot of power to technologies. I'm not nearly as pessimistic. However, I do think he has a point. When I discuss this with students, most agree that they have poor attention spans and that this has quite a bit to do with technology.

So, what should be done? In part, professors need to adapt to Generation Y and their fragmented experiences with technology. This doesn't mean professors need to stand on their heads to be entertaining, but it does mean the traditional lecture format doesn't work as well as it used to and needs to be combined with interactive activities and media resources. However, students need to adapt as well. There are many situations in life that will require full attention, so listening to a professor is good practice. Lecturing might be a dying art, but it is a valuable art, and students ought to pay attention.

I love talking to students about these issues, so thanks for inspiring this blog entry, Ryan! I'd love to hear what some of you have to say as well, if you're still paying attention to this article and haven't clicked on a link already!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Thinking of trading your dorm room in for an off campus apartment? Check out my article about questions students should ask themselves about off campus housing before they make the move. I hope this will make your decision easier!

Let me tell you about my experience as an undergraduate at Rutgers. I stayed in the dorms all four years, for a number of reasons. First, I lived in Demarest Hall, the greatest dormitory on the Planet Earth. Well, probably not, but it suited me well. It was a "special interest dorm," which means residents had to apply to live in special interest sections (like art, Spanish, creative writing, etc.) and participate in weekly activities. I was in the History section. The dorm attracted an ecclectic mix of students and was a genuine community, with all the advantages (friendships, activities, fun) and disadvantages (drama, drama, drama). Plus Demarest was centrally located on a campus where housing was hard to come by, which was a huge plus.

Having found a dorm that felt like home, I stuck around because it made me feel secure. I was dealing with some pretty heavy family and money issues, so having a community to return to was comforting. I had plenty of stress in my life, and the responsibility of an off campus apartment sounded like more stress than I wanted. In addition, housing in New Brunswick, New Jersey is neither cheap nor luxurious (to say the least), so I didn't have that incentive to leave the dorms. Most of my friends stayed in the dorms too, so that was the clincher.

In retrospect, I wish I had found an apartment senior year. It would have been a boost to my self-confidence to know I could live independently. When I visited a few years back, I walked through the cramped hallways of Demarest Hall and felt clautrophobic, and wondered how in the world I lived with so little space for so long? And how in the world did I eat at Brower Commons for four years?

On the other hand, I've had plenty of time since then to become independent, pay a mortgage, raise a daughter, and take care of all the responsibilities that come wth adulthood. So maybe enjoying the convenience of a dorm for awhile wasn't so bad.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Should public colleges and universities display secular Christmas decorations, like Christmas trees and lights? In the United States, this has become a heated controversy in recent years, and I'd love to hear what my readers have to say about this.

Those who support Christmas decorations on college campuses argue that Christmas is an important part of American culture and of the lives of the majority of students. Refusal to display Christmas decorations brings up freedom of speech issues, as it is banning a form of expression important to many students. They argue it is an example of politically correct extremism. On the other side of the issue, students who are not Christian feel excluded by these decorations and celebrations. Public universities receive public funding, and many feel it is a violation of the separation of church and state to display images associated with a religious holiday. Non-Christians may feel like Christmas decorations are a subtle way to push religious beliefs upon them, under the guise of "Christmas is for everybody."

I think people with opinions on both sides of this issue would benefit from trying to understand this issue from the perspective of others. For those who favor Christmas decorations on campus and in other public places: try to imagine what it must feel like to live in a society where the culture's biggest celebration of family and giving is based around a tradition that is contrary to your own. Non-Christians often feel like they have to choose between betraying their own beliefs or opting out of a major component of American culture. Christmas is absolutely everywhere in American culture, and it's comforting to have a few Christmas-free public spaces this time of year.

Likewise, people who want Christmas symbols out of public spaces should try to understand the other side as well. To many Americans, Christmas is a joyful celebration that they associate with their most beloved childhood memories. To have someone come along and say that the images of this celebration are exclusionary can be painful. For those that see Christmas as an important religious celebration, attempts to limit the expression of Christmas can feel like persecution.

Here's my personal take on things. I don't think there needs to be a ban on all secular symbols of Christmas on campuses. These symbols bring many students joy and comfort , especially as finals roll along, and they are an important part of American culture. Campuses can balance these Christmas symbols with secular displays of non-Christian holidays throughout the year (and not just Hanukkah, which is a relatively insignificant religious festival). However, I do think campuses should show respect for non-Christian members of their communities and voluntarily limit the amount of Christmas symbols on campus. Since I am Jewish, I personally appreciate efforts like these very much. Students should be free to decorate personal spaces like dorm rooms in any way they want, but should understand that public spaces on campus are for everybody.

This, of course, is solely my own perspective. I'd love to hear what you think. Also, please check out my suggestions for holiday gifts for college students.

Naomi R-G

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

I try not to get too preachy, but here's some strong advice to students: vote! vote! vote! For my U.S. readers: now that your college midterms are over, it's time to think more about this important midterm election. This may be the most important U.S. election in years. Senate and House races across the country are extremely close (and nasty), and this election may or may not result in both houses of Congress shifting to the Democrats and George W. Bush losing quite a bit of influence. With everything that's going on--North Korea, the War in Iraq, terrorism--the party in charge is going to make a huge difference.

Along with the fact that this is an important midterm election, there's another reason college students and other young people need to vote. The Generation Y demographic (people born roughly between 1977 and 1997) are considered by many to be apathetic, self-centered, and not the least bit concerned about what's going on. Do you want to prove this stereotype wrong? Then vote.

Another good reason to vote: politicians don't focus on issues that impact young people because so few young people vote. Advertisers love the Generation Y demographic and spend a ton of money and energy trying to get you to buy stuff. Politicians, however, don't pay much attention to you at all. In other words, the powers that be think of young people as important consumers and not as important citizens. Wouldn't you like to change that?

Things have changed so much since my mother went to college in the 1960s during the Vietnam War era. In 1964, when my mother was a sophomore at the University of Minnesota, many students were uncertain of how they felt about the war. Most of their fathers had fought in World War II, so they had been raised to support the government and the military, but many also had doubts about this particular conflict. To address student concerns, the university held a sit-in in a huge auditorium. Pro-war and anti-war experts spoke for hours, and the students just listened so they could make up their own minds. Even though this was in the middle of midterm exams, thousands of stuents flooded the auditorium because they felt it was important to be informed.

In my experience, Generation Y students are not apathetic. In fact, since 9/11 and the beginning of the War in Iraq, I've seen students become more and more interested and concerned about current events. However, I do think many Generation Y students feel hopeless, like nothing they do can make a difference. This is how students of today differ from students in 1964, and that's a shame.

So I'll get off my soapbox now. I'll be voting on Tuesday, and I hope you will be too.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Need some songs for study breaks to help you relax and study more effectively? To offer you suggestions for great songs to blare in your room or on your iPod, I asked my students to suggest some of their favorite study break songs. Also, check out my suggestions for other healthy procrastination habits, including mindless television, awesome novels, funny movies , and study snacks.

My students can probably offer much better advice to you Generation Y students about music than I can! But in case I can be of use to you as well, here's a list of the music I loved to listen to when I was a student.

• Fleetwood Mac-- I drove everyone in my dorm crazy with my Fleetwood Mac craze. I listened to Rumours over and over (The Chain, Go Your Own Way, Dreams, Gold Dust Woman).
• Elton John-- My roommate Michele was largely responsible for this. My favorite loud Elton John study songs were I'm Still Standing, Love Lies Beeding, I Don't Wanna Go on With You Like That, and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
• REM-- I discovered REM in college, and now they're my favorite band. As an undergrad, I listened to Out of Time (Losing My Religion, Texarkana, Me in Honey) and Reckoning (South Central Rain, Rockville). In grad school, I listened to Monster (Bang and Blame, What's the Frequency, Kenneth?) and Up (Walk Unafraid, Lotus, Diminished, Sad Professor).
• Billy Joel-- My history class friend Eric and I memorized the words of the last verse of We Didn't Start the Fire. (Yeah, I was a total geek.) I also loved The Stranger, Moving Out, and My Life.
• Cocteau Twins--This was from my annoying quasi-goth alternative music phase. If you haven't heard them, this music is mellow and gothy and has mostly inaudible lyrics, so it's great study music. My favorite albums were Heaven Or Las Vegas and Blue Bell Knoll.
• Nirvana-- A mandatory choice for an angsty Generation X type like myself. Great loud Nirvana study break music includes Heart Shaped Box, About a Girl, Pennyroyal Tea, and of course Smells Like Teen Spirit.
• Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young-- Great college music for all generations. They offer mellow study music (Teach Your Children, Wasted on the Way, Guinevere) and good loud study break music (Ohio, Woodstock).
• Peter Gabriel-- Peter Gabriel music reminds me so much of Demarest Hall, especially my friends Andrew and Seth. My favorite songs are I Have the Touch and Games Without Frontiers.
• Concrete Blonde-- One of my graduate school favorites for rockin' study break music. My favorite albums were Mexican Moon (Heal it Up, I Call It Love, Jenny I Read) and Bloodletting (Darkening of the Light, Joey).

But seriously, check out my students' suggestions for great study break songs, and please leave some suggestions of your own!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Are professors biased? Is there a liberal bias against Christians on college campuses? What is the definition of liberal bias or conservative bias? The answers to these questions are complicated and subject to interpretation. So here's my personal take on things:

Yes, bias in the classroom does exist. Many professors are liberal, and therefore much of this bias is liberal. (Keep in mind, however, that some schools and professors are more liberal or conservative than others, and not all bias is liberal.). If you ask social critics such as Ann Coulter or David Horowitz, this is a very serious problem. I think they are exaggerating. Although I do think it is an extremely serious problem if professors discriminate against their students based on political or religious beliefs, I don't think that a professor's personal opinions matter as much as some people may think.

First of all, all professors have bias (as do students). Although the professor can attempt to keep the class as balanced as possible, it's impossible for that bias not to affect the class to some degree. The topics, readings, and discussions chosen by the professor will reflect how the professor sees the world.

Second, professors should have the right to express their personal opinions openly, just as students should. Wouldn't you rather know where your professor stands on the issues being discussed in class than for this to be a mystery? During the McCarthy era, professors with the "wrong" views were fired and silenced. It's important to maintain an atmosphere where everyone can express their opinions, including professors.

There's a line, however, between bias and discrimination. All professors have bias, but they have an ethical obligation to observe certain democratic practices in the classroom:

• A professor has an obligation to grade each student with the exact same criteria, regardless of a student's opinions. An excellent paper that states an opinion the professor strongly disagrees with should receive an A, and a lousy paper that echoes the professor's opinions should receive a D.
• A professor has an obligation to treat each student with respect and kindness, regardless of a student's opinion. Students who state their opinions in class should be addressed with respect and invited to elaborate, regardless of that opinion.
• If a student is attacked by other students for expressing his or her opinions, the professor needs to put a stop to this.
• A professor should not try to persuade students. It's fine if professors state their opinions and explain why they feel that way, but it's not their job to convince other people they are wrong.
• If a professor expresses his or her opinion, he or she must be willing to entertain other opinions and accept polite disagreement from students.
• To a reasonable degree, professors should expose the class to multiple opinions about a controversial issue to help students make up their own minds.

If you have a professor who discriminates against students, you should complain to the professor, the department, and/or the school. But please understand that this is a serious accusation, and that most professors who express their opinions do not discriminate against students who disagree with them. Personally, I would much rather have a student who strongly expresses opinions that are different than mine than a student who says nothing at all. Talk to the professor if you have concerns, and you may just find yourself in a friendly and intelligent conversation.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

This blog is entry is inspired by the two sweet students who were in my office this morning, one of them in tears, because they had missed my paper deadline. I want to talk about deadlines: how to keep them in perspective, why professors feel they are so important, and how to get deadline extensions if you need them.

I don’t know what’s going on at your school, but at Colorado State University this week, everyone’s having a meltdown. It’s just that time of the semester, you know? Break is still weeks away, and everybody has a long list of deadlines, deadlines, deadlines. When I ask students how they are doing, I am inevitably met with phrases such as, “three papers due this week,” “so freaking tired,” and “Ack! Too much pressure!” (The last phrase is actually the catchphrase of Tweek, my favorite South Park character, but you get the idea.)

So why are professors so insistent on deadlines? Well, it’s mostly because of our crazy schedules. We have a zillion time-consuming projects to complete, just like students do, and one of those projects is to grade our students’ papers. When we plan our schedules, we know that we’re going to get 40 papers on October 20, and we estimate how much time it will take to grade them. If we don’t establish deadlines, the papers would fly in on many different days, making it impossible to schedule the grading. For that reason, some professors get angry when papers don’t get turned in because it seems disrespectful. You know how students hate professors who don’t seem to understand that their class isn’t the only priority students have in their lives? Professors feel the same way about students who don’t respect their time.

I hate to say that another reason we emphasize deadlines is because “it’s for your own good,” but it’s true. You need to learn how to manage your time and meet deadlines now. It’s not going to get any easier once you are working and possibly also juggling a family. In school, the consequences of missing a deadline might be a letter grade or two; at work, missing the deadline could cost a company money and you can lose your job.

That said, there are perfectly good reasons to miss a deadline, but it’s much, much easier to get an extension if you ask before the deadline instead of afterwards. If you tell the professor two weeks ahead of time that have four papers due during the same week and ask for an extension, you might get it. This approach shows the professor that you do respect his or her time and are a responsible, professional person. It’s same approach you’ll take at work; give your boss some notice that you have too much on your plate, and the deadline may get moved. If many students in your class have a big deadline in two classes at the same time, let both professors know, and it’s quite likely that one of them will give the whole class an extension.

Also, if you know at the beginning of the semester that it’s going to be hard to meet deadlines because of illness, family obligations, or something out of the ordinary, let the professor know as soon as possible and he or she will work with you. It’s not necessary to share all your personal details; just let professors know you’re dealing with a problem.

What do you do if you miss a deadline and haven’t had a conversation with your professor? This is harder. Apologize and turn the paper in as soon as you can. If there’s a genuinely good reason why the paper is late, talk to the professor, and maybe you won’t be penalized. Please note that your professor will be leery of any excuse because an awful lot of problems seem to occur in students’ lives when a paper is due! This time around, about 15% of my students missed my paper deadline, even though I assigned the paper over a month ago, and that’s typical. As much as possible, don’t put your paper off until the last minute. Then if you have last minute problems, like a nasty cold or computer problems, it won’t matter so much because the paper is almost done.

But whatever you do, don’t have a meltdown. Test anxiety isn’t productive, and neither is deadline anxiety. It may seem like an emergency situation that your printer doesn’t work on a morning that you need to print out your paper twenty minutes before class, but in the grand scheme of things this isn’t such a big deal, you know? To prevent meltdown, manage your time as well as possible before the deadline, ask for extensions ahead of time if necessary, and keep things in perspective. Oh, and for stress relief, try out these study snacks.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

One of the sweetest surprises in my life lately arrived in the form of an out-of-the-blue email from Michele, my college roommate. We hadn’t communicated since graduation due to some petty college drama issues that I don’t want to bore you with. (Needless to say, a guy was involved.)

College friendships can be challenging because there’s no getting away from one another, especially if you’re living in a dorm. The tendency is to share your deepest secrets and vulnerabilities, and although that makes for meaningful friendships, it also leads to Drama. Ah, drama. I picked up a journal I wrote junior year, and I could not believe what a drama queen I was! I spent pages whining and angsting about conflicts in my dorm that I don’t even remember now.

Students, be kind to your college friends. You’ll forget all about the latest Drama of the Week crisis, but you’ll never forget the special people with whom you share the life-changing experience of college. Let me tell you a little bit about my girls from college.

First, there’s Michele, who inspired this blog entry. We met freshman year as we suffered through the World’s Worst 8:00 a.m. College Calculus Class. (You think I’m exaggerating? Ask Michele). I managed to survive the class with a C+ and a new friendship. As roommates, we spent a lot of time listening to Elton John and occasionally blared her Barry Manilow records with the window open. She went through a Guns ‘n’ Roses phase senior year, and I pretended to be disgusted (since I was going through my annoying quasi-goth alternative music phase), but secretly I always feel nostalgic for Michele when I hear Sweet Child O’ Mine.

Then there’s Susan. We became friends pretty much instantly, when she stopped by my floor in hopes of running into some guy she liked. She got me instead (which is just as well, since he was kind of a pervert). Susan nursed me through my freshman year traumatic breakup (speaking of Drama of the Week) and was a bridesmaid at my wedding. I helped her finish a sculpture project in the middle of the night, and she helped me make a hideous blue mug. It’s on my desk right now, and I love it.

Next is Erika, who was the most like me of all my college friends. Have you ever had a friend with whom you shared a million nonsensical inside jokes? That was Erika. I think we spent about seven months total holed up in her room, listening to her Chess cassette. We shared an unfortunate chapter involving two particularly odd guys we dated from student government, but let’s not get into that.

Then there was Laura, who transferred to Rutgers our junior year. Laura seemed way more hip and sophisticated than me, so I was a little surprised at first that she kept hanging around. We took a trip down to D.C. together, and I have this peaceful memory of walking around Georgetown with Laura in the most beautiful fall weather. Laura and I lost touch a few years ago (so Laura, if you’re out there, give me a shout!)

So those are my college girls, who mean the world to me. I’ll have to tell you more about my crazy college dorm one of these days. Shouts out to everyone from Demarest Hall!

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

There are several reasons why students plagiarize papers. First, a failure to understand the definition of plagiarism. Second: a blatant disregard for academic integrity combined with extreme laziness. The third reason: desperation. In my experience, plagiarism almost always results from the third reason.

It goes something like this: A student becomes overwhelmed with the chaos of college life and the never ending list of pressures and deadlines. A 10 page paper is due on Monday, and the student hasn’t even done the research yet! And a lot is riding on this paper, since the student got a D on the midterm and the paper is worth 40% of the grade. Plus the subject material is difficult and the student doesn’t fully understand what’s expected on the paper. Ack! Ack! Then someone stops by with a paper written by a student at a different school about the same topic. Or the student finds something on a college essay plagiarism website that just needs a few modifications to fit the assignment. If this were a sappy TV teen drama, this would be the dramatic moment of truth in the episode.

I understand the temptation, but believe me, if you’re ever faced with the temptation, avoid plagiarism. Professors know how to prevent plagiarism, and it’s not worth the risk of failing the class or facing expulsion. And besides, you know your education is worth more than this to you.

There are better strategies to approach this situation. First, figure out what the penalty is for a late paper. You might lose ten points, but that will give you more time to write a quality paper. If you have a good reason, such as two other papers due the same week, ask the professor for an extension. If turning in the paper late isn’t possible, find other ways to clear your schedule so you can devote the next few days to the paper. Offer your shift at work to someone who needs overtime. Postpone your Saturday night date until Wednesday. See if another professor is willing to give you an extension on some other impending assignment.

If none of this is possible, try to keep things in perspective. What’s the worst thing that will happen if your paper sucks? Will a poor grade in this one class affect your life dramatically? Probably not, and it certainly won’t affect your life as much than getting caught plagiarizing.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

College is bad for your health. Many students don’t get enough sleep or exercise, have way too much stress in their lives, and live in close quarters with hundreds of people and zillions of germs. But perhaps the most unhealthy experience of many college students is their relationship with food.

One common problem is the Freshman Fifteen. No, not all students will gain fifteen pounds their freshman year, but an awful lot of students do. Students leave their parents’ kitchen and suddenly are 100% responsible for their own food intake. For me, it was more tempting to indulge in two desserts than it was to drink!

But, you know, there are worse things you can do to your body and psyche than gain a few pounds. Thing is, at the same time that students are in a situation where weight gain is common, they experience increased pressure to stay thin. This is, of course, especially true for female students. There’s this media-fueled image of the “hot co-ed” that many young women want to live up to, and many feel an awful lot of pressure to impress the guys. Eating disorders are rampant on college campuses, especially bulimia, which tends to make its onset in college-aged women (while anorexia more commonly makes its onset in high school and middle school students).

Because I teach classes about gender and media images, many of my students have approached me to discuss their eating disorders and their poor relationships with food. I’ve heard such awful stories. One of the saddest things female students have told me is how they feel uncomfortable eating around both male and female students, as if eating were an unnatural and unfeminine thing to do. A student told me she got dirty looks from her friends when she brought a hamburger to the lunch table, because they just ate salads. How warped is that?

Yes, it’s a good idea to develop healthy eating habits and avoid the Freshman Fifteen. But food is a necessary and enjoyable part of human experience, so don’t focus too much on what you eat. You’re in college to get an education and to learn something about yourself, not to be a runway model. This should be a time for young women to reach their potential and develop self-confidence, regardless of their dress size.

Oh, and if you or someone you know has an eating disorder, please contact your school’s health center or counseling center immediately. This is a medical emergency, and it happens to be a common one that many schools are well equipped to handle.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

I graduated from college in 1992, so I’m not exactly mummified. But in the years since I graduated, technology has transformed the college campus and the college experience. My technology savvy Generation Y students stroll around campus with their iPods and cell phones. They write papers on their laptops while updating their MySpace or Facebook pages and instant messaging their roommates.

Here’s what college was like way back in the day (a whole fourteen years ago!) As an undergraduate, I did not own a computer. Only a few of my lucky friends owned these expensive apparatuses, like my friend Laura. When we had to write papers, the rest of us poor schmucks used typewriters, waited in line for hours at the computer lab, or hung out in Laura’s room. I also did not have email. When my friend Andrew studied abroad in Germany, we exchanged letters, which took a full week to reach each other.

And music? I got my first CD player as a college graduation present. I listened to cassettes and made mix tapes when I was bored or had a broken heart. I would have sold my right arm for an iPod, if such a thing existed. Instead, my cassette Walkman with a broken battery case was one of my favorite possessions. The tapes would get tangled, and I’d have to unwind them by hand with a pen cap.

And cell phones? Are you kidding? I had a couple of friends who carried around Walkie Talkies (Betsy and Shaun, this means you), but most of us just had room phones that weren’t even cordless. There was no voice mail, but my roommate Michele had an answering machine that would crash onto the floor if you pulled the phone too hard. My stepmother, who graduated from the same school in 1977, thought I had it made with a room phone, because in her day students had to share a pay phone down the hall.

It floors me how important technology has become in the lives and educational experiences of my students. My students text message each other in class (a major professor pet peeve), and listen to their iPods all the time, as if their lives had a soundtrack. One of my students last year sat in the front row, participated actively, and listened to her iPod. She said she couldn’t concentrate otherwise (and she got an A in the class). Students can do most of their research at their desk, check their grades on-line, and are accustomed to Power Point in the classroom.

Some professors complain that students are losing out on interpersonal skills because they communicate via IM and email and tune everybody out with iPods. To some degree, this may be true. But hey, students, I would have loved all of this technology when I was an undergraduate. So enjoy it.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Some of the best classes I took in college were ones that made me feel very uncomfortable and challenged my assumptions about how the world works.

In one of my very favorite classes, my class debated the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The professor urged us to join a debate team that represented a side we totally disagreed with. Now, I didn’t know much about the issue at the time, but because I’m Jewish, I assumed I would be on the side of the Israelis. So I took the professor’s advice and joined the debate team that represented the most radical Palestinian viewpoint. Most of the other Jewish students in the class did the same.

At first, we didn’t know where to start because we all thought the Palestinians were dead wrong and lacked logical arguments to back their cause. So we started doing research, and that’s when things started getting uncomfortable. I realized that the Palestinians have rational, intelligent arguments for feeling the way the do, and that the Israelis have not always been unquestionably right. When the debate was over, the professor asked the class which side we most supported. I didn’t answer, because I was very confused, and when I walked home from class, my body was shaking. I realized that throughout my childhood, in Sunday School and even from family members, I’d learned things about Palestinians and other Middle Easterners that were inaccurate and just plain racist. I always assumed that I was too “enlightened” to have internalized racist views, but that class made me reconsider.

This debate did not totally change my mind on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But because I was put in the position of having to consider a different viewpoint, I now see this as a complex issue where different people have perfectly rational reasons for reaching different conclusions. I’m grateful to that professor for gifting me with this painful experience.

As you choose your classes, don’t be afraid to take ones outside of your comfort zone. And check out my recommendations for classes that I feel can beneficial for all students to take.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

Okay, students, I don’t like to sound preachy. But as your friendly resident professor, I’m here to remind you of how very important attendance is in college. Attendance is the single easiest thing you can do to succeed, and lack of attendance is the single easiest thing you can do to fail. Show up, pay attention, take decent notes, and you’re more than halfway there.

I'm in a grumpy mood about attendance because I gave an exam today at 8 a.m. I don’t have an attendance policy in this class, and about half of my students show up regularly. This really hit home today when I walked into class with my exams in hand, and the classroom was completely full! I thought I was in the wrong room.

Now, I know there are extremely tempting reasons to skip class, especially at 8 a.m., and the most tempting reason is the desire to sleep. Believe me, I understand, as I ‘m the mom of a toddler who rarely sleeps through the night, and I bet I’m more tired than many of my students. And there are other good reasons to miss class. You’re sick. You have a family emergency. You have a test in another class. You’re recovering from a bad breakup. Your PlayStation is beckoning. Your roommate wants to play Frisbee. You have a hangover from the night before. You hate the class with every ounce of your being.

I understand. I was a student once too. And sometimes missing class is unavoidable. But the bottom line is very straightforward: if you care about your grade and want to have a meaningful education, going to class is mandatory, and that means all or most of the time. There’s no way around it.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

I love fashion, and I'm glad that I have college students in my classroom, or I would never know what was in style! But let me offer a little advice about dressing for the college classroom.

Now, I'm no prude. I think women should dress in any way they feel comfortable. Nonetheless, I'm sometimes alarmed by the amount of skin displayed by the young women in my classroom.

The thing is, women have fought an awfully long time to be taken seriously in the classroom. Professors often used to assume that women were only in college to earn their "MRS" degrees (i.e. to find a husband), and didn't pay them much mind. Because of this, I think it's important for female students to take a little pride in themselves as serious students.

Unfortunately, it's hard for professors and fellow students to take a woman seriously who is so scantily clad that she may as well be topless. Clothes like this don't convey the message, "I'm a serious and intelligent student." Don't get me wrong, ladies-- go ahead and dress however you want on the weekends-- but when you're in the classroom, do yourself a favor and turn up the modesty a notch.

And guys, I've got some advice for you too. Casual is fine for a college classroom, but if you wear torn jeans and a filthy T-shirt and have a baseball cap pulled over your face, who's going to take you seriously? There's always a few guys in my class who I call the Baseball Cap Boys, because they sit in the back of the room and hide under their hats, and they're always the last ones whose names I learn. If you must wear a baseball cap (especially if it's a Bad Hair Day), wear it so we can see your face.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

As a professor, I hate giving exams. I hate being responsible for making a whole room full of students miserable and stressed out. And this semester I teach at 8 a.m., so my poor students are extra miserable.

When exam day arrives, there are two kinds of students who are especially miserable: those who barely studied, and those who are overwhelmed with test anxiety. I’m not so concerned about those who didn’t study, because that’s their own problem. But I worry about the students who are freaking out needlessly. (They remind me of my favorite South Park character, Tweek.)

If you have test anxiety, try to put things into perspective. If you don’t do well, what are the consequences? It’s highly unlikely this one exam is will prevent you from getting a job, going to graduate school, or from maintaining your school’s minimum GPA. And no, your performance on this test is not a reflection of your worth as a human being.

There are so many worse things that can happen than a low grade on one lousy test. Let me give you some examples. When I was an undergraduate at Rutgers, a guy in my dorm was nearly killed by a Pepsi machine. When he paid for his soda and it failed to vend, he shook the machine. (Note: never, never do this!) The machine crashed down on top of him, putting him into a coma for days, and now he has to go through life being known as the guy who almost got killed by a Pepsi machine. This is a fate worse than doing poorly on an exam.

Another example: during my sophomore year, my best friend’s roommate almost burned down our dorm. As part of an art project, she glued flower petals into her scrapbook with rubber cement, and decided it would look pretty to cover the flowers with hot wax from a candle. (Note: never, never do this either!) Thankfully she was not hurt, and the fire was contained quickly. But think of it this way: if your roommate did not start a fire in your room, you are having a pretty good day,

So, keep things in perspective! Don’t be Tweek. Excessive worry about an exam is counterproductive anyway; you’re bound to do worse if you don’t relax a little. Be sure to get enough sleep, and check out my suggestions for exam week snacks.

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen

What stresses you out most about college life? Grades? Test anxiety? Financial aid? Leaving home? Friendships and dating? Living with a complete stranger in a tiny dorm room? Avoiding the Freshman 15? Career choices after college?

If college life information is what you seek, I’m here to help! I’ve always wanted to give students common sense, practical information and insight about real life college experiences. Those student handbooks they pass out at orientation are hokey and talk down to students. I’d like to give you useful tools to help you figure out how to have a fabulous academic and social experience at college— in a way that reflects your personality, your interests, and your values.

My name is Naomi Rockler-Gladen, and I’m an assistant professor of communication and media studies at Colorado State University. I’ve been a part of the world of college education for a long time, and I’ve taught at both public universities (Colorado State, Indiana University, Purdue University, University of Minnesota) and a private liberal arts school (Gustavus Adolphus College).

"As a professor, I’ll be giving you the inside scoop about who professors are, which Nutty Professor to avoid, and how to avoid an Angry Professor. I will tell you what you really need to do to be successful in different kinds of classes, and ways to work the system to get into the classes you need. And I’ll help you as you deal with social issues as well, from dating to drinking to friendships to fraternities and sororities. What kind of information would you most like to know about college kife? How can this website be of most use to you? Let me know what kind of articles you’d like to see by posting your ideas in the discussion section below. Tell me where you’re from and what kind of concerns you have about college. I’ll be seeing you around!

Naomi R-G