At some point in your college career, you're going to need a faculty letter of recommendation or a faculty reference for an internship, scholarship, summer job, or graduate school. Will a faculty member know you well enough to write you a great letter? Are you doing everything you can to make sure you get to know your faculty? Good relationships between faculty and students don't just happen by chance. Students need to seek out faculty and work to build those relationships.

• Do you know the names of all your teachers this semester? If you don't know their names, they likely don't know your name. How can you build a relationship without knowing each others' names?

• Do you look for opportunities to develop informal relationships with any of your professors? Do you know anything about their interests?

• Do you question your professors when you disagree with them in class? Actively participating in class is a great way to get them to know you.

• Do you attend events in which professors are involved? If your professor is giving a lecture on campus, do you go?

• Do you invite your professors to the events of the clubs and organizations of which you are a member? Do you invite them to the dance recital, the athletic contest, or fundraiser?

• Do you invite them to join you for a meal in the dining halls? The Residential College Program provides vouchers that allow you to treat a faculty member to a meal without any additional expense on your part. See your advisor if you need a voucher.

Do you own an MP3 player? Do you listen to music frequently with earbuds? Do you plan to have your hearing at the age of 30? 40? 50? Hearing experts are concerned that MP3 players such as the iPod can cause permanent hearing loss. Unfortunately, the loss may not be apparent for years to come and we don't feel hearing loss occurring. The American Speech Language Hearing Association recommends replacing the popular earbud-style speakers since they may lead to more hearing loss than noise-canceling or more traditional headphones. More traditional headphones cover the ear and block more background noise allowing you to play your music at lower volumes. So how do you know if your music is too loud? According to the Mayo Clinic, your music is too loud if:

• Your MP3 player volume is set higher than 60 percent of the maximum
• You can't hear conversations going on around you
• People near you can hear your music
• You find yourself shouting instead of talking when you respond to people nearby

The National Institute of Health, moreover, recommends that you limit your use of portable music players with headphones to no more than one hour per day! Remember, by playing your music too loudly, you can do permanent damage to your hearing. To read more about hearing loss and portable music players, check out:

Effective communication is your key to success! Speech and hearing disorders: build frustration; shatter confidence; increase shame and humiliation; cause embarrassment; create anxiety; and inhibit communication. Is this you or someone you know? The Truman State University Speech and Hearing Clinic may be able to help. The Clinic provides comprehensive speech-language-hearing diagnostic and therapeutic interventions to people of all ages. The Clinic is open year round from 8:30 to 11:30 am and 1:30 to 5:00 pm Monday through Thursday. The Clinic is located in Barnett Hall 121. Services are provided at no cost to you! If you or someone you know is is need of the Clinic's services, call 785-7414.

Quote of the Week

--From Paul Courant, "The Value of Liberal Education: Liberal learning is Worth its High Cost

--and Should Be Available To All"

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