In Real College: The Essential Guide to Student Life, Douglas Stone and Elizabeth Tippett offer six tips that don't take much extra effort, but can have a big payoff in terms of learning.

1. Study in Groups: Studying can be like working out: if you involve a friend, you're more likely to do it. Talking about material with others, moreover, makes it more interesting and helps you remember it. If you can explain it to someone else, you probably really know it.

2. 'Study' the Syllabus: Don't think of the class syllabus as just a bunch of reading assignments. Instead, think of it as a blueprint for the course. Use the syllabus to help you identify the big questions of the course.  As you study for an exam, imagine that it will ask, "Why is the syllabus organized the way it is and what does that tell us about my view of what we are learning?"

3. Ask Yourself: "Why Are We Reading This?" Read with questions in mind. Why does the reading belong in the course? How does the reading relate to other material we've read?

4. Find the Right Role for Your Own Opinions: Your opinions matter, but you need to earn the right to critique a reading. Before thinking and clarifying your own reactions to a text, make sure that you understand the author's insights or argument. Most folks will be more willing to listen to your opinions if you can demonstrate that you really understand the text you're responding to.

5. Don't Gloss Over Contradictions:  Don't assume everything fits neatly together or that your argument has to account for everything. Pay attention to the things that don't fit. Be aware of the limits of your argument and acknowledge the things that don't fit. If you pay attention to the things that don't fit, you'll make stronger arguments.

6. In Math and Science, Do Practice Problems: You need to go beyond "plug and chug" and memorizing formulas. You need to understand the formulas and be able to apply them to new situations. Make sure that you look at the sample problems in the book. Try doing them before looking at the solutions. Try doing some problems that aren't assigned as you prepare for tests.

Allergies plague a number of college students. Some experience symptoms only during particular seasons and others year-round. Common symptoms experienced by allergy sufferers include runny nose; red, swollen, or itchy eyes; cough; and scratchy throat. A few sufferers experience skin rashes or hives as well. If you are an allergy sufferer, your immune system reacts to harmless substances as if they were a real emergency, producing antibodies that are triggered by such things as cigarette smoke, mold spores, pollen, and pet dander. These antibodies, when in contact with an allergen that provokes them, produce histamine, which causes the symptoms noted above. When an individual moves to a different environment (like college), sometimes they react to allergens that they have not been exposed to in their previous environment. Thus, a college student may experience allergies that they have never been known to have before.

Fortunately, there are many effective treatments for allergies. If you think you may have allergies, check out the Student Health Center Self Care for Allergies website (http://studenthealth.truman.edu/self-care_for_allergies.htm). Another good reference is http://www.webmd.com/diseases_and_conditions/allergies.htm. If you need more assistance, call the Health Center at extension 4182 to make an appointment.

Finding scholarship jobs on the Truman campus can be a daunting task at times. Unless you have connections with offices on campus, you may find it difficult to locate a job--a job that is required to keep most Truman scholarships. eRecruiting is a website sponsored by the Career Center where many jobs are posted.

You access eRecruiting through the Career Center's website (http://career.truman.edu/). The student login for eRecruiting is located at the top of the Career Center's website. Once you've entered the eRecruiting website, you need to create an account by clicking the link on the left-hand side of the page in the 'Students' box. Use the password 'bulldogs' to continue. Follow the directions until you've created your account. Once you have an account, you can upload a resume and view internship and job opportunities. You can find scholarship jobs by going to 'Jobs & Internships' on the horizontal menu bar and then selecting 'job/internship search.' In the '1-Click Searches' box, you can find postings for scholarship, work study, institutional, and even part-time jobs in the Kirksville community. For help with navigating eRecruiting, please contact the Career Center located in the McKinney Center.

Quote of the Week

--From American Association of University Professors, "Resolution on 'Liberal Learning'"

You can find the complete resolution at http://www.aaup.org/events/archived/2003/libresol.htm