Finals Tips: How to beat the stress before it beats you!

There are only 2 more weeks of classes left (Woo!) but this also means Final exams are also coming up (Boo!).  So I thought it would be an appropriate time to start discussing ways to know what your teacher plans on putting on the test and other things to keep you on the right track to getting an A.

1.  Don't study so much that you get stressed out and are unable to study.  It happens all the time but don't let it happen to you.  Just focus on all the materials your professor gives you and you'll do great.

2.  Go to any study session available. Teachers usually have these or ask their T.A.'s to have a session for students to come and ask questions.  Get the bulk of your studying done before this so you know exactly what you need to know or want to know for the test.

3.  Have some you time.  Go work out or place some video games.  Even going to the mall for a little will help give your mind a little break to make sure you don't over work it.

4.  Pay attention in the classes leading up to the exam.  Teachers almost always have a class dedicated to what is on the exam. If you have been slacking all semester, this is the time you should really tighten your chain and get to class.

5.  Go to sleep.  Take a nap.  Get lots of sleep to keep your energy up by sleeping enough.  Make sure you give yourself enough time to study and don't pull an all-nighter.

6.  Arrive on time.  You don't want to wake up late and be extremely anxious from being late.  Plus your going to want every second of the time to use for your final.

7.  Study in Groups.  If you aren't studying the right way, this is the best way to make sure you are.  If other students picked up the same themes and details from class as you have, then you are on the right track to getting a good grade.

8. When the exam is over, let it go!  Forget it! Move on to the next one, or go enjoy the break!  If you do have major concerns, go see your professor.

Hopefully these tips help you out with the next two weeks.  And maybe you'll survive finals week :)

Are there really that many Squirrels?

Every so often I notice a squirrel prancing around my home in Landing, but rarely can I walk the Lehigh campus and ignore the large population of squirrels.  Today, I counted the squirrels I walked by, and I stopped after 30.  I had walked from Packard Lab to Linderman Library.  I did it again, only this time I kept my head straight, I still counted only 13.  So I decided to scan through my face book chat list and asked a few people.  Here are their stories:

A senior in D Chi

“I was taking out garbage one day and I’m walking over to the Trembley dumpster.  I opened the dumpster and a squirrel jumped out and I scream like a girl.  These girls saw me and I was so scared that I just ran and just left the trash there.”

A senior in Theta

“I got cornered by a bunch of squirrels my freshman year.  They chased me back to Dravo.  I was walking from the dining hall.  It was winter and they were getting ornery.”

A sophomore in Psi U

“I was walking to class from my house between Trembley and the parking garage I saw a hawk fly by a tree, rip a squirrel off of it, and devour it on the front lawn.”

A junior in theta

“One time I was walking out of the house and it jumped from the porch to a tree and clung onto it.”

A senior off campus

 “I was walking and it ran out in front of me and I accidentally kicked it.”

A senior in D chi

“One time I saw a kid have a staring contest for 30 seconds.”

As I was asking people for their stories, I was also typing into Google.com trying to see what Lehigh’s squirrel population was.  I found out we have a five-out-of-five squirrel ranking.  Please click on this link to find out more about five-squirrel ranked schools. http://www.kstatecollegian.com/k-state-ranks-high-on-squirrel-population-list-1.724697  

The best advice I can give those with squirrel problems is to read this link.  http://www.unitedwildlife.com/animalssquirrel.html .  Hopefully you won't have to use any of these methods but some of those squirrels are feisty and vengeful so be careful.

Quantity and Quality and Efficiency vs. Local small business: Netflix vs. 48 Hour Video

Netflix is a must on Lehigh’s campus.  You decide:

The 48-hour sketchy business down the street  OR you can sit in the comfort of your own dorm, apartment, and off-campus house to stream the shows, movies, and documentaries from your computer or your Wii or your PS 3 or your XBOX 360.

Instead of throwing a bunch of elaborate sentences saying the pros and cons of Netflix, I listed them so you don’t have to read a 4-page paper.

Pros	Cons
-Basically no effort	-You have to wait for mail-ins
- Easy to obtain	-It costs more than a dollar
-Monthly bill that can be cancelled all the time.	-It’s a huge homework distraction
- Cheap, first month is a free trial
-Has new releases
-Includes more than just movies; it has millions of seasons from TV shows
-You have unlimited movies, shows, etc. for every month you pay for
-Easily used
-Credible
-College students are lazy, Netflix is a solution (to still be lazy but accomplish more)
-There are helpful documentaries you can use as sources for

For a less biased view on Netflix, please visit http://www.netflixreview.com/

This will give you an overview of the good and the bad.  But the bad says there’s no spontaneity but most college students have their computers hooked to their TVs or at least they should. (They are really cheap on Amazon.com for $8 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001YK3Q1A?linkCode=xm2&tag=invihand-20)

One member speaks against Netflix, about the mailing delays, and a few other problems.

http://forums.highdefdigest.com/high-definition-smackdown/86686-netflix-sucks.html

Even though I do agree with the delays, Netflix loads faster than this member implies (“I get greeted with a message saying it will take 5 hours for your movie to start.”)  I have watch thousands of hours on my computer and it takes about 3-4 seconds to load.  Since I started using Netflix (last month), I have watched 5 seasons of Weeds and American Dad, 3 seasons of 30 Rock, tons of SNL, lots of Futurama, and many more shows and even more movies.

Netflix also opened my eyes to something called a documentary.  Which, as an educated college student, I had thought to be those boring things teachers would put on and I would get to take a nap.  As it has it, I was wrong.  There are documentaries on everything.  I have watched my good share of documentaries on foods you shouldn’t eat and have discovered a new world under the ocean.  I also found a documentary that’s useful for my Environmental History class (if the teacher is Chamberlain take it!!).

http://www.netflix.com/ I think you should click on this link and at least take an advantage of a whole month of free rentals.

New Option for Late Night Snacking

Freshman year is full of fun new experiences like the first time you go to the post office and can’t open your box or the first time you figure out how to study for four o’clocks.  Or even the popular discovery of late night snacking.  As a freshman, or even an upper class man, Hawk’s Nest might be your first choice.  But your choice is sadly misguided.

The food at Hawks Nest is greasy and delicious for perfect midnight snack cravings.  But the on-campus late night diner sells you greasy food for almost twice as much as it should. The prices are inflated so much that all your Dining Dollars and occasionally your gold plus is tapped out if you are a frequent visitor.  I used to spend about $5 on an order of 4 mozzarella sticks, and about $6 for 3 chicken fingers.  This order totals up to be $11 for you and a friend.

Another less expensive option is the all time famous Pantry One, more commonly referred to as P1.  It is cheaper and open late.  My favorite choice is an order of perogies (3 for about $3), an order of mozzarella sticks (5 for about $3), and an order of 4 chicken fingers and fries for $4.  This order totals up to be $10 for you and two friends.

Fake IDs and Binge Drinking: Good Idea?

Today I read an article about a student I used to be friends with.  I would post the link but I don’t want to embarrass or hurt the student.  They were arrested last Saturday morning for public drunkenness and underage drinking.  The student was holding a fake identification and was put in a holding cell until sober.

I was recently going to trash the new social policy and explain my stance that it is causing off campus parties to become out of control and an unsafe environment for underage drinkers.  But this article has affected me so much I have to address binge drinking as a problem.

Fake IDs are popular among my community at Lehigh.  I have begun to notice a trend in the types of people who carry them.  I have personal friends who have fake IDs, and I know how they act in the social situations presented to them at Lehigh.  Getting in trouble for underage drinking is a huge problem here, and though I would like to blame the social policy, I must decline because there is a larger factor that has been a problem: Binge Drinking.

Lehigh is known for a party school but that does not mean every weekend you have to go insane and blackout chugging bottles of bankers.  Your body doesn’t need that much alcohol.  It’s unsafe and unhealthy.  Stop pre-gaming with 16 shots and maybe you’ll make it out passed 12 a.m.  I’m embarrassed at times to go out with friends who part take in this kind of behavior.  I'm tired of walking to class at 9 a.m. and occasionally spotting a person with no shoes on, we know you got obliterated last night and you woke up in those clothes with no shoes.

Here’s a Psychology Experiment that was conducted: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2711502/.

The description explained it is “a sample of 3,720 undergraduates was assessed the summer prior to college entrance and during the 4 semesters comprising freshman and sophomore years.” The experimenters were researching relationship “between consumption and fake ID ownership. Sex, Greek membership, and prior drinking were controlled.”

Here’s some serious stories that happened to college students with fake ID businesses:

http://www.collegeotr.com/james_madison_university/jmu_student_not_mclovin_his_jail_sentence_for_fake_id_business_11895

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2001/07/02/fake-ids.htm

Another friendly note not to hit:

 And don't look like:

Student Apathy for Politics

I always thought that the non-voting portion of my peers would evaporate once I left high school and entered a college.  I thought people would be more mature in the 18 to 22 year old age group.  But apparently, voting is still "too difficult" for college students.

I didn't know that it was that hard to vote, even if you are away at school.  I mean the long hours it must take to print out the absentee ballet and the struggling process of filling it out really takes a lot out of me. Voting at school is not hard.  Just fill out a simple sheet of paper and send it in.  Students need to realize they should take initiative and vote to better the future of the country they plan to live in.

I was embarrassed when only 2 or 3 other students would raise their hands to say they had voted.  Even in my political science course, there were barely any students that voted.  I believe the main problem is college students don't try hard enough to get informed or even bother to care about modern politics.  They don't realize the power and freedom they have and don't utilize the advantage of improving their own future.

In my opinion, if you are a citizen and 18 years or older there's no excuse to be uninformed, especially when you live on a college campus with plenty of educated peers and professors.  There's so much information thrown at you on campus that it's easy to find out almost anything about the politics of Pennsylvania or any other state.  However, I can personally understand how it would be hard to know about elections and every candidate, due to busy schedules and heavy schoolwork.  

I can also understand the lazy college student behavior and the disinterest in political conversations when information is not right front of you. Here's a solution: Type your state, election, and the date into a Google search!  It's remarkably easy and only takes a few minutes.  College students need to be more aware of the abundant resources that will aid them in voting.

This website is nonpartisan to any group has information about the next election on the front page.  It helps you register and learn about every candidate. http://www.canivote.org/

It's Cold Out!

Lehigh is always very beautiful, with its clear summer skies and bright green grass, leading into the fall with the gorgeous tree colors.  So beautiful, right until the middle October, then it turns hideous.  I admit, the snow is quite delightful some days: when you are in a heated dorm and don’t have to leave, ever.  You always want to leave your dorm and sometimes it's essential, like for class and food.  You’ll bundle up with warm layers, usually three for each half of your body and a long coat over it.  You’ll have a big wooly scarf on and a hat and maybe even snow boots if the weather is that much against you.  Then you’ll take one step out the door and the cold punches you so hard in the face you end up in the shower with the water turned all the way up on the hot setting, instead of pursuing the adventure of walking down hill through snow to class.

 

It’s a serious problem for me.  I am never eager to arise before the ungodly hour of 8 a.m. because as soon as my bare feet hit the cold tile floor, the only thing on my mind is getting back to my nice warm bed and falling back to sleep.

 

Tips on how to stay warm:

1. Sneak into to lindy on the way up to your room:  there’s Lucy’s café right down stairs so pick up a coffee or some other hot delight they offer. (Or even Johny's if you live in brodhead or off campus.)

2. Wear a warm jacket: this is key; last year I ran around campus wearing sweatshirts and not spending money on a coat.  This year I finally invested in a slight upgrade of outer wear and it already has kept me warm in freezing winds.

3.  Eat a hot meal:  having hot food in your stomach always keeps your belly full and your temperature rise.  Hot soup can really hit the spot on a chilly Lehigh night.

4.  Stop being lazy: If you are freezing and waiting for the bus when you a just a stop or two away, just walk.  Keeping your blood pumping will warm you up before you have to be in your dorm, house or just a class room.  This is especially important when class is a little cold as well.