September 2002: Vol. 81, No. 4September 2002: Vol. 81, No. 4 |
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 Sherrie Nist and Jodi Patrick Holschuh (MA '95, PhD '98) hope that College Rules! will give students the tools they need to succeed in college. |
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Every college student has stared into a textbook, scanned the boldface words, squeaked a highlighter over a sentence, only to awake from a stupor and realize that the last 20 pages were a blur. Two UGA professors are all too familiar with these common study mistakes that can waste a student's time and destroy a GPA. Having spent their careers studying the science of learning, Sherrie Nist, director of the Division of Academic Enhancement, and Jodi Patrick Holschuh (MA '95, Ph.D. '98), an assistant professor in the department, decided to share their best study tips with would-be coeds in the new book College Rules! How to Study, Survive, and Succeed in College (Ten Speed Press), released this summer.
Inspired by their scholarly findings about college learning and their experiences with fledgling freshman in UGA's Learning to Learn courses, Nist and Holschuh wrote the book hoping that their advice on effective note taking, concentration, and annotation—one of the authors' favorite learning strategies—will prepare readers for the scholastic challenges they'll face in college. "I don't think people understand how complex learning is," says Nist. "There are so many pieces that need to come together to maximize learning."
In addition to study strategies, the book also includes cautionary tales of freshman faux pas based on the real life experiences of UGA students. With stories about "Robert," a math student who became so stressed that half of his face became temporarily paralyzed, and "Kevin," the anthropology student who studied by only memorizing boldface words, the authors illustrate the many things that can go wrong on a student's way to a degree.
Nist and Holschuh hope their academic survival guide gives students the tools they need to take on college academia. "The main objective is to prepare students for the reality of college," says Holschuh. "If they understand what they are supposed to do, then we've done our job."
French film festival is class assignment . . . and excuse to hobnob with stars
Cannes for credit
A sign reading "Be a friend, give me a ticket," got Carly Calhoun (BA '02) plucked out of the crowd and onto the red carpet at this year's Cannes Film Festival. As one of the lucky few to make it into the screening for Jack Nicholson's "About Schmidt," Calhoun not only hobnobbed with celebrities, but dutifully completed her homework assignment.
It's tough duty critiquing films in Cannes for class credit, but these UGA students were up to the challenge (from left): Jennie Marie Beane (with sunglasses), Jean Ann Kiser, Harriet Luce, Matthew Johns (in back), Ann Lee Wisehart, and Eleanor Morrison.
Calhoun was one of 10 lucky UGA students who took a week-long field trip to Cannes as part of UGA professor Nathaniel Kohn's Arts Criticism and Reviewing course in Avignon, France this spring.
"I wanted them to have a real-life experience of what's arguably the world's best film festival," says Kohn. "To not only see films and criticize them, but to explore the environment of the film festival and see how the electricity of the festival plays into how they view and critique films."
When they weren't sneaking into big budget films or waiting in line for lesser-known independents, students attended panel discussions with directors like Michael Moore ("Roger and Me") and film critic Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times. "We talked about violence in American films and how hard it is to get a film made," says Calhoun. "That was one of the most interesting things—learning about the film industry."
Once they returned to Avignon, students in the workshop-style class swapped stories about walking with Leonardo DiCaprio's entourage and dancing with rapper Jay-Z, as well as evaluating each other's film critiques and "color pieces" about the trip.
This marked the second year that Kohn has taken his class to Cannes—a field trip he hopes will continue.
"I'd like to do this every year," he says. "Students like it a lot and it's a great opportunity for them to see films and learn about the industry."
Incoming freshman writes chapter and verse on stupidity
Real Dumb Laws
While most incoming first-year students spent the summer scouring Target's aisles for shower shoes and x-tra long bed sheets, UGA freshman Jeff Koon was being interviewed by Katie Couric and chatting with celebrities on the set of morning talks shows as he promoted his new book, You May Not Tie an Alligator to a Fire Hydrant: 101 Real Dumb Laws.
Koon, a Columbus native, is no stranger to publicity. For the past four years, he and co-author Andy Powell have been on every TV program from Montel Williams to Court TV, exposing some of the most inane laws buried in city, state, and federal law books.
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 Koon's book was inspired by his Web site, which was named a Yahoo! "Site of the Year." |
"A lot of it was just because we were bored and had nothing better to do," says Koon. "Also, we were both into Web design at the time."
Featuring wacky legislation, such as a California law making it illegal to play bingo while drunk and a Delaware law prohibiting selling perfume as a drink, the site quickly garnered a lot of attention from Web surfers and was named one of Yahoo!'s "Sites of the Year."
As the Web site's popularity showed no signs of slowing—it often gets more than 500,000 hits a week—Simon & Schuster approached the boys about turning their "Dumb Laws" concept into a book. The result is a compilation of zany laws from all over the country that may make readers wonder what legislators are thinking.
"It's not like the dumb laws pervade the law books," reassures Koon. "But I also feel that lawmakers can go off on tangents sometimes and create unnecessary laws."
In addition to the book, the enterprising Koon and Powell have expanded their Bueno Technologies Internet company to include other "Dumb" sites about dumb bumper stickers and dumb facts.
While all of these accomplishments make Koon a standout among UGA frosh, not everyone is impressed. "On the set of Fox News we saw Alf," says Koon. "But, we couldn't take a picture with him because he said it would ruin his image."
At least Simon & Schuster is still impressed. The editors plan to release another book based on Koon and Powell's "Dumb Warnings" site next year.
War correspondents in training
As they sat under the scorching Mojave Desert sun, surrounded by the occasional faux grenade launch, two UGA students had an experience any aspiring war correspondent would envy. For three weeks this summer, former Red & Black editor Samira Jafari (see photo at right) and Graham Garrison (ABJ '02), covered mock wars at the U.S. Army's National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif.
The trip, underwritten in part by UGA's James M. Cox Jr. Institute for Newspaper Management, gave the students a chance to report in war-like conditions. Jafari—who hopes to become a foreign correspondent—learned one new skill about military reporting: sometimes the best stories come from casual conversations with rank-and-file soldiers.
"Sit in a sandstorm with a guy for two hours and you're going to get to know the guy," Jafari told the Athens Banner-Herald. "Sometimes you have to put away the pen and paper."