Final exams are looming for college students … and soon, for high schoolers too. So here’s a Fab Five of exam survival tips from nutritionist Jana Klauer, author of “The Park Avenue Nutritionist’s Plan,” who says “all-nighters and a close personal relationship with the candy machine on your hall should not be a rite of passage for college students.”
1. Eat breakfast. Include protein and calcium at every meal and, says the good doctor, avoid high fats before a test. They can make you sleepy.
2. Stockpile healthy snacks: fresh and dried fruits - blueberries, apples, oranges, bananas; low fat cheeses; healthy yogurt (i.e., not sugar-laden); nuts; low-fat Fig Newtons; bottled water and seltzers.
3. Put down the books every few hours and go outside for a walk or run. Bring an exercise buddy and spend at least 15 minutes getting your heart rate up. Read the rest of this entry »
LATEST NEWS:It was San Diego State’s administration and campus police who called in the DEA for an investigation that quickly focused on Fraternity Row and Theta Chi, in particular, where six members were running a slick drug business that included recruiting younger members as “apprentices” to learn the operation. Lovely. Suppose they learned that in business class? Meanwhile, parents and students protested yesterday on campus that the university should be focusing its efforts on drug abuse treatment instead of tough enforcement. Ahem. Because drug dealers are just misunderstood?
Posted Wednesday: It has not been a good week for college kids - or the grown-ups who love them. First came horrifying news of an alcohol-fueled brawl in a UC Berkeley sorority parking lot and the stabbing death of a promising student, who would have graduated with honors later this month.
Then, came news of a massive drug bust at San Diego State, where more than 100 people - including 75 students - were arrested yesterday. SDSU’s Theta Chi (that’s their emblem to your left) and five other fraternities have been suspended, pending investigation of claims that members were openly dealing drugs in their frat houses and on campus. The arrested students were suspended, banned from final exams, and evicted from campus housing. Among them: one potential felon-to-be who would have graduated this month with a degree in criminal justice, and another who would have received his master’s degree in … wait for it … homeland security. Read the rest of this entry »
Back when our moms were in college, dorms were single sex and gentleman callers had to wait in the “beau room,” under a house mother’s watchful eye, till their dates were ready. Now, an increasing number of colleges - Penn State, Wesleyan, Brown, UC Riverside and Oberlin - are offering not just coed floors but coedrooms. It’s not about hanky panky, students say, although when that happens, it’s called “roomcest.” Idea is, the coed option allows best friends to room together even if they’re different sexes.
OK, your thoughts? Punch a button or click “comments” and weigh in.
As everyone should know by now, high schoolers everywhere are freaking out over ever-intensifying college apps competition. How competitive? UC Berkeley just rejected more than 10,000 students with 4.0s.
Now comes word from the other side. Pennsylvania’s Wilkes University wants students so badly it’s wooing them on billboards, pizza boxes, gas stations, MySpace and even on MTV and Comedy Central. The $120,000 ad campaign featured seven prospective students in all, with ad copy designed to convey the idea that this school REALLY knows its students. Here are a few examples, including a MySpace ad devoted to Homecoming Queen Katie Murtaugh (above) and more after the jump. Now you tell us. Charming or creepy? Read the rest of this entry »
Okaaaaay, just a thought … but if you’re planning to break any laws or commit school-banned infractions, it’s probably best not to advertise it before the fact. A University of Buffalo basketball star was suspended last week after university officials discovered he’d posted a Facebook ad looking for someone to do his homework. Here ’tis:
“I am paying anybody who have read the book ‘there are no children here’ by Alex Kotlowitz $30-40 which in some classes you have to read at UB (even more money if you have to read the book a little more!!) to write a 3-4 page paper, on a couple questions which was assigned.”
OK, hiring someone to write your essay? Wrong. So very wrong. Inability to string together a grammatically correct sentence after three years of college? So very much wrong-er.
Coming to your grouchy neighbor’s home: a repellent for teens. Considered a literal gang buster, Compound Security Systems’ Mosquito is an ultrasonic device that emits a high-pitched noise that only teens and most people in their early 20s can hear. The Mosquito has become so popular in Britain that the company is looking to expand to the U.S.
The device works by creating a sound that some teens say is as painful to hear as nails on a chalkboard or a persistent buzzing in the ear. People older than 25 generally can’t hear it because they have lost the sensitive hair cells in their inner ears. The device is used to discourage unruly teens from loitering outside businesses. (To see how it works, check out ABC Nightline’s video clip here.) In response, teens have turned the technology into Mosquito ringtones for their cell phones, making it easy to sneak one by their parents and teachers.
So, is the ‘Mosquito’ a good idea? Take our poll and tell us what you think.
As college tuition reaches stratospheric heights, textbook costs are coming under increased scrutiny. Now, a thousand college professors have signed a petition promising to seek out free or lower cost book options, instead of the heavily hyped, uber-expensive versions pushed by publishers. The typical college student shells out $650-$900 a year on textbooks alone, and most profs have never considered using free online books instead, says Genki Hara, a UC Berkeley student who helped organize the petition drive. Interested? Read the rest of the story here.
Universities have started paying close attention not just to their academic offerings but the epicurean ones too, according to a New York Times piece that described a typical day at Bowdoin College’s dining hall, complete with curried butternut squash soup, vegetable ragout over polenta, Dijon-crusted chicken, and Vietnamese pho. No? Then how about the Maine lobster, New York strip steak and grilled sesame-crusted tuna with wasabi mayo at Virginia Tech? Presumably that picky eater you have at home will develop a suitably refined palate before he takes the SATs, because we think there are green things in some of those recipes, and food may actually touch other food on the plate. Read the rest of this entry »
In this morning’s Times, we look at video game and internet addiction, kids who get iCrazed and how to spot the warning signs before it turns unhealthy. Wii, iPhones and all the technological gadgetry our kids use today are powerful tools for connecting people 24/7 — and for parents who dive into this technology, it can be a wonderful way to connect with your tweens and teens too. But tech toys can also be tools of addiction. Read the story (there’s an accompanying piece on the toddler tech craze, and a column by Times games columnist Gieson Cacho about his own addiction to Everquest, and we’ve put the warning signs here on the blog after the jump), then click “comments” and weigh in with your thoughts. Do you worry about your kids’ overuse of video games or tech toys? Do you set limits for them? Read the rest of this entry »
Spring is high stress season for high school seniors, as they wait, agonize and, occasionally, weep. So we think you’re going to enjoy this letter which was published in the New York Times and appears now on the CollegiateChoice.com web site …
Dear Admissions Committee:
Having reviewed the many rejection letters I have received in the last few weeks, it is with great regret that I must inform you I am unable to accept your rejection at this time. Read the rest of this entry »
Final exams are looming for college students … and soon, for high schoolers too. So here’s a Fab Five of exam survival tips from nutritionist Jana Klauer, author of “The Park Avenue Nutritionist’s Plan,” who says “all-nighters and a close personal relationship with the candy machine on your hall should not be a rite of passage for college students.”
