THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN

FALL 2010

FINALS GUIDE
MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2010

Photo illustration by Jerry Wang/KANSAN

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Table of contents
Distractions What do you think?

7 8

Sleep Grades

9 Food 10 What do you think?

EDITORS NOTE

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his week, Im taking final exams for the last time. Theyre my final finals. After three and a half years at the University and another misguided year at Arizona State, Im finally graduating. I know it sounds crazy, but Finals Week is my easiest week of the semester. Without class and work, I can finally focus on the studying Ive been neglecting for months. Its the only time of year when I drink coffee, and the only time I feel like a good student. You, too, can enjoy Finals Week zen. Just use my mantra: Its only a test. Finals Week alway makes me wonder if I did everything I could have. The looming end of my college career compounds that nagging doubt. Have I made the most of my time here? In August, I made a KU bucket list. See a comedian perform live: check (Aziz Ansari). Write a Morning Brew column for The Kansan: check. I took pictures with my friends on Kivisto Field when Kansas beat Georgia Tech. I saw Cole Aldrich and Nick Collison play against LeBron James. And, after multiple trips to the bustling metropolis of Medicine Lodge, I finally mastered highway driving (a little late, I know). I scored free concert tickets, attended my first

By SARAH KELLy
skelly@kansan.com

tacky Christmas sweater event, and lost my camera at least five times. I still havent been to The Bull or joined a basketball camping group or seen the KU Bar Band play, but I have a few months left in Lawrence. As far as fun goes, Im satisfied with my KU experience. Whether Ive learned enough in First Amendment and Society remains to be seen. But, like I said, its only a test. So dont freak out. All you can do is roll up your sleeves, get to work, and hope for the best. Go learn and create and have a blast. Hurry. Every second counts. If you get to the end of your time at the University and you miss it as much as I do, youll know you did it right.

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Kansan newsroom 2000 Dole Human Development Center 1000 Sunnyside Ave. Lawrence, KS 66045 (785) 864-4810 et cetera The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The student-run Kansan publishes Monday through Friday when school is in session.

Fall 2010 Kansan staff

Editor Alex Garrison Managing editors Erin Brown Nick Gerik Managing editor, Kansan.com David Cawthon Special sections editor Sarah Kelly Design editor Andrew Taylor Design chiefs Anna Allen Helen Mubarak Daniel Rezaiekhaligh Copy chiefs Drew Anderson Sarah Kelly Ashley Montgomery Jacob Muselmann Photo editor Ryan Waggoner Senior photographer Jerry Wang Advertising director Joe Garvey Sales manager Amy OBrien General manager, news adviser Malcolm Gibson Sales and marketing adviser Jon Schlitt

THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2010

FALL 2010 FINALS GUIDE

StUDYING

Jerry Wang/KANSAN

Many distractions can present themselves when it comes time to study for finals. The Academic Achievement and Access center advises that students find an environment that limits distractions, and to plan out their studying time.

How to avoid finals distractions

By Victoria Pitcher
editor@kansan.com Finals Week consists of cramming, late nights, and excluding yourself from the world for hours on end to pull off a passing grade for the semester if you can minimize your distractions. Taylor Huhn, a freshman from Overland Park, says his biggest distraction is Facebook. Its a disease, Huhn said, Ill check my newsfeed every couple of minutes. [Facebook] is always open Always. According to the Facebook press room, there are more than 500 million active Facebook users, making it an easy way to get off task for almost everyone. However, John Stratton, an associate librarian for business and economics, sees students come and go in Anschutz Library and believes Facebook is not only for social networking. Its an informative tool, Stratton said, I think a lot of people are using Facebook for other kinds of things as well as socially. With finals coming up, this popular past time may be something to worry about when it comes time to study. Whether or not you use Facebook, it is still hard to keep on task while studying. The biggest problem is getting focused in the first place, Huhn said. Kristin Scott, the director of the Academic Achievement and Access Center, advises students that environment is important to studying. Ideally, you want to study in a place where you have the least amount of distractions, Scott said. The atmosphere is very crucial to your being efficient and productive in studying, you need to find that place whether its a library on campus or a study room in a residence hall. Scott recommends turning off your cell phone while studying and to choose a place where if you do not need a computer so it is not there to distract you. My halls living room is quiet and comfortable, Huhn said, Its a good atmosphere for studying. Students can also reserve rooms in Anschutz or find quiet zones within the library. Scott also advises that students create a study plan to avoid spending too much time on Facebook. Allow time for social networking sites such as Facebook, but keep it in balance with everything else in the plan. The Academic Achievement and Access Center offers workshops every semester around finals time to help students prepare. These workshops help students develop a study plan. Students can also schedule an individual appointment with the AAAC. These appointments are free and last one hour. Another thing for students to remember is to maintain a support system. If you have a roommate, hold each other accountable. It can also be helpful to study in groups. Most importantly, students must remember to get enough sleep, eat well and exercise in order to maintain their health and lower stress. Edited by David Cawthon

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2010

THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN

FALL 2010 FINALS GUIDE

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2010

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FALL 2010 FINALS GUIDE

What do you think?

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What are you going to do to get through finals Week?

ZACh BROUGh Kansas City, Kan., freshman Blaze through my finals questions and elevate myself to a whole new high knowing that when Im done.

JERRON AShBY Kansas City, Kan., freshman I am going to kushin my grade through studying for finals and make sure my grade is dank.

BEN hERNANDEZ Wichita sophomore Meditate on my bed with a book in my hand and say, I know Arabic.

ChRIStINE thRALL Ottowa freshman Im going to sleep ... Lots and lots of sleep.

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2010

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FALL 2010 FINALS GUIDE

StUDYING

Hit the sack after a long night in the stacks

Experts say your brain needs sleep to learn
By Geoffrey Calvert
editor@kansan.com Many college students prepare for Finals Week by spending hours in a campus library frantically cramming in one last attempt to boost, salvage or maintain a grade. While students may feel it is tradition to stay up all night studying for finals, depriving oneself of sleep to study more is not a beneficial practice. Benefits of a good nights rest include alertness, being cognitively sharp, as well as the ability to concentrate, remember, make critical and creative decisions and be productive, said Jenny McKee, Health Educator at the Wellness Resource Center, via e-mail. All of these qualities are important for test taking. If an individual has had a full nights sleep they will be much more likely to be able to perform optimally on their test. Collin Stephens, a sophomore from Overland Park, said that although he tends to study in the afternoon, he pulled three allnighters last year when studying for finals. He noted the effects that losing sleep had on his body. It hurt my sleep pattern and energy level, Stephens said, But it didnt kill me. I can survive pulling all-nighters. By sticking to a set sleeping schedule students allow their memory to better retain information the student has studied even though it means sacrificing late night study hours. The later into the night that a student studies, however, the less information the brain digests. According to McKee, staying up to cram for a test would be counterproductive. It would not work because our memory of newly learned stuff improves only after sleeping at least six hours. The brain needs time to file new information and skills away in the proper slots so that it can be retrieved later, McKee said. Without enough sleep to do all this filing, the new information does not get properly encoded into the brains memory circuits. Stephens took a different perspective from McKee, however. For me, its different studying all night than it is staying up to write a paper, he said. Students who stay up late to study can improve their chances of retaining information by napping during the day, but only if

Jerry Wang/KANSAN

Staying up all night to study may do more harm than good. Experts say the brain needs at least six hours of sleep to retain new information. they dream. In a study conducted by Robert Stickgold, director of the Center for Sleep and Cognition at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, 99 college students were asked to memorize an intricate maze. Stickgold inserted the students into a virtual representation of the maze, and the students were instructed to navigate through the virtual maze. After this, half of the students took a 90-minute nap, while the other participants were kept awake. Five hours later, all the participants were given the maze again. The students who had napped navigated the maze better than the students who stayed awake, and the nappers who dreamt fared about ten times better than those who did not dream. When you dream, your brain is trying to look at connections that you might not think of or notice when awake, Stickgold wrote in the study. Applying this to studying, by napping after studying during the day, your mind stays refreshed and is not taxed by late night studying, and it works to process information on a deeper level than when one is awake. The sleeping brain seems to be processing information on one level, but on a higher level it helps evolve your memory network, Michael Breus, the clinical director of Arrowhead Healths sleep division, told CNN Health. Edited by Sarah Kelly

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2010

THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN

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pOLICY By Noopur Goel
would receive an F at graduation. Fardeen was lucky enough to be granted an incomplete for her special circumstance, but many students may not be offered the same option. A student not passing a class is not grounds for an incomplete, said Kim McNeley, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences assistant dean for student academic services. Its not to be used as an avoidance of a failing grade. It should be something that prevented the student from meeting the expectations of the course. If a professor does not believe that a student is deserving of any lenience, the student would have only two options: drop or fail the course. Fortunately, the University takes into account the fact that students make mistakes. We realize that adjusting to the rigor of academics is sometimes a challenge, McNeley said. Such was the case with Amanda Peters, a sophomore from Wamego. I never had to study in high school, so I didnt study on the tests, and it definitely showed. Peters said. Peters, referring to her freshman year psychology class, feels that it was her own lack of

FALL 2010 FINALS GUIDE

Incomplete offers alternative to failing grade

editor@kansan.com In Spring 2009, Uzma Fardeen, a senior from Lenexa, was struck by the devastating news that her father had passed away. He died of a heart attack, Fardeen said. He was in the hospital for about three weeks, and came home for four days, then passed away. So it was pretty sudden. After missing three days of school to mourn her loss, Fardeen returned less than two weeks before her final exams. Ill-prepared and unmotivated, she was willing to risk the grade and take her finals anyway. As a last resort she e-mailed her Biology 152 professor, Tara Marriage. To Fardeens surprise, her professor offered several alternatives to simply failing the course. The most fitting seemed to be an incomplete. I wouldve failed my finals if I didnt take incompletes, Fardeen said. This would allow her to receive an I, rather than a letter grade, until she retook the course. The retake had to be within a year of the original incomplete, but could have set the deadline closer than that. If another grade was never recorded to replace the incomplete, then she preparation that led to her less than desirable grade. Both because a passing grade in that course is required for admission into the School of Education (where she will be pursuing an exercise science degree), and because it dropped her GPA significantly, she decided to retake the class this semester. Transitioning to a large university like KU sometimes presents some challenge, and we wanted to have a policy that encourages students to build a strong foundation, even if theyve struggled with it the first time through, McNeley said. This policy allows a student to replace a D or an F with a passing grade if they retake the class. This must be a course taken originally before the fall of 2001, and be at the 100 or 200 level. There is a five time limit on these replacements. If they wanted to they could apply it over, and over, and over to the same course until they completed it, or five different courses, McNeley said. The initial letter grade will still appear on the transcript, but will not be calculated into the GPA. Some feel that this is not the best approach. I think it should be on your cumulative GPA, graduate teaching assistant Jennifer Hackett said. For your graduating GPA I guess if you failed a class youd have to retake it, but it should be on your cumulative because if you failed the class, it should say it on there. Some graduate schools may feel that way, and end up recalculating GPAs adding in the failing grades. Graduate schools get to set their own weight to evaluate GPA, McNeley said. Typically graduate schools are looking at an overall GPA, and, in my experience, more specialized junior/ senior coursework. If its an extremely competitive program they may look more closely at a students earlier point in their career, they may recalculate the GPA putting all those courses in. Its at their discretion. The alternative to having a failing grade on a transcript is to withdraw from the course altogether. This must be done by the deadline, which is generally sometime in mid-November. Although these Ws do not calculate into the GPA, they may also have some bearing on how a graduate school views a student. Edited by David Cawthon

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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2010

FALL 2010 FINALS GUIDE

DIEt

Healthy snacks for crunch time

Students should avoid foods high in sugar and fat, along with drinks high in caffeine
By Jacklyn Baillergeon
editor@kansan.com As exams and papers grow closer to their due dates, many students find themselves working and studying for hours at a time, which often changes their eating and drinking habits. Leslie Sear, a junior from Overland Park, said she tends to eat and drink the same things every finals week. I eat pancakes three times a day for all five days. Im not even kidding, she said. Sear says her habits during finals week arent very healthy but have become a tradition. Pancakes are easy to make and I love them, she said. When I get back from a bad final I can eat delicious pancakes and my day is better. On the other side of the food spectrum, Kristen Hadjis, a sophomore from Colorado Springs, Colo., said that during finals week she likes to eat healthy foods. During finals week I eat a lot of hummus, eggs, peanut butter, bananas and pasta. I stray away from candy and junk food because I know that just gives you a sugar crash and doesnt help you retain information, Hadjis said. Ann Chapman, coordinator of nutritional services at Watkins Memorial Health Center, agrees that eating foods high in sugar and fat, which are common cramming foods, may not help with mental performance during finals time. Those arent healthy choices, whether youre studying or not, she said. They may make you feel more sluggish and drowsy, which wont help you when youre trying to study. Chapman suggested planning snack times to prevent cravings for unhealthy foods and to control portion sizes. Building in a study break with a pre-portioned snack is a good idea, she said. The best snack is one with a combination of protein and carbs, which can be eaten before, during, or after study. Eating fresh foods is best, Chapman said, but snacks such as whole grain cereal, pretzels or popcorn are also good choices.

Evan Palmer/KANSAN FILE PHOTO

Foods high in protein are the best types of food for your study session. Caffeine should be consumed in moderation so that your mind will be ready to rest. For those looking for a super food to help them study better, Chapman said that no foods have been proven to increase mental aptitude, concentration or performance, but certain foods can still help students. Many students also consume caffeine while they study. Sear and Hadjis, like many college students, drink Diet Coke while staying up late to study. I live off caffeine during the school year, even though I know its probably bad, Hadjis said. Chapman said that drinking caffeine is an acceptable way to help a student study if its consumed in moderation. Small amounts of caffeine can help you feel more alert, but too much can be counter-productive. Instead of helping you study, drinking too much caffeine can give you headaches or prevent you from falling asleep when youre ready to rest, she said. Chapman said to practice healthy eating and drinking habits and be sure to get enough sleep to maximize performance on exams. For more information on healthy eating visit Watkins Health Centers Wellness Resource Center or go to hawkhealth.ku.edu. Edited by Lisa Curran

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2010

THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN

10
KU traditions start at HOME

FALL 2010 FINALS GUIDE

What do you think?

by HannaH Wise

What Will be on your finals Week playlist?

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Waken Baken Wiz Khalifa Comfortably Numb Pink Floyd Bottoms Up Trey Songz

EDGAR SOLIS Juarez, Mexico, freshman

Swing Life Away Rise Against Santa Baby Marilyn Monroe Time to Get a Gun Miranda Lambert

MARGO BOGOSSIAN Boise, Idaho, freshman

110506

Mini Moons Janelle Monae Famoust Last Words My Chemical Romance La Llorona Beirut Home Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

ADAM BENFER Longford graduate student

KAARIN hOOGStRAtEN Kansas City, Mo., freshman

MONDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2010

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FALL 2010 FINALS GUIDE

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