Daily Helmsman The
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Tigers lose a legend Elma Roane, Tiger women’s athletics staple, passes away at 93 years old.
Vol. 79 No. 15
see page 7
Independent Student Newspaper of The University of Memphis
www.dailyhelmsman.com
Tweeting teacher trend garners mixed responses from students Next to the usual course materials like calculators and textbooks, a growing number of professors are adding another tool to their teaching repertoire – a social media presence. Websites like Facebook and Twitter, the two most populated new media sites, have long been tailored to meet users’ communication, marketing or leisurely needs. University of Memphis professors are using the sites as online, interactive bulletin boards.
“Questions
that would not be germane in class, I’m now able to still ask.” — Stephen Caulfield Philosophy sophomore Sophomore philosophy major Stephen Caulfield said his film professor uses Twitter to inform students when class is canceled and assignments are due, as well as provide links to course-related news. “Twitter seems more casual than sending an email or meeting during office hours,” Caulfield said. “There is less of a bridge between students and professors, so it feels like we are both more equal. Questions that would not be germane in class, I’m now able to still ask.” Caulfield said that he tweeted his professor last week asking what movie was being shown in class. For him, Twitter is more convenient than email.
“Anytime I’m not near my professor or a computer, I can grab my phone and ask him a question about class in seconds,” Caulfield said. For sophomore nursing major Kristine Redus, however, having to keep up with her Literary Heritage professor on Twitter is another errand on her to-do list. She doesn’t regularly use the service and only created an account for the course. “I don’t mind in the sense of it’s an extra reminder for me,” Redus said, “but at the same time, I had to create an account since quiz questions are sent via Twitter and I’m not accustomed to checking it frequently.” Redus’ professor, doctoral candidate Tiffany Akin, is aware that some students don’t take to the site and said she has yet to have a full class follow her. She said she still uses email as a first resort that it will likely continue to be the preferred method of communication. “I took an impromptu poll this summer and most students said they would prefer a Facebook page to communication through Twitter,” Akins said. “I think this preference is based on the fact that Facebook has been around longer and some people are still warming up to Twitter.” She has considered adding incentives to
BY ROBERT MOORE News Reporter
MCT
BY CHELSEA BOOZER News Reporter
UC Fountain View Room to host local writers series
Twitter participation, such as giving away answers to extra credit questions on the site. According to a Pew Research report, more than 60 percent of adults older than 18 years old use social networking sites. Mighty Sound of the South marching band director Quintus Wrighten said they’re a productive means to communicate with students. He said using Facebook to send updates throughout the day reflects positively on the students’ performance and attendance in class. “They are better prepared for class,” he
see
Social Media, page 4
The River City Writers Series will bring poet Richard Tillinghast to The University of Memphis. Tillinghast is scheduled to read selections from his work at 8 p.m. in the University Center Fountain View room on Sept. 27. On Sept. 28, he will give an interview, conducted by creative writing students, at 10:30 a.m. in 456 Patterson Hall. All events are free and open to the public. Tillinghast is a Memphis native and has published more than ten books of poetry and non-fiction. Recently, he has published the poetry collections The New Life and Selected Poems. Cary Holladay, associate professor of English and director of the RCWS, said she is thrilled to have Tillinghast coming to campus. “Richard Tillinghast is truly a renaissance man,” Holladay said. “He is a scholar, artist, musician and historian. It is amazing that U of M students will get the opportunity to meet a writer of his caliber.” The writing program, the Creative Writing Club and the English department sponsor the RCWS. The series aims to bring well-known writers from around the country to The U of M. “Students should consider coming to both events,” Holladay said. “They will take away from Mr. Tillinghast ideas on how to live a rich and rewarding life and how to write about it. The life of writing is one with many rewards.”
Adjusting to life abroad BY CHRISTINA HOLLOWAY News Reporter
Students with an urge for adventure can expand their foreign languages skills through the Study Abroad Program. On average, 320 students a year experience the cultural rush that the program offers. Joe Poplawski, a junior majoring in Economics and Japanese, is one of many students currently participating in the program. “The second I got off the plane in Japan, I was scared because my phone didn’t work over there, but I was excited,” Poplawski said. Although Poplawski said he was
worried in the beginning, he eventually warmed up to the culture. “I can ask where I’m going and stuff like that, but taking the subway and the bullet train was scary,” Poplawski said. Poplawski said strengthening his Japanese speaking skills was a prominent part of his experience. “My goal of this trip is to be able to speak conversationally,” Poplawski said. Poplawski studies in Nagoya, the third largest city in Japan. He lives in an on-campus dorm with 30 other students in the program. Poplawski keeps a Japanese pre-
see
Abroad, page 6
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Students find studying overseas not exactly a vacation
U of M international student Aaron Baggett poses in front of a soccer display in Montevideo, Uruguay.