An Eye for Martians

Wednesday , January 11,1989.

8:01a.m. The profislate,for thethirdday inarow, for my modular. He willbe here in a few minutes-and apologize. But,hey,what's a few minutes outofeighthours anyway? And it giveshim theedge,whilereducing thenumberofstudentswho alwaysscurry inlate.

Oh, here'stheprof Note time

10:36 a.m Our firstbreak The prof gaves us fifteen minutes to catch our breath and stretch a little. Not enough time fora nap though. Igot a Coke. It should help me make it through until lunch Ipractically fell asleep early on I've gottofigureouthow gettomoresleep

Besides being tired,I don't have the greatest attention span, I see. I keep catching myself drawing little Martians andthingsallover my notes The margins arealmostcompletelyfilled

The profannounced ourtestwouldn't be untilafterlunch. That'llgiveme a chance to review once more. I have put myself a situationwhere Ihavetodowell I am startingtowakeup,areactiontothe caffeine. Here he comes.

11:48 a.m The prof letus out early, twelve minutes I'm back in my room where I am having yet another can of Ravioli Afterthis week isdone,Inever want toseeanothercanofthe stuffagain Cooking, rather feeding yourself for a week inthe dorm room,can getratherdull and repetitiveafterawhile.

12:52 p.m. Back from lunch and as ready as I'llever be for thistest I got some more reviewing done,justtomake sure, and got toliedown for 15 minutes. Now I'm just trying to relax andstay awake,which means anotherCoke.

I wouldn't be so tiredifI had stayed in last night instead ofgoing offtothemall with the guy down the hall But, rather than be sensible, offIwent. When Igot back at ten,IrealizedIstill had sixchaptersofreading,plusstudyingtodo.

I have six pages of notes fromthis morning...not to mention a tiredhand. Modulars are for people who can keep Continued onpageltt

Not verytraditional, students participate in a physical educationmodular .focusingfirston theacademic aspectof theclass. ProfessorDave Hortontaught thewintermodular.

A psychology class enjoys the relaxed atmosphere provided by a modular. The university offered 62 winter modular classes over thetwo-week period. Some ofthe classes were pilot classes whose success during the traditional semester was questionable. These classes inluded TELE406 and TELE 462, educational television.

for Martians

A narrative of one day of a modular

Continued from page 134

Students work on a test during their modular. Tests were perhaps the hardest part ofthe classes becuase of thevastamount ofmaterialcoveredinashortperiodoftime.

IthinkI'll getanotherCoke beforeclass starts.

3:06 A ten-minute break Just whatI needed Iforgot what drinking allthat Coke can do...I'llhave tokeepthis factin mind their attention focused on one thing for an extendedperiodoftimeandwriteforhours onend. Both ofwhich I seem to lack.

Well,he'sback and hasstarted topass outourtest Here goesnothin'

1:39p.m That was theworst,hardest and most draining testI'veevertaken...I think People keep coming out ofthe classroom shakingtheirhead, soIguessit wasn'tonlyme.

We aresupposed tobe back inclass at two, ourturnortest inbythen. I imagine some peoplewilltakethatlong Iwonder ifthereis anychancehe'llletus outearly Idreadthethoughtofgoinguntil fourthisafternoon.

We got to correct thetest in class I scoreda 78percent- which isallright I thought I'ddone better. He toldus,however, this istraditionallyone oftheharder tests Ifourclassholdstothepattern,we'll eachgetanextrafivepoints.

With my 82 added to the 62 Igot on Monday's test, I have a72average That means I need 90'sonmy lasttwotests to pullmy grade up. W e have atestFriday and then thefinalexam which we get to take two weeks from tomorow night I guessalotoftheprofessorsgivetheextra time to make surewe study andwe learn something.

4:02 Done I'vegoteight chaptersto readforthetestFriday I'mgoingtotryfor sixtoday,aftermy nap,andtwotomorow. That'llgiveme plenty oftimetocatch up on my sleep and review mynotes. Ican'twaittofinishthis modular.Right now, I'd say I'dnever do it again; butI don'tknow. Ithink when it is doneandI lookback, it won'tseem thatbad. Ithas itsbenefits. Ihave theroom to myselfand thehallisquiet,whichisgood forstudying. I finishawhole classinone week. Idon'thavetoomany ofmyfriends dropping in anddisrupting my studying, notthatI mind when theydo.

Ijusthave tolearnhow toadjusttothis studymethod.Veryintense...veryquick.I alsoshould havereadmy textoverbreat when Ihad the chance Ialso have I concentrate more on notes and less* drawing inthemargins

Modulars aregood...and notso good* guessit's all apointofview

Well, I'mreadyforanap