Tuesday, March 17, 2015 @msureporter
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Minnesota State University, Mankato
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Students get back into the spring of things After a warm week off, it’s important to re-establish a routine. NICOLE SCHMIDT Staff Writer Welcome back, everyone! Isn’t it wonderful returning after a week off of school? After a long week, there may be a few of you out there who may not be feeling motivated this first week back from break. Getting back into the swing of things after spring break can be difficult. For the quickest and most painless transition, try these five helpful tips that will get you ready to tackle this week and the remaining 52 days of semester. Get some rest. If you were lucky enough over break, you may be used to sleeping in however late you wished. Now that break is over, your 8 a.m. may seem exceptionally early and alarm obnoxiously loud this week. The solution? Go to bed early. Getting this extra bit of rest at night will make a difference as you fight the neverending battle of tiredness, especially after a week of rest.
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As you’ve also probably heard before, try taking a nap. If you have the time, snooze for however long works for you, whether it’s 5 minutes or two hours. If your usual nap just isn’t working for you, try a “coffee nap.” Drink a cup of coffee before hitting the pillow and set-
ting an alarm for a 25 minutes of sleep. By the time you wake up, the caffeine should be kicking in, and you’ll be ready to tackle your next task! Plan, plan, plan. There’s nothing worse than feeling unorganized and scatterbrained, especially after a week
away from your planner. To make the transition into school as simple as possible, plan out your week. Why make it harder on yourself and rely solely on memory? If you have a busy week, don’t struggle to remember it all. Write down what you need to do and when you need to
do it. This way you will feel confident and accomplished as your week progresses. It’s always feels good checking something off of your list! After a week away, you may have forgotten about some of the things going on in class. As tedious as it may sound, go through each course syllabus and check for important upcoming events. Being on the ball makes you feel more in control of the seemingly daunting weeks to come. Schedule in some “outside” time. While you are planning your week, make sure to pencil in some outside time! The March weather has been exceptional by Minnesota standards thus far, so get outside and enjoy it. Tear yourself away from your winter library cavern and head outside to do your readings. Working outside will bring a little bit of joy to you as you soak up some sun. Also try moving your workouts outdoors as well. You may
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Road safety: It’s everyone’s responsibility Ways to make Mankato’s roadways a safer place to drive. MARYSA STORM Staff Writer After months and months of bleak, cold winter weather warmer temperatures are finally upon us, which means it’s not only time to start seeing people wearing shorts and sundresses but to start seeing motorcycles as well. There are a lot of reasons people may choose to drive a motorcycle. Not only are most bikes cost-effective - it’s much cheaper to ride a motorcycle than drive a car - but there is a certain degree of freedom that comes with being that much closer to the open road as well. That being said, motorcycles are also much more dangerous than cars and even minor accidents or spills have major consequences.
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While drivers of motorcycles can take precautions to keep themselves safe, like acknowledging personal skill level, wearing appropriate gear and staying alert while riding, a large part of staying safe is out of their hands and left up to those they
share the road with. What could be nothing more than a fender-bender for someone in a car could easily be fatal for someone driving a motorcycle and in a world where drivers are constantly tempted by texts or the desire to rock out
to the newest Taylor Swift song the amount of accidents caused by inattentive driving only grow. It’s easy to forget that you have to share the road with motorcycles or that they’re even on the road to begin with and that’s
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how accidents happen. Motorcycles are considerably smaller than cars and can easily be hidden from view. While most bikers make a point to stay as in-view as possible, the act of making a lane change without double checking blind spots could end in tragedy. Large vehicles can easily conceal a biker, which is important to keep in mind when turning or merging. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety recommends that drivers keep an eye out for tires or a helmet in such situations and to be especially cautious when making left turns. Keep in mind that sharing a lane with a motorcyclist is illegal and that motorcyclists also require an increased space cush-
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