INSIDE
What’s next for women’s basketball
How to study and stay healthy
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Change opinions toward HIV
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Actress starts storytelling show
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tuesday
December 10, 2013 TUESDAY High 39, Low 25 WeDNESday High 45, Low 28
VOLUME 99 ISSUE 46 FIRST COPY FREE, ADDITIONAL COPIES 50 CENTS
A-LEC helps students study
State
Andrew Berry Contributing Writer arberry@smu.edu As reading days commence and finals preparation begins, students will undoubtedly put themselves through a string of all-nighters and endless cramming. But before cracking open the first Red Bull or 5-hour Energy, students should consider if they are studying correctly. Sue Bierman, director of the SMU Altshuler Learning Enhancement Center (A-LEC), offers students some advice on how to have a healthy and successful finals week. While a student’s first inclination may be to cram for exams in the order they will take them, Bierman warns against this. “Students should study some material from each of their classes everyday, with an emphasis on the nearest test,” she said. “Thirty minutes each day will do more than a four hour block.” Studying in small chunks helps keep test anxiety at bay and will ultimately help students feel more prepared. Students also shouldn’t spend all day in the library or their favorite study spot. Bierman advised students to “Eat well and go out and exercise. Studying can be frustrating and going for a run or hitting the gym can provide a relaxing break.” No matter how tempting an all-nighter can be, students should also focus on getting a good night’s sleep. “Keeping a normal sleep schedule is important for being at your sharpest during an exam,” Bierman said.
Courtesy of AP
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn speaks to supporters during his re-election campaign kickoff rally in Austin, Texas, on Nov. 15.
Sen. Cornyn faces primary challenger Courtesy of NYUlocal.com
The A-LEC offers tutoring for struggling students overwhelmed by the stresses of finals week.
Struggling students should also know that help is still available. Tutors will be available on a drop-in basis from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. every night of exams week. While the A-LEC offers tutoring in most courses, students should call the center before dropping in to make sure tutors for the subject they want are currently working. Bierman also recommends that students take advantage of professor office hours. “Professors are a student’s best asset,” she said. “After all, they’re the ones writing the exams.” Meaghan Poulin, a junior majoring in Communications and PR, likes to attend as many review
sessions as possible. “I like to go to every review session offered, professors often use example questions very similar to the one on the final,” she said. Students who are doing poorly in one class but well in all their other courses should be realistic when they study. “If you need to get a 150 percent to pull off a C in a class, you should focus on classes where you have a better chance of succeeding,” Bierman said. While students should obviously study for all their exams, it’s important to realize where you can be most successful. Brannon Bradshaw, a junior majoring in mechanical
engineering and minoring in math, prioritizes his studying. “I look at what days I have my tests, figure out what I need to study for each of them, and then think about what which ones I need to study for the most,” he said. Ultimately, the most important thing a student can do to prepare for exams is stay true to their successful study habits. “Don’t abandon what makes you successful,” Bierman said. For Poulin, that means getting off campus. “I like to study off campus. Getting away from Fondren is much more relaxing and productive way to study for tests,” she said.
Associated press In a last-minute surprise late Monday, U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman filed paperwork to challenge fellow Texas Republican and powerful incumbent John Cornyn for the U.S. Senate next year. Cornyn is the Senate’s minority whip and had appeared likely to escape a major primary challenge from the tea party or other conservative factions. But Texas Republican Party spokesman Spencer Yeldell said a Stockman staffer walked into headquarters shortly before the 6 p.m. filing deadline, withdrew the congressman’s previously submitted House re-election bid and entered the already
crowded race against Cornyn. Stockman was elected to a district outside Houston last year after a low-profile campaign where he largely ignored the media but urged voters to support his “re-election.” He previously served one term in Congress starting in 1994 — and was perhaps best known for accusing the U.S. government of “executing” members of the Branch Davidian cult after the siege near Waco. Cornyn is well-funded, has been endorsed by GOP Gov. Rick Perry, and should remain the race’s clear favorite.
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Student Life
Residential Commons may affect party culture Jenna Veldhuis Contributing Writer jveldhuis@smu.edu The SMU campus has celebrated some exciting events over the last few years. The school’s centennial anniversary was celebrated in 2011, the George W. Bush Presidential Center was unveiled to the world in 2013, and the new Moody Coliseum is set to open in early 2014. As the construction on the new Residential Commons comes to a close in this next year, another big change will happen on campus. Summer 2014 will mark the end of construction on the new Residential Commons. The sophomore dorms, as they are known to most, were based upon student housing at schools like Harvard University and Vanderbilt University. A description from the Residential Commons’ website states that, “Each commons will develop unique traditions, gatherings and meaningful activities that build community and long-term bonds among residents. Students will have a close-knit, living and learning environment where a rich intellectual, social and community life can flourish.” The dorms will consist of five buildings and aim to create a supportive community for students with live-in faculty and staff members, as well as resident assistants and student leaders. The opening of the dorms, and the addition of all sophomores living on campus, will represent a change in student life at SMU, a change that should be for the better. Jeff Grim, associate
ELLEN SMITH / The Daily Campus
The Residential Commons project is expected to be completed in summer 2014, ready to be opened up to students for the 2014 fall semester.
director of Academic Initiatives and Campus Partnerships, noted that the new residential commons are more than just new buildings and “a transformation of the residential experience at SMU.” With the close community the dorms hope to provide, drinking among the underage dorm residents could be lowered. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports that four out of every five college student drinks. Of those students, half of them will consume alcohol through binge drinking. This drinking
culture results in 1,825 alcohol related deaths a year for college students aged 18 to 24, injures approximately 599,000 students, and causes academic problems for 25 percent of college students who consume alcohol. SMU is no stranger to the drinking culture and, in 2012, the university was ranked the college with the “Best Nightlife,” according to Playboy magazine’s annual list. The article stated, “At SMU, Dallas is your never-ending house party,” and mentioned the approximate 2,000 bars within the city limits of Dallas County.
The university has taken proactive steps, joining the National College Health Improvement Project, along with universities such as Stanford University, Duke University, Dartmouth University, and more than 30 others, in the 2007-08 academic year. The NCHIP press release states that the group will evaluate and measure techniques “to identify and implement the most effective ways to address the problems of high-risk drinking.” In June 2011, SMU became a charter member of this group and continues to collect monthly
data about alcohol consumption among students. The data collection has shown that though the SMU student body’s rate of high-risk drinking is lower than the national average, there are spikes during certain times of the year. The 2012-13 President’s Commission on Substance Abuse Prevention Annual Report attributes these spike times to “big party” times such as spring break, the end of the spring semester and the beginning of the fall semester. Through being aware of the times where the highest risk drinking will
occur, the school can “specifically target prevention education and intervention strategies” among the student body. When asked if he thinks on-campus drinking will be lowered with the addition of the Residential Commons, Jeff Grim said, “maybe,” adding that, “We know that in most of our communities we currently have that have both upperclass and first-year students live together, we see significantly less damage and alcohol violations.” Senior Alessandra Neason, agreed, as she recalls that “after every Thursday night there would be something in the lobby or hallway that was broken, that’s just how the dorms are when you’re a freshman.” She sees the Residential Commons as an opportunity for sophomores to stay more involved with campus life. Grim said that with “more money dedicated towards programming and activities with faculty, there will be more and better options for activities for students than drinking.” And with half of the student body living on campus, school activities will be more likely to be attended said RJ Winters, an SMU senior. When he lived on campus Winters said he and his friends went to a majority of athletic events because they were able to walk there. “It’s important to recognize that we are hoping to build a more cohesive, connected and engage[ing] community with the Residential Commons,” Jeff Grim said. “But this will not be a simple fix to any of SMU’s issues it continues to face such as underage and more importantly binge drinking.”