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Older Students 'Juggling'Time
B> ANNE WALLACE
Older students (students beginning
college after age thirty) are attending
West Georgia College in ever increas
ing numbers Many of these students
encounter problems that are peculiar to
their age group.
Among the students interviewed
about their difficulties in adjusting to
academic life, the number one problem
seems to be juggling their time to allow
the necessary studying. Many of the
older students commute, some driving
more than sixty miles round trip per
day. A large number of older students
hold down jobs and have family obliga
tions These respoasibilities tend to eat
away at study time for many of them.
Several students said sometimes they
get discouraged and feel they are pulled
in too many directioas to excel at
anything Tom Holmes, a 36 year old
freshman said, ‘‘Establishing sound
study habits is my biggest challenge
I'm sure I must be spending two hours
with my books for every hour the
y ounger students study ’
Marvin Osborne, a 43 year old. hear
ing impaired sophomore, whose
daughter Rebecca is a senior at West
Georgia, has surmounted numerous
problems since he began his college
career. "A person’s attitude is the most
important thing in being successful in
college A positive attitude is especially
important to the older student My big
gest problem this quarter is finding a
parking place." Osborne said.
Math was mentioned most often as
[he number one trouble spot by older
students One lady said she felt that
anyone out ol high school more than ten
years should consider placing themself
in math 099 for a refresher course
before taking any thing else Much of
the mathematical terminology has
changed in the past 10 or 15 years.
Many find themselves sitting in class
wondering if the professor is speaking
Chinese The fast pace of the college
math class can leave the older student
lost and bewildered.
(‘harles Neugent. a 51 year old senior.
says, “The long term absence of ex
posure to the fundamentals of gram
mar. and especially as related to
another language, can lie a real stumbl
ing block English was also mentioned
often as a problem
Some older students find the first few
da vs of biology class a little embarrass
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ing Many were raised in an era
w hen you didn’t speak openly about sex
related matters Most of these students,
however felt the professors handled the
lectures in such a way that their
discomfort was temporary Dr. William
P Maples, Professor of Biology says,
“Some older students have difficulty
with biology because of preconceived
ideas w hich lead to a closed mind. Most
of the older students are more serious
and more studious than their younger
classmates."
Ruth Dicks, a 39 year old physical
education major, says, “Being a
physical education major at my age is
quite a challenge but very fulfilling 1
find that my greatest difficulty lies in
my changing roles I interact with my
fellow students, being careful not to f>e
judgmental, and then 1 go home to the
role of mother. 1 take a lot of ribbing
from my classmates, but our relation
ship is very special.”
Dr Joel Auble, a professor of
Philosophy, believes, "the older
students do have their share of pro
blems, but in the field of philosophy age
and experience are assets. There is a
traditional saying that dates back to the
time of Socrates, that a person
shouldn't study philosophy until after
the age of thirty.”
Almost without exception, many of
the older students felt that the small
college atmosphere at West Georgia is
both comforting and helpful. Some
heartily recommend West Georgia to
other “older” students wishing to fulfill
their dream of earning a college
degree.
West German Leaves Homeland
For One Year of Study In States
BY DEBBIE GODBEE
(Editor's Note: This is the second in a
five-part series on foreign students stu
dying at West Georgia.)
Unlike many West Georgia students
for whom the courses are a burdensome
requirement, Uwe (pronounced Uve)
Korber of Munster, West Germany, is
enthusiastic about taking American
literature, American History and
Political Science. He’s taking a year out
of law school in his homeland to learn
more about the United States, and he
thinks these three classes will help.
While traveling through the eastern
section of the country by Greyhound
bus last year, Korber said he met a lot
of very nice people and decided to come
back. He had originally planned to get a
commisson from the U.S. government
to work for a year in the states. When
that attempt proved unsuccessful, he
decided to apply for the Georgia Rotary
Student Scholarship Program and was
accepted.
Although Korber is only 23 years old,
he has already served 15 months in the
Do You think the football team has changed 9
the suitcase college image ?
Photos and Interviews by David Edwards p
• W itt .Soph.
Business Finance “More
people will stay on weekends,
home games mainly, mast
just come baak early. The
school will get a larger enroll
ment because the team is win-
Beverly Etheridge Jr.,
Management “Mainly on
home games to give students
something to do. There's
nothing to do here on the
weekends. It will help the
enrollment, especially the
males.”
Faculty Initiated Into School Daze
BY ELLEN WILSON
(Editor’s note: This feature is the
third segment of a four part series on
new faculty members at West
Georgia.)
Having been here for four weeks, the
new faculty members in this week’s
crass section have something more
than initial reactions to speak of. Their
first impressions have been amended
Uwe Korber
West German army, (German males
may choose between civil and military
service), he has travelled through 11
countries and has completed three
years of study in law at the University
of Munster.
Korber has travelled through many
European countries like many
Americans have traveled through their
neighboring states. Paris, France, his
favorite city, is eight hours by car from
his hometown; Amsterdam is three
hours away, and Copenhagen, Den
mark can be reached in 10 hours.
THE WEST GEORGIAN, WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 21,1981
Pamela Lee Soph.,
Engineering "I think that
there has been a great in
crease in student and faculty
participation. They stay up,
seeing how we’ve won these
first games. Students have
something to look forward to
the weekends . " ..
Robin Willoughby
Soph., English "People will
only stay when games are
here. The games produce
more school spirit and a ‘com
mon bond.’ It’s really good
that we’ve won the first games
because the morale is high.”
by four hectic weeks which have fully
initiated them into the stream of
classroom instruction at West Georgia
and made their new environment more
familiar. But for the most part, their
first impressions have been lasting im
pressions of the school,
J.W. Inman, assistant professor of
business administration, describes
what he calls a “continuing impres-
Although the English language is part
of a German student’s high school cur
riculum, Korber is using his dictionary
a lot in his classes this quarter. He said
he has no problem understanding con
versation, but it takes him twice as long
to read an assignment as it would take
an American student. Korber is able to
follow his personal interests in register
ing for his courses at West Georgia
because he is an unclassified student
and does not plan to graduate from
West Georgia or transfer any of his
class hours back to his German univer
sity.
Attending a university or college in
the U.S. is quite different than in his
homeland, according to the West Ger
man. The University of Munster has an
enrollment of 42,000 students with about
5,200 enrolled in Korber’s law school
alone. That figure is slightly less than
West Georgia’s total enrollment. About
10 percent of the German students live
in dorms, which are actually regular
houses divided into individual flats.
The university’s various buildings
are scattered throughout the town of
Munster instead of in one central loca
tion as is West Georgia.
Tuition is free although the student
must pay a S2O activity fee.
German students do not work during
the school semesters, but rather during
the breaks which are also usually filled
with studying and research for future
term papers. German students take
more responsibility for their course
work than do American students. An
average law class consists of 350
students in his homeland.
Continued on page 4
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Management “I believe so
in a way. If they play a home
game, people stay and if they
don’t, people leave. Being an
R.A., I can see that people
leave on weekends when there
is not a game. It’s changed the
image of the college as a
whole because people
recognize the college because
of the team.”
Angela Massey Fr.,
Business “Definitely, and I
love it."
sion” of the people here at the college
and in this area. “People here are in
terested in you as a person. They smile
and look you in the eye. In a lot of places
in this modem world, you feel you are
alone in a crowd.”
Inman, who came here from Albu
querque, New Mexico, served for 23
years in the Air Force and left that
career as a lieutenant colonel. He says
he likes “the attitude and philosophy of
growth of the people here. He also said,
“I’m still learning, as much as any
freshman,” about the school, the people
and the area.
Assistant professor of speech and
assistant debate coach David Svaldi,
who came to West Georgia from
Eastern Illinois University in
Charleston also mentioned the attitudes
of people here. He said, “It’s nice to be
around people who are polite after be
ing with people who are rude (in the
Chicago area).”
The thing that impressed Svaldi the
most when he came here for the first
time, however, was the “campus sup
port for the debate program.” He en
joys working with the team because
“they work very hard. They are among
the top debaters in the state, and it’s not
often you get a chance to work with
really exceptional people like that.”
Svaldi thinks people come to West
Georgia because “it’s a relatively
small town rural setting, but not far
from the city.” He also feels that foot
ball has had a positive effect on the col
lege. “It gives us a sense of pride, of fu
sion.”
Michele Parr, instructor of English,
capie here from the University of
Alabama where she had been a
teaching assistant and a part-time tem
porary instructor. Parr was impressed
with the fact that the English depart
ment takes freshman English so
seriously. “In many places the school
doesn’t care whether these students
learn to write or not in their freshman
English courses. Here a student doesn’t
leave freshman English until he can
write.”
She says the campus is very attrac
tive and located well; “it’s not too big
and not too small, and Atlanta is only an
hour away.”
Parr says the college has given her
“the opportunity to do what I am train
ed to do in a program which expects
something out of students. ”
Dr. George McNinch, professor of
Education and chairman of the depart
ment of Middle Grades and Reading,
came here from the University of
Continued on page 4
Cindy Moreno Fr.,
Undecided “Most definite
ly. That’s why I came here.”
Wanda Johnson Jr..
Nurse “Yes it has, I’ve
stayed when they play but
when they don’t play, l leave.
They should have a bus to take
students to the games and
maybe for the away games
also. They could even charge a
little for taking students to
away games.”
3