Smoking on College Campuses

Cessie Ryder


Smoking is a large problem on college campuses that is widely overlooked because alcohol abuse tends to be dealt with first. The negative effects of smoking have been made very public over the years so why do students continue smoke? Everyone seems to have a different excuse.

College is a very stressful environment due to large amounts of difficult schoolwork and a new setting with all new people. Some students turn to cigarettes to help them de-stress because cigarettes have been known to be a source of relaxation and a quick, short escape from a stressful reality. Other students turn to smoking to create an image for themselves or to fit in to a certain group of people. Some people believe that if they smoke cigarettes it automatically makes them seem more “cool” and sophisticated. Many students also admit to smoking when already under the influence of another substance like alcohol. Drinking is very common in a college setting, therefore the use of cigarettes becomes more common and accepted due to the fact that more people are likely to smoke when under the influence of alcohol.

Even though smoking may provide a quick break from a stressful situation or have an effect on your image, the damaging health effects of cigarettes should be enough to make you think twice. Smoking causes all different types of diseases and health problems from respiratory and cardiovascular disease to lung and oral cavity cancer. Tobacco use is the leading cause of death in American today; therefore the problem of smoking on college campuses should be taken more seriously.

Dropping Retention Rates

Ajit Vakharia

According to data released by the ACT this year, the retention rates for colleges nationwide have dropped to 65.7 percent from 68.7 percent the year before. The ACT though is not able to measure if the other 35.3 percent are just taking time off from college, transferring schools, or if those students have in fact dropped out. Cliff Adelman, a longtime education department researcher, says, “the data is meaningless.” The fact remains that the nationally average retention rate is 65.7 percent which means 35.3 percent of students are not returning back to the same institute where they were the year before. Institutes need to do more to bring back students. According to Doug Lederman of Insider Higher Education, there are three main reasons why students do not return to an institute: the student drops out, the student transfers, or the student is just taking time off from school.

Schools need to start implementing new plans on keeping students in their institutes. More tutoring programs can be started to prevent students from dropping out. A lot of students drop out because they are not adequately prepared for college, so tutoring can help them prepare for school and motivate students to do better. Many students transfer because they do not feel comfortable in the school they are in. If schools start more programs to get students involved and become a part of student culture, students would be less likely to leave and transfer to different schools. A lot of students are forced to take time off from school for a year or two just because they cannot afford tuition and need time to save up money. If institutes put some money aside for students in need of the financial aid, students would not be forced to take time off from school to save the money up. If colleges could implement such programs and opportunities, the retention rates for a lot of universities and institutes would increase because students would have less of a reason to leave.

Learning foreign language at Tech

Subin Lee
Is it really necessary to learn a foreign language? In the Georgia Tech curriculum, it is required for all majors to take two consecutive foreign language courses. But then, how helpful would it be for the students who learned foreign language at Tech. Would they ever use it outside of college, or even outside their class?

The importance of learning various languages does not seem that high. Though it might have some value in learning the basic structure of other languages, the practicality for most students in using it outside their class is very small. However, there might be a small portion of students who enjoy learning other languages and utilize it in the real world. One case for example is the study abroad program. A student might be interested in learning French in order to get some knowledge and basic words to use when going to study in GT-Lorraine. This case can be for any other schools at other countries.

For some majors concerning with communication internationally, the existence of foreign language classes may be a key class. Nevertheless, at Georgia Tech, most students being engineers have minimal use of foreign language. The international language for engineers is numerical numbers. Most students are already busy with their other hardcore classes, such as Mathlab or lab sciences which consume a huge amount of time. Introductory foreign language classes can somewhat take a lot of time as well since one of the best way in learning foreign language is to practice and memorize. Some students however take these foreign language classes as a GPA booster, yet it still consumes a lot of time, which can affect the overall grade for other classes.

Foreign language classes still require a lot of effort and time, yet it might be helpful in later real world jobs in communicating, but it does not seem to be very helpful in college.

American Higher Education in Global World

Jinhyun Kim

According to the article, “New Era in International Higher Education” by Scott Jaschik, many American colleges are reaching further in providing education outside the United States by opening campuses in foreign countries. By this expansion, many students outside the United States get opportunities to earn degrees from American colleges without going through all the big change of moving into the United States which often times involves very complicated and tough process.

Nowadays, American higher education already involves diversity in several ways. Colleges form big communities and play significant role in global world. Also, total enrollment of foreign students in American colleges is large. Colleges consist of students from all over the world and benefit from them in making better communities within their campuses.

Furthermore, American colleges are now opening campuses in foreign countries. I think this step that colleges are taking is very beneficial for both colleges and students who experience this American higher education’s extension. Colleges will have different aspects from students which can help in variety of researches. Students are able to earn degrees from American college which would be really helpful in becoming a global leader or worker, and students do not have to deal with moving to another country and difficult process of obtaining visa or immigration issues. In addition, students in American colleges can experience different culture in those American colleges in foreign country as colleges often encourage students to study abroad.

For example, Georgia Institute of Technology offers a solid program of study abroad. As well as many foreign colleges are having joint program with Georgia Tech, the school has its own campus, Georgia Tech-Lorraine in Metz, France. Students have good opportunities to live in different culture, take classes like the ones in Georgia Tech main campus, and earn degrees from Georgia Tech.

Today’s society is not about concentration on one field. A lot of fields and works prefer people who are well-around and people who will become a global leader. I think both foreign students involvement in American colleges and American colleges’ expansion in foreign countries are great ways for students to become the people who the global world wants.

Lecture Capture and Attendance: Are students really less likely to attend class?

Cherish Weiler

As technology becomes more and more integrated in higher education, a new technology known as ‘lecture capture’ has emerged with its fair share of fans and critics. Lecture capture is a system that allows professors to record their lectures and post them online and has recently been the issue of some controversy as the software becomes more developed and studies analyzing its efficacy become available. While skeptics argue that the use of such technology would lead to decreased attendance in class, panelists at the 2009 Educause Conference cited research suggesting there is no correlation between a professor’s decision to post lectures online and a student’s likelihood to attend class.

According to Jennifer Stinger, director of educational technology at Stanford University School of medicine, students base their decision to attend lectures on the quality of the lecture and the professor’s engagement during lectures. In a study conducted in 2008, 78 percent of undergraduates at the University of Wisconsin at Madison reported that having lectures available online would help them better retain class material and 76 percent believed online lectures would help improve their test scores. While students appear to support lecture capture, professors are less receptive to incorporating such technology in their classrooms. At Purdue University, David Eisert, manager of emerging technologies, reported that faculty members would not be willing to initiate lecture capture at the start of class were it available. Regardless, Purdue University plans on implementing the software in over 280 classrooms and working towards a compromise that would entail minimal cooperation from reluctant professors.

While professors may be wary about incorporating lecture capture in their classroom, it is to the benefit of their students that they do so. With research denying the claim that lecture capture promotes absenteeism, what harm is there in using such technology, especially when student opinion suggest lecture capture has the potential to help many students and their grades? If schools are willing to purchase lecture capture technology, there is no reason why faculty cannot participate. Lecture capture technology is already popular among students and will only increase in popularity as universities begin implementing its use in the classroom.

Cars, Cars, Cars

Cessie Ryder

College is a time where you learn to be independent and accomplish things on your own without the relying on your parents or other comforts and luxuries you were used to at home. One thing I have come to find has been particularly difficult is the absence of a having a car. In high school many people tend to take their car for granted and when they get to college they realize how good they had it when they had a car at their beck and call.

Seemingly small things like going to the grocery store and running to bank are not so easy without a car, especially in a city that is built around the car as the main form of transportation. To run a simple errand you have to choose a day when you can block off a certain amount of time and you have to plan in advance how you are going to get there. Not having a car also restricts college students to staying on or near campus so they cannot go out and experience the city or town where their college is located. Experiencing different things in a new city is important to feel part of the community and to build character.

Even though not having a car may seem like a hassle, it is not all bad. One good thing about using different forms of transportation is the effect on the environment. If less people use cars then there will be less pollution to the environment. Not only does it help the environment but no possessing a car also forces you to be creative and find different ways to get around instead of relying on what you are comfortable and used to.

Does Name Matter?

Ajit Vakharia

Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are some of the nation’s most prestigious universities, but does going to a college such as these give students a better chance at being successful after their collegiate career compared to a student from any other university? According to Marilee Jones an admissions director at MIT, college name does not matter for future endeavors. A graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Jones says, “You can succeed by going to any school,” but she fails to show instances where students from non ivy league schools have done better than students from ivy league schools. The average starting salary for a Princeton University graduate is 65,000 dollars while the average starting salary for a Georgia Tech graduate is 58,900 dollars which is a substantial difference. Though many people will deny that going to a better school will give you better success after graduation, the truth is that the better the name, the more money graduates are making out of the school.

Students go to college to get the training they need to become successful members of the working field, and colleges with better names get them better careers. Does this mean all students that do not go to ivy league schools will have bad jobs? No. These are only statistics which can be broken. A graduate from a community college in North Dakota could go on the make millions of dollars a year from their career. As Jones brings up, “College is what a student makes it.” A graduate from Georgia Tech can have a 3.8 GPA with a lot of extracurriculars would more likely than not be picked over a Harvard graduate with 3.2 GPA and no extracurriculars applying for the same job. So name does matter, but does not mean students from not as popular schools cannot go on to be just as successful as a graduate from an ivy league.