Pittsburg State University - Kanza Yearbook (Pittsburg, KS)

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SKIPPING CLASSES to study for mid-term tests is a very common practice. Rob Lessen and Kathy Merrell sip cokes and study for their American History exam in the Gorilla Grill.—photo by Dot Koehler especially if your’re active in a lot of extra-curricular activities that keep you out late the night before. The nice change in weather has a lot to do with it too,” said Jeff Poole, Overland Park junior. “I cut class every once in a while, but never to the extent that it would have any great effect on my grades. It’s just real easy to do,” Poole said. Even though cutting classes is not to the benefit of students, some feel that there would be a lot of negative student feedback if a stricter at- tendance policy was instituted by the university. “I don't see how they could put any more restrictions on class attendance because if a student doesn’t want to go to class, he won’t go. Besides, the student is the one paying fees to be here so he’s only hurting himself by cutting classes,” said Susan Speiser, Chanute junior. “I don’t think there is any way that the university can demand class attendance. Besides, the student is expected to be able to take care of himself and he shouldn’t have to have guidelines set by the school to make him go to class. He should just be expected to be there. If he’s not, it’s nobody’s fault but his own,” said Lisa Sutcliffe, also a Chanute junior. Even though students may take a dim view of class attendance, in- structors have a little different concept of it. According to Dr. Joanna Freeman, associate professor of English, at- tendance requirements differ depending upon the format of the course. “I require that students attend my Technical Writing 301 course every day because the information we cover on class days is vital to completion of the course. We write almost every day and those assignments must be completed in the class time,” she said. Brian McGuire, third year advanced auto body repair student, says- that attendance is also required in the Vocational Technical Institute. “We have real strict requirements. We’re only given five absences and even when we’re gone one hour it counts as a day. When we do have to miss we have to have it excused with a doctor’s note or something like that in order for it not to count against us,” said McGuire. Some classes have almost no at- tendance regulation at all, for example, ROTC by appointment. In this course, a student enrolls and is given a list of what the course requires in regard to assignments. The student can then complete these requirements on his own time and at any time during the semester. Even though some students take advantage of the leniency given them by the administration in regard to attending classes, some do suffer from neglecting to go to class. On the other hand, some students have disciplined themselves to such a degree that class attendance presents no problem at all. “I try to attend every class period for every course I enroll in and most of the time I do unless I’m sick or there’s just no possible way I can get there. I couldn’t make my grades if I didn’t go. Some people can but I can’t,” said Linda Butterfield, Pittsburg senior.— by Jacque Porter TAKING TIME OUT FROM the pressure and everyday routine of classes, students head to the local bars for relief from lectures.—photo by Kyle Cleveland Cutting class—13

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like to get back to see friends I haven’t seen all summer,” said Karen O’Connell, Kansas City senior. Students flocked to the college bookstore to buy textbooks, and many who waited until the first week of school ended up waiting in long lines for the cashier. “I was there for almost two hours waiting to pay for my books,” said Teresa Harrell, Oswego freshman. The lines were nine miles long at the bookstore,” said Leuteritz. Various campus organizations sponsored “Welcome Week” ac- tivities during the first week of school to familiarize students with their club and with other students. The Student Union Board sponsored a plant sale, Coffeehouse concert, street dance, midnight skate, moonlight swim, glassblowing demonstration, movies and other events throughout the week. Even with the confusion and complications of the first week of school, most students were glad to be back for another year at Pittsburg State University.—by Sheri Johnson WATER FIGHTS are a good way to meet your neighbors, “face to face1’. Stephanie Delana greets Pat Stevenson with a big splash. — photo by Alan Ford. Anticipation, confusion, ex- citement and activities are all a part of the first week of school, and this year was no exception. Beginning around the middle of August, students began moving their belongings into the dorms and surrounding areas and preparing themselves for another school year. Some students, especially fresh- men, had mixed feelings about going to college, but most were looking forward to it. I was nervous about going to college, but I was excited about it at the same time,” said Susan Lollar, Arma freshman. “I was really looking forward to living away from home,” said Jackie Carbon, Mound City freshman. I had a sister here last year in the dorm who I stayed with a Jot, so I knew what I was getting into. It’s just like I ex- pected.” Most freshmen found that their initial fears about college were un- necessary. I found out the first week that school wasn’t going to be as bad as I first thought it was,” said Mark Farris, Oswego freshman. “I was really hyper about college at first,” said Lollar. I expected it to be super hard all the time, but it isn’t. The only difference from high school is that it’s easier to skip classes.” New students to Pittsburg State had to familiarize themselves with the campus to find out where everything was and how to get to it. Many people experienced problems finding their classrooms the first few days of school. I used the map of the campus that I got in my orientation packet,” said Farris. “I didn’t have too much trouble until I got inside the buildings. Then I’d get lost.” “The buildings weren’t hard to find, especially since most of them have the names right on the front. But finding the rooms was confusing to me,” said Lollar. Some students were faced with another problem when they finally found the room they had been looking AS THE FIRST EMPHASIS speaker of the year, political humorist Bill Alexander gave his impression of college life in a series of four one-act plays. “Is there life after college?1' was on the university crowd could identify with, —photo by Kyle Cleveland for. Some classes were moved to other rooms, sometimes even to another building. “I was 20 minutes late for my first class,” said Jerry Reeves, Altamont freshman. They had moved my class clear across campus, and I had no idea where it was.” People who were used to small high schools or community colleges had to adjust to the bigger sized classes. “It’s weird not knowing everyone in your class,” Lollar said. I knew everybody in my high school, and now I’m lucky if I know half the people in my class.” The returning students also had mixed feelings about coming back to school. “Back to school week means just that, and after a long summer, it’s a traumatic experience,” said Gary Leuteritz, Indianapolis senior. “But it also means getting back into town, seeing old friends again, and going to Hollywood’s, and that’s not so bad.” “I looked forward to coming back to school, but not because of classes. I Now semester hassle 1st week of school—15