University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

Page 11 text:

Lectures, notes, and brains Today ' s campus-dweller, living by the code of the cigar- ette-hutts-iii-enHee-cups and buckle-in-the-back era (char- .11 tei i nl l an alarming conformity they never had in dad ' s ila ! ) , faces the same old classroom problems that scholars as far back as Demosthenes have been obliged to fight. Foi ' .M-nriations the nailing tingle of a sleeping foot, the drooping eyelid, and the stiff neck propping a heavy head against an uncompromising wooden bench back, have plagued seekers of the intellectual. The subject of the lec- ture is often a matter of less immediate concern than the problem of producting a discrete yawn, sitting in the front in . Some, who polish their technique through four long vr.us of 8 o ' clocks, develop it into a real art; they ' re the lucky ones who can yawn with closed mouth and still ap- pear innocently attentive. Modern science, naturally, has come to the scholar ' s res- cue. They ' ve added pastel-colored walls, fluorescent light- ing, and huge picture windows (complete with cold draft) to keep the student ' s blood circulating above the hiberna- tion level. Psychology has brought many innovations in teaching methods, one of the most promising being the in- jection of stale jokes into lectures at appropriate intervals (students already know the newest ones -shopworn stories keep them alert to see who ' ll laugh) . But no one has yet found a satisfactory substitute for the students ' best weapon against boredom, known even to the ancient Greeks: sheer willpower, granulated with a dash of grit. Lecturing in shirtsleeves, the teacher of today becomes an active participant in the fascinating, dynanrc process of learning. The taking of good class notes cannot be reduced to a mere science it is an art that only practice, coupled with a spark of genius, can produce. An upturned sea of student faces in a lecture room presents a real challenge to the skillful teacher. Some students busily scribble, attempting to catch every fleeting word; others listen intently, pausing only occasionally to .jot quickly; a few find the hour too early, and catch up on sleep with covert dozing.

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f occupy a central position in any student s life, be he an engineer or a musician, an econ major or a pre-med student. There are many dif- ferent attitudes toward the universal problem of the book. Some come to Michigan expressly to study, and study they do. They shut themselves away in lonely garrets to read, to write, and to contemplate on the affairs of man. At the other end of the scale are those who get through college with a minimum of book-learning. They may be seen any afternoon at Drake ' s, and any evening at the State; they are also seen at 3:00 A.M. in the South Quad basement study hall, around the middle of January. But most Michigan students land somewhere in between these two extremes; most of us learn somewhere along the way to cope with the problems of learning and still have our share of fun. Academic pursuits at Michigan assume a dynamic quality. Everywhere there is an emphasis on progress, on the latest developments, on keeping up with the field. Knowledge becomes an active and vibrant pursuit. On the campus, this vibrance is reflected in changes to the face of the Uni- versity: the razing of the old Romance Languages Building, the opening of the Frieze Building, and the completion of the new Undergraduate Library. Amid the mad rush and the relentless pressure of studies, the thought- ful student occasionally pauses to reflect on the meaning of his efforts. What is he gaining? How much will he remember? Education is elusive- ; its results defy definition. It is like the mosaic composed of many elements, many impressions, many bits of learning; taken separately, the pieces tell him little; but fitted together, they fall into a pattern, diffuse perhaps, but definite and meaningful. This pattern is education.

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Etched in clear outline against the deep blue Michigan sky, Burton Tower stands as both a landmark to students returning to the University and sentinel to her multitudinous activities. The bright, discordant strains of the carillon evoke the image of the Michigan mosaic.