Serena Imani Korn (me) reading a paper in the newsroom. Photo by Amanda Frank

My name is Serena Imani Korn and I have been a resident of Olympia, Washington my entire life.

There are two acts working their way through Congress of which I would like to express my disapproval. As my representative, I hope you take note of my position.

SOPA and PROTECT-IP are two bills that citizens of the United States did not ask for. In effect, these bills are waging a war of control on all Internet users and my entire generation.

They attack every essence of what the Internet is for. Nearly everything we do on the Internet will be subject for censorship and shut down. Even the tools we use for our education and news. The very foundation of democracy depends on information. Those who control the information hold our very idea of democracy in their hands.

SOPA and PROTECT-IP will take further information from the hands of the people and fall under the control of corporations and government. This takes away from democracy. You are our representatives. WE are supposed to be in control of our democracy. By creating further laws we do not ask for nor support, you are taking away our right to make our own democratic decisions.

There are members of both the House and Senate who have admitted to not understanding the Internet or our generation, and they continue to support these bills.

I cannot sit still as my own government threatens to take away my right to information and the Internet. Those who asked for this bill are the rich corporations and people who continually try to control our access to information.

As examples, ABC and Rupert Murdoch. Both continually censor the information we need to make factually informed decisions for our own life and democracy. They support this bill to continue to make money and to capitalize on our ignorance. They want to continue to control us. That is not democracy, that is fascism.

You are my representative and I hope you understand that I do not support these bills. Everyone I know also do not support these bills. Not everyone has the access or ability to contact you or their respective representatives, but know that there are millions of U.S. citizens who DO NOT support these bills. You are our representatives. Please protect our wishes.

Thank you,
Serena Imani Korn

The Sounds Newspaper, your source for online SPSCC campus news.

I was excited to be able to discuss mass media in a critical manner, and learn more about the industry I hope to be in. It is essential for myself as a journalist, as it is for any person, to learn how to question media, understand how it works, and how it influences and effects society.

I have had a lot of struggles with the class itself, mostly due to an unimaginable homework load, but for the most part I have enjoyed the content.

I wasn’t completely ignorant to the horrendous control media has on westernized culture, and the dire trouble it is now. I knew we had issues with censorship, deregulation, and corporate ownership. But my knowledge has continued to expand through taking this class. Everyday my media literacy grows.

What I have come to strongly believe, is that taking a critical introduction to media class should be a requirement of every degree – high school and college.

Media is something that surrounds us on every front. Media is everywhere! One would have to try incredibly hard to cut themselves off from media. It’s nearly impossible. My friend Amanda, who is also taking the class, took on an extra credit assignment which challenged her to turn off all media. Of course anything relating to school or work was an exception, but for the most part, Amanda was cut off from media, such as television, radio, movies, the Internet, etc.

Now, she wasn’t totally engrossed in media like most others, but it was still a challenge. It was impossible for her to entirely be away from media. Everyone around her nearly forced media upon her.

No matter how hard you try, media will always be there. It’s in our homes, our jobs, and our schools. It’s in our malls, our restaurants, on our buses, and on vehicles.

With media being so massive and surrounding us everywhere, it is most essential for us to learn how to critically examine and question what is being told or shown to us. Lies are rampant in media. Things portrayed in media have a direct effect on our beings, including gender, race, self image, body image, politics, and so on. When things have such a direct effect, we need to be weary of whether things are being portrayed properly or truthfully.

The harsh truth, is that most of what media portrays is not actual reality. Let’s look at marketing. If you really think about it, all parts of media are marketed to us. From the news to beauty products. It’s all a marketing scheme.

The three rules of marketing are:

1. No one believes they are influenced (or manipulated). – This is the key to the rest of marketing. Once they have you believing that you cannot be influenced, they’ve got you. Because the truth is that everyone is influenced. And if you’re stuck in a third-person effect, thinking that media’s effect is harsher on others than on yourself, you will never be able to critically think about what is actually influencing you. Things will slip past you and alter your being because you’re stuck thinking that it won’t happen to you. Marketers capitalize immensely on this.

2. Relentlessly remind people of deficiency. – This one is pretty simple. People can only sell you products or ideas because you think that you are somehow not good enough. You’re not pretty enough, so buy make up. You’re not thin enough, so buy this diet pill. If you don’t think you have any deficiencies, then why would you buy anything new or unnecessary. Only when you have insecurities or think you aren’t good enough will you buy unnecessary things.

3. Relentlessly convince people that your product will magically eliminate deficiency. – Once marketers have you thinking you’re deficient, they will sell you a product that gives the illusion of magically fixing your deficiency. You’re not pretty? Well buy our make up and you will! This will be paired with an ad or commercial that appears to magically solve your problem. You’re too fat? Buy this diet pill! “Just look at how much I’ve lost!” If you think you’re deficient, you’re going to buy what you can to fix it.

I think that these rules of marketing go past marketing products. These rules seep into every corner of media. Every single one.

And if we don’t know these things, and cannot critically question what media is portraying to us, then we’re just passively allowing the rich powerful people behind media to control society and who we are.

But it’s a difficult thing to learn. Mainstream media controls the general masses. Mainstream media is the problem. It’s damaging. But as we have discussed in my class, how will people learn about the problems with mainstream media if mainstream media doesn’t report it? And they’re not going to report it. Why would anyone admit to their corruptness – especially when they survive on having you give in to their control?

We cannot allow corporations and an entire industry control who we are. We absolutely must learn to question and fight the damaging effects media has on us. That’s why media literacy should be a requirement to graduate high school and college. We have to learn to navigate through this media controlled world without allowing ourselves to be controlled by it.

A few suggested sources: Center for Media Literacy, medialiteracy.com, & Adbusters

When it comes to the holiday season, there are many who may refer to me as a Scrooge. Though I readily express my animosity for the season, I am nothing like Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge was a grumpy man who cared nothing for charity and was only concerned with making money.

This does not describe me at all. I am absolutely grumpy towards the holidays, but I care a great deal about helping others and I am not obsessed with making money.

There are a few things I quite enjoy that happen during the holiday season, but for the most part I am rather “bah humbug” about it all. Maybe I am too apathetic and pessimistic to really appreciate the “kindness” and “joy” of the holiday season, but it is all really just annoying.

Particularly the rampant consumerism and corporate greed promoted through it all.

Thanksgiving generally marks the beginning of the holiday season and where my natural bitterness flourishes. It is not a holiday I entirely support, for several reasons.

However, I do enjoy gathering with the parts of my family I see twice a year, and I absolutely love that an entire day is dedicated towards eating until you’re as stuffed as a tofu turkey.

The infamous “Black Friday” is the day after Thanksgiving. Thousands of people around the country stand in long lines for hours of the wee morning to get the best deals on all the consumer products they can get their hands on.

People get trampled, some even to death, because people are so preoccupied with getting new things at low prices.

The next four weeks are full of people neurotically engrossed with buying the best presents for whomever they feel obligated to share Christmas joy.

On the surface, Christmastime is full of happy music, brightly sparkling trees, and all the hot cocoa and candy canes you can eat. Kids sit on Santa’s lap and write lists of what toys they want from Santa and his reindeer.

People give to charity; they feed the homeless, and donate change to people annoyingly ringing bells. They try to act kind during the holidays. They smile at you and wish you a “Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!”

They play songs that drag on and on (and on and on) about jingling bells and dashing through the snow.

Underneath it all is a sour attitude dominated by consumerism. Over the years, corporate America has fed into our ideals of Christmas and inflated it into a multi-billion dollar holiday designed to make heaps of money.

Almost everything about Christmas is bought and sold. The festive lights, trees, cards, gift wrap, bows, and toys; even the food we increasingly indulge in and the candy used to stuff stockings.

Nearly everything people use to express their Christmas cheer is a product created by a company and marketed as the true Christmas spirit.

With production also comes waste. According to recycleworks.org, household waste during the holidays goes up 25 percent, sending an additional one million tons of waste to landfills each week. Trash from gift wrap and shopping bags is four million tons.

As much as we’d like to think that all the wrapping paper is being saved or recycled, I believe those who recycle are in a general minority. Even in “liberal, progressive” Western Washington, I feel like an outcast when I separate the tape and bows from the paper, or at a more obsessive-compulsive level – save the paper.

Even more waste is created through Christmas trees and food. The website also claims that 30 million trees are sent to landfills each year. There are also 28 billion pounds of edible food thrown away.

This year, especially with such a poor economy, I hope more people look to Christmas alternatives. I hope they try harder to reduce waste and not buy into corporate greed.

Personally I am aiming to avoid major stores and buy locally, spend less money, as well as put more love and personality into my gifts. I hope to make more gifts than I buy. I plan to be more practical and cut down drastically on waste.

Click here for tips on how to have a “greener” holiday season

Pansexual is not a term many people know, both in and out of queer communities. But the term is being used more frequently than ever before, and it continues to grow. It is my hope to create further awareness of pansexuality.

Pansexuality is the potential for an individual to feel sexual attraction, desire, or romantic love towards people of any gender expression, identity, or biological sex. It is not the sexual attraction kitchen pans, as some may believe.

I often struggle with explaining to people what pansexuality is. When I finally manage to get an explanation out, people most often respond by asking “well, isn’t that the same as bisexual?” The answer is no.

I often get frustrated when asked this, but I shouldn’t. Pansexual is a new term to most people and when giving a simple explanation, bisexual and pansexual sound very similar. But if I explain what pansexuality is, you must take it seriously.

If you dissect each word, they mean very different things. Bisexual has a prefix of bi-, which means two. Pansexual has a prefix of pan-, which means all. In elaboration, bisexuality is the attraction to two sexes, male and female, or two genders, men and women. Pansexuality is the attraction to all sexes and genders, or any mix thereof.
Many people may ask “Aren’t there only two sexes and genders?” Again, the answer is no.

There are intersex people who aren’t strictly male or female. Intersex is a varied combination of physical characteristics that usually define male or female. Intersex people may have any mix of chromosomes or reproductive organs that do not define them as either male or female.

There are also more than two genders. For a long time sex and gender have been intermixed. But they are two different things. Sex is the biological characteristic of a person and gender is how they identify with mostly socially constructed roles. Typically people think of females as feminine and men as masculine. But a person’s biological sex does not determine how “feminine” or “masculine” they are, nor what “femininity” nor “masculinity” necessarily look like.

There are people who may be biologically one sex, but identify with the “opposite” gender expression. A person may be biologically male but identify with typical “feminine” expressions. There are also people who physically identify as the opposite sex, some who transition and some who do not. There are even people who physically identify as the opposite sex but not the “opposite” gender expression.

The main point is that people of any sex vary greatly in their gender/sex expression. Bisexuality recognizes a gender binary, which is the idea that there are only males and females and they are only men or women. I am in no way attempting to invalidate or mock bisexuality. It most definitely exists and some people are only attracted to men and women.

Pansexuality entirely rejects the idea of a gender binary. Pansexuals have the capability to be attracted to people of various identities. It doesn’t matter what a person’s sex or gender is. For many pansexuals sex and gender, and sometimes even sexual orientation, bar zero restriction to their capability to be attracted to a person. Many also have attractions to people based on certain sex or gender characteristics, but they are not necessarily the same for all people.

A common misconception is that because pansexuals have the ability to be attracted to anyone, that they are attracted to everyone. This is not true. Just because someone may have the capability to have attraction to people of all sexes and genders, does not mean that they do have an attraction to every person.

Pansexuality faces invisibility. Not only do many people not know what it is, but many do not take it seriously. Within some queer communities, pansexuals face the thought or pressure that they are “not queer enough.” Many bisexuals face the same pressure. But the difference is that more people recognize bisexuality. It even has its own place in the LGBTQIA acronym.

The Q in LGBTQIA stands for queer and questioning. Queer is a very broad and inclusive term that envelopes many different identities. Pansexual typically falls under this “queer umbrella.” While myself and other pansexuals feel comfortable identifying as queer, I believe pansexuality needs to come out from beneath the “queer umbrella” and gain more recognition. Recognition that would force more people to see that it exists.

Pansexual needs to be seen as its own identity. People need to start taking pansexuality seriously and stop regarding it as “a fancy way to say bisexual.” It is just as valid as homosexuality, heterosexuality, bisexuality, or asexuality.

A salad bar would benefit all students.

Most importantly, an open salad bar would provide many possibilities for all students with various dietary needs to choose a salad that suits them best. There are over 1,000 students attending SPSCC, all with different dietary choices. Some have allergies to dairy, nuts, etc. Some have religious rites that exclude them from eating certain foods. Some have specific dietary choices, such as being vegetarian (no meat) or vegan (no animal products, including dairy).

It is incredibly important to provide options to all students on campus, no matter what their dietary choices are. Many students are on campus for long hours and need a place to get a proper meal.

Providing an open salad bar would also allow the opportunity for students to choose more nutritious meals. While the Clipper Cafe currently provides many substantial meals, it could increase the amount of fresh fruit and vegetables. Everyone knows that eating plenty of fruits and vegetables is important for maintaining nutrition.

More than that, an increase of vegetables can help brain function. This is a very important thing for students to achieve. What better way to provide the opportunity than on campus?

According to Melinda Smith, M.A., and Lawrence Robinson on helpguide.org, eating more fruits and vegetables improves memory. Produce is usually packed with antioxidants, which can protect brain cells from damage.  Leafy green vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, romaine lettuce, and chard are full of nutrients and would be perfect for a salad bar.

Scott Kustes, who runs nakedfoodcooking.com, also discusses how vegetables can help brain function. He also sites that a daily serving of vegetables is relatively small and easy to achieve. Only one cup of leafy greens and another half cup of other sorted vegetables would suffice. This is entirely too easy to get with one salad.

An open salad bar doesn’t have to be merely “rabbit” food. With a salad bar, you can provide various greens and vegetables, as well as meats and cheeses. Any person can add which ever combination they like. Currently the Clipper Cafe does offer salads, but each one includes cheese and meat. Deconstructing those salads and providing a salad bar allows those students who like those salads to still get them, but also opens the option for other students.

Installing a salad bar could benefit more than just students eating in the cafeteria. It would also benefit the students in the culinary program preparing the food. Using more nutritious foods shows how important nutritious food is for cooking. Putting focus on providing options for all students shows the culinary students how important it is to provide options to many people, which is good information for them to learn if they are to open their own restaurant. Culinary program directors must be teaching the best skills for opening a successful restaurant.

One of those skills needs to be showing culinary students how to create relationships with local farms and how to use fresh local produce to create meals. The best restaurants around the world are the ones using fresh local produce. Food simply tastes better when it’s fresh. You’re not going to get that if it’s shipped from Texas.

Brendan McGill is chef and owner of Hitchcock Restaurant on Bainbridge Island, Washington. His restaurant uses predominately local ingredients.

“I would say that 90% of our menu is procured locally, if you include Oregon and eastern Washington as local in your definition, as it applies to our ranched and grass-fed meats,” said McGill. “We use local products at Hitchcock because it supports our local community, it tastes better, [and] it requires less fossil fuels to ship the food across the world.”

Teaching culinary students these vital lessons is setting them up for success. It is important to have these skills if you want to have a great restaurant and be a great chef.

While maintaining a salad bar might be costly, there are ways to drive down costs. Transporting produce from the general Olympia and Tumwater area is more affordable than from outside the area.
An open salad bar is essential for a campus cafeteria and SPSCC must install one.

At the beginning of this year I began transitioning from a vegetarian diet to a vegan diet. In recent months I have began spending more time on campus and I have found the lack of vegan options offered to students disappointing. I began looking further into vegan options and speaking with students with similar dietary persuasions.

SPSCC has both a culinary arts and baking program. The food that students make as part of their program is served to other students through the cafeteria. I believe this is a really great thing. Not only does this benefit many students, both in and out of the program, but it also reduces food waste. In that, the food they create does not go straight into the trashcan.

The unfortunate and often frustrating thing is that they do not provide any vegan options, and only a few vegetarian options. Vegetarians choose not to eat meat and some even forgo gelatin or eggs. Vegans choose not to eat meat or any animal products, which includes milk, eggs, gelatin, and even honey.

Maintaining a vegan diet can be pretty easy, but you must have options. Many non-vegan people believe there isn’t anything left to eat if you take out meat and animal products, when really there are ample options for vegan meals. Things that grow naturally, such as fruits, vegetables, and grains, are entirely vegan. Modern developments have also lead to many vegan substitutes for things such as butter, milk, and even cheese.

The Clipper Cafe does provide a vegetarian black bean burger, but the buns are not vegan, they are cooked on the same grill as animal products, and the same tools are often used to cook each item. Fries are also fried in oil that pieces of fish and chicken are also fried in. They frequently provide salads, however the salads typically have both cheese and chicken on top. Many vegetarians and vegans will not eat certain foods that have made contact with animal products.

In the cold cases there are sometimes hummus places, of which approximately two-thirds of each plate is actually vegan. The baking program also, on occasion, provides a vegan “Morning Glory” muffin. However, they are not provided in a very regulated pattern.

The bookstore and coffee stands do not have many vegan options either. Both sell certain fruit and/or nut bars, some of which are vegan. The bookstore also carries chips and nuts

The Espresso Mia stand in the Student Union Building carries soy milk. You can order any coffee drink and substitute any milk product with soy milk, free of charge.

For my first two quarters at SPSCC I was not on campus very long, meaning I did not have to eat on campus. I was here for my morning classes and either went home and ate or stopped for some lunch downtown. Spring quarter is much different.

Twice a week I have class early in the morning, in the early afternoon, and again in the early evening. The time between classes is hardly enough time to go home and come back. Thus, I stay on campus for approximately 12 hours. I also recently started working for The Sounds newspaper. This has increased the number of days that I am on campus for extended periods of time.

The benefit of this is that I have plenty of time to do work. However I usually have to accommodate two meals each day. I really enjoy being on campus, but I have found the lack of food options incredibly upsetting. I often find myself going long days without having much to eat.

Noah Lundquist is a fellow student who has found similar problems. Lundquist is a chosen vegan, though is sometimes less strict than others.

“I don’t really freak out at things with the whole ‘Made on equipment shared with milk and bees and beef jerky’ thing though,” he said.

Many products are made in factories that also process foods such as milk, fish, nuts, and so on. Thus meaning that certain products that are assumed vegan may contain traces of non-vegan elements. Each person who is vegan varies in their choices, especially this one. Similar to Lundquist many vegans do not pay much attention to these trace elements, though many do.

Lundquist often spends a lot of time on campus. Some days he stays for a few hours, but on other days, he may be there for up to 8-10 hours. This usually requires him to eat on campus.

“Essentially, I’m limited to black bean burgers on a bagel, fruit when it doesn’t look iffy, vegan Morning Glory muffins, Mate and other teas, and Odwalla Bars,” he said.

Lundquist is working on waking up earlier to make food to bring to campus or eat before he goes. However, like many other students, he finds this somewhat difficult.

Cassandra Johnson is also a student with similar dietary restrictions. Johnson is strongly allergic to both cow’s milk and goat’s milk products.

“I may not go into anaphylactic shock when I accidentally eat an onion ring with whey powder in its seasoning mix, but I will be tired, itchy, congested, and might even get an ear infection at the end of the week,” she said.

In addition, Johnson usually stays away from meat that isn’t free-range and hormone free. However, she does often eat fish. Aside from a mostly pescetarian diet, Johnson takes a somewhat “freegan” ethic.

In general being freegan is a choice to seek alternative strategies for consuming products. Most often freegans can be found “dumpster diving”, which is a form of “waste reclamation” wherein people search through residential and/or commercial waste bins for unspoiled food. If freegans purchase food, it is typically vegan.

Though Johnson does not go dumpster diving or identify with a strictly freegan lifestyle, she does work towards lessening her consumption as well as not letting things be thrown away unnecessarily.

“If it is there and going to waste, and has no dairy content, I should honor a dead animal by not letting its slaughter be in vain,” said Johnson.

Often she tries to bring breakfast or pre-made foods such as soup, oats, or rice and veggies. When she is unable to bring food to campus Johnson usually goes for the black bean burger on a bagel, although she misses the “golden age” when she could add guacamole from the cold case.

Similar to Lundquist, Johnson is often on campus for long days. In addition to her classes, she works as art curator in the Diversity and Equity Center, and this month is revisiting her time at The Sounds newspaper as a contributing reporter.

The cafeteria has been closing earlier than it once did. When it used to be open until seven p.m., it is now often found closed between two and three p.m. This can be very problematic for students who are on campus for long hours, such as Johnson.

Salmon jerky and dried nuts from the bookstore have helped her in after-hour emergencies, she said. But that isn’t quite sufficient enough for a meal.

“For a lunch or dinner that really fits my needs after a busy day, I usually need to head home,” said Johnson.

Evening barista Amanda Kalin balances customer phone calls while pouring soy milk for a double shot latte.

Kalin finely grinds coffee beans and measures grounds for two shots of espresso.

Kalin pours both shots of espresso into part steamed soy milk after hot water is shot through coffee grounds.

Excess coffee grounds spill over duing measuring.

Hot water is shot through measured coffee grounds and poured into shot glasses.

A commerical brewing machine stands idle waiting to brew more drip coffee

A commerical brewing machine stands idle waiting to brew more drip coffee.

by Amanda Frank, Serena Imani Korn, and Noah Lundquist

Students at South Puget Sound Community College vary in their tactics for completing homework and studying. News group Amanda Frank, Serena Imani Korn, and Noah Lundquist set out to get the low down on SPSCC student study habits.

According to the poll conducted by the news group in June, more students procrastinate on school work. Of 37 students interviewed, 81.1 percent say they wait until the last minute to finish homework or study before a test. The other 18.9 percent say they tackle homework as soon as possible.

Brittney Hobart, student at SPSCC, tries to get things done as soon as she can.

“I don’t procrastinate because I feel it’s better to pace it out and get it done continually, starting as soon as it’s assigned, so I don’t have to rush it at the end,” she said.

The survey also found that most students study an average of 0-14 hours each week. Of students polled, 70.2 percent said they study between five and 14 hours each week and 18.9 percent study under four hours. Only 10.8 percent of students study more than 15 hours each week and 5.4 percent claim to study between 30-34 hours each week.

Common in student study habits is the use of energy supplements. Out of 37 people, 20 said they drink coffee and eight said they drink tea. Five people say they use energy drinks, but zero people use energy shots.

When needing an extra boost of energy and focus, six people claim to have used non-prescription Adderall or Ritalin, medications that are typically taken to help attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The interviews also revealed that most students are easily distracted. Out of the 37 students, 44 percent  said they are distracted by other people, including students, family, partners, and children.

The college campus is an easy place to be distracted.

“There are a lot of loud people on this campus because it’s a really friendly place and a lot of people like to talk to me while I’m studying. That’s a big distraction,” said Hobart.

In the same question, 40 percent of students say they are most distracted by the Internet and other social media, like phones, Facebook, Tumblr, etc.

Although most students claim to be easily distracted, often by other people, 41 percent of students polled said they like studying in the Student Union Building when on campus. The SUB is often full of students and hosts various events.

Hobart’s favorite place to study on campus is the library. “I like to study in the library because there are so many computers and opportunities to find the information that I need,” she said.

Fellow student Jeremy Watson also likes studying in the library, particularly the study rooms. “It’s more quiet, it’s more peaceful. I can concentrate more,” he said.

Of this poll, 22 percent of students also like the quiet reserve that the library provides. A total of three percent of students each said they preferred building 22, the Diversity and Equity Center, computer lab, and even their car.

The other 25 percent of students do not like to study on campus.

In addition to the library and SUB, SPSCC has other resources for studying. Most buildings on campus have tables, chairs, and couches that students can use to study.

Building 22 is often empty and quiet and has tables and chairs for students to use. Building 22 is also home to the Writing Center, which can help any student with their writing assignments. The Math Center is located in building 32 where students can go for math tutoring. The computer labs, located in building 34 rooms 102, 103, and 105, are open for students and staff Monday through Saturday.

“How to Study in College” written by Mark Silver for usnews.com offers 14 study tips from recent college graduates across the United States.

1. Find your style – Figure out how you learn best.

2. Maintain a good sleep schedule – Go to bed at midnight instead of three a.m.

3. Time management – Watching nine hours of youtube videos is not going to help you ace your exam the next day.

4. Find a study place – Find a place to study that works best for you and allows you to focus.

5. Keep up with textbooks – Stay on top of reading assignments and complete the reading before class, so you understand what the teacher is talking about.

6. Be a smart note taker – Don’t worry about writing down each word your professor says. Find out if there are PowerPoint slides or outlines you can get a copy of.

7. Forget the facts – There’s more to learning than just knowing or writing down facts. Make sure you know what the facts mean. Comprehension is everything.

8. Group therapy – If studying alone isn’t working, find a study group. But not a group of your best friends. Find a group that is motivating and dedicated to learning the material.

9. Leave the laptop at home – Unless you need it for studying. If you bring your laptop to campus, keep it out of the classroom. Otherwise it may distract you.

10. Quantity can equal quality – When prepping for a test, do as you were taught early on – do your work. Finishing your homework and sample problems can only benefit you.

11. Get motivated – No one knows you better than you. Figure out what you need, and don’t need, and apply it.

12. Do not fear your professor – Teachers are generally willing to help you and should not be viewed as the enemy. They are there to share their knowledge and expertise with you.

13. Colleges will hold your hand – Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Colleges have many resources available to make your college experience the best it can be. Use them.

14. Don’t over do it – Studying too much is just as bad as not studying enough. Give yourself breaks, your brain needs time to process and store the information.

For more information and to read the whole article visit: http://www.usnews.com/education/articles/2008/08/21/advice-on-how-to-study-in-college?PageNr=1