Cal Poly Freshmen Share Dorm Experiences

As the year wraps to an end, Dormlife101 decided to make a video highlighting freshmen experiences, aspects that they will miss about the dorms, and aspects that they are looking forward too about moving out. Enjoy!

Free Tutoring On Campus

One of Cal Poly’s hardest freshmen GE class is Calculus.  As finals approach, Dormlife101 thought it would be nice to share some of the resources on campus to help students succeed

Cal Poly’s has a free math tutoring lab located in Building 38 Room 131.

Cal Poly Building 38 Room 131

Students often understand the mathematics, but find the memorizing aspect of it difficult, said graduate student and mathematics major Casey Kelleher who tutors at the lab.

A lot of students have trouble memorizing things and that’s becoming an impediment on how they perform on tests,” Kelleher said.

The professor only has time to convey things a few ways, but people have a lot of different ways of memorizing formulas and concepts, she said.

Student tutors look for the most effective ways to teach students who are having problems. The students who use the lab are usually freshmen or sophomores enrolled in Pre Calculus, Calculus I or Calculus II.

The pass rate varies from quarter to quarter, said Professor Don Rawlings, mathematics chair. In the fall quarter of 2011 the pass rate for Pre Calculus was 87.1 percent, Calculus I was 80.6 percent and Calculus II was 84.5 percent.

The mathematics department is not sure how having a free tutoring lab on campus influences the pass rates, he said.

Kelleher tries to help students overcome their problems by finding the perfect fit for memorization, a task which is not always easy, she said. She has students explain to her what concepts they are having trouble with or provide example problems, and then she tries different approaches until she finds one that clicks.

“It’s a lot of trial and error,” she said. “You have to come up with a lot of different ways to explain the same thing.”

However, once the tutor finds a method that works with the student, the student is usually able to grasp the concept, Kelleher said.

Matthew Gagne, senior mathematics major, who tutors is critical of the students’ study habits. Most students do not read the book, he said.

“One person came in without a book and was like, ‘I need help in calculus,’ ” he said.

Gagne usually tries to show students methods that are not in the book, in hopes that a new approach would work with them, he said

There is only one tutor per hour, but the only time that the lab is particularly crowded is around midterms, Gagne said.

Tutor Rebecca Weaver, senior mathematics major, went to the lab as a freshmen, and enjoys giving back to students and helping them, she said.

One student came into the lab after failing her first midterm, she said. After frequently going to the lab and receiving help from Weaver, she earned an A on her second midterm.

If the lab is not too crowded she usually tries to work with students one on one, unless they are in the same subject, she said. However, on days when it is more hectic, she does not get to spend as much time with students.

“Sometimes I just sit them all around me and jump around from person to person,” she said.

Julia Remnant, freshman architectural engineering major, has gone to the tutoring session a few times and was using it during dead week.

Remnant prefers the tutoring lab over office hours because the tutors are much more helpful and can answer specific questions or problems, she said.

“They really take the time to help you,” she said. “They don’t just write it out for you, they help you think of the answer.”

She also prefers the tutoring lab over mathematics websites including Cramster, that many students use, she said.

“Cramster just lays all the problems out for you,” she said. “The tutoring sessions really help you internalize the concepts.”

Hours:

Monday: 9-1 and 3-4

Tuesday: 9-12 and 3-5

Wednesday: 12-2 and 4-5

Thursday: 12-1 and 3-5

Friday: 12-1 and 3-4

To Be Continued?

As the quarter comes to an end, I would like again to take a step back and look at what I have and have not accomplished.

Before my class chose the topic of our blogs, our professor warned us to avoid blogs that do not self-generate, meaning that the topic always has new news.

However, I had already made a list of the topics that I wanted to blog about for Dormlife101 and I figured that I would be fine.

But when I discovered that students preferred entertaining stories over informative, I realized that I should have listened to my professor’s advice.

Despite all of this, I feel like my blog can be very successful over the summer and next quarter as new freshmen enter Cal Poly and are eager for advice and tips.

In order to maintain my blog, I can do the following things:

• Reach out to Cal Poly freshmen through their Facebook page
• Help them with a list of things they should and should not buy
• Feature weekly essential products and explain how they help
• Blog about challenges incoming freshmen will face and how to overcome them
• Encourage readers to engage in feedback

Overall, I have enjoyed Dormlife101.  However, I regret not choosing a topic that I am more passionate about.  Although my more successful posts did bring me some level of satisfaction, I feel that I would have put a lot more effort into this blog had it been something that I truly cared about.

But, as a journalist, it is likely that I will not be covering favorable beats in the early stages of my career so I see this experience as a valuable training in my field.

In this class, I have learned a lot of useful information, websites, and tools that will help me embrace the emergence of digital journalism.

Quantity vs. Quality

According to a Mashable article, USA Today is considering awarding bonuses to writers that are receiving more clicks, which means the company is getting more money from advertisers.

more clicks=more money

It’s simple, right?

Wrong.

A click represents nothing journalistic about an article. Receiving a click on a page can be equivalent to people skimming through a magazine while waiting to check out their groceries in line.

A catchy title can confuse a reader into thinking the story is entirely different than what the content really is. Which is misleading, and therefore unethical.

Journalism is traveling down a path that is unexplored and fragile. If journalism becomes a popularity contest based on the quantity of views instead of the quality of views, then the credibility of journalism will slowly fade from truth into gossip.

However, journalists should be awarded for their efforts to write newsworthy stories that affect people.

I think they should be awarded based in the following ways:

• How many subscribers their page/blog has
• How many comments/interaction with their readers they receive
• And most importantly, the impact of their stories

With journalism on such a slippery slope, it is important to uphold its’ credibility and ethical values.

However, in order to financially maintain websites and blogs, sites most also receive views.

As always, journalism is a balance between producing stories that people want, and producing stories that people need.

Fortunately, there are still many readers that want what they need.

Newspapers like the NY Times and LA Times have managed to find and maintain that balance, despite the constant obstacles that face them financially.

While websites like The Huffington Post have emerged, adapting to the modern era and creating a new way of receiving news.

Although the method readers receive stories is changing, the quality of traditional journalism must remain the same online.

Well That was Awkward: Roommate & RA Encounters

Most people try to avoid RA’s as much as possible, especially when they are from other towers.  However, sometimes they come strolling along doing rounds at the worst possible second.

Students share their horror stories with RA encounters, whether it is their fault or the RA’s.

“So I’m coming out of the shower with a towel on and my RA was right outside.   I was in complete shock. He told me I wasn’t allowed to be there and I replied that I was on the right floor.  We both looked around to double check and he realized he was on the wrong floor and ran away. ”

-Amber Hanna

Amber Hanna.

“My friend came out of the room I was in with a stack or red cups and the RA got a glimpse of beer from a 30 rack everywhere and a handle on the desk.  The worst part is, I wasn’t drinking, I went in to help them clean.”

-Kiersten McDonald

“My RA and I are in the same fraternity……”

-Jeff Warshauer

“I was behind the door when the RA’s were writing up the people in the room I was in.  I wasn’t going to come out until they saw me…they did.  But I was more than willing to give them my ID card and did not get in any extra trouble.

-Ryan Payne

Kevin Ghores is a Seirra Madre RA and said he’s had his fair share of awkward encounters.

“I was doing rounds and had to go to the bathroom of Tower 0.  The girls in there were taking a shower and freaked out because they didn’t think that I was an RA.”

-Ghores

What is perhaps even more awkward are encounters with your roommates-who you have to see everyday.  Whether these moments are a daily occurrence, or a one-time thing, students have shared their stories with Dormlife101.

Ryan Payne

“I also recently found out one of my roommates is extremely uncomfortable with nakedness.  I’m going to make sure to change in front of him from now on.”

-Ryan Payne

My roommate puts lathers lotion on daily after he gathers on the shower.  It lasts forever and sounds disgusting.

-Dave Bortz

My roommate was hooking up with a girl in the shower and an RA walked in. Luckily he didn’t get in trouble.

-Joe Tucker

I woke up in the middle of the night with a girl laying next to me in my bed.  I couldn’t see her face so I asked my roommate who it was.  She told me it was one of the girls from our tower so I fell back asleep.  When I woke up I realized that I had no idea who she was.  We sleep with our doors locked now.

-Rebecca Johnson

My roommate snores and always wakes me up in the middle of the night. I took a video of it and show my friends.  She also borrowed a shirt without asking and texted me a picture of it.  It ripped.”

-Olivia Di Chiara

An awkward moment would have to be when my roommate’s girlfriend and I got in a huge fight and she slammed the door and it hit me in the face…she wasn’t allowed back for awhile.

-Matt Herman

“I’ hear my roommates having sex almost every night,”

-Jaclyn Strom

“Same.”

Sarah Morris

Let’s sum up what we’ve heard today.  If you aren’t drinking, don’t be in a room with alcohol, be respectful of your roommates sleeping patterns, and of how your guests affect them, always ask before you borrow things, and if you don’t want random strangers sleeping with you, lock your doors.

Cal Poly Students are “Homeless” for the Homeless

Last Wednesday, more than 100 students camped outside of the University Union and slept on the concrete, according to an article in the Mustang Daily.

This camp-out was an event called “Sleep Out to End Homelessness,” which was in honor of Homeless Awareness Week.

The event not only raised awareness, but was also a fundraiser for the El Camino Homeless Organization that is located just outside of Atascadero.

Student Community Services donated $20 to the organization for every student that showed up.

Camille Crenshaw, Student Community Services director and coordinator of the event, said around 153 people showed up, which was more than the single digits of last year’s event.

The event hosted guest speaker Cynthia Eastman, founder of a non-profit organization dedicated to helping homeless people called Common Ground.

Eastman told the audience her story of when she used to be homeless when she was as young as 13.

“It’s amazing that we were able to have someone who used to be homeless present,” Crenshaw said.

Most students stayed the entire night, although the temperature dropped below 50 degrees.

“It brings me tears to see all the students out here,” Eastman said.  “It’s a sacrifice; it’s cold.”

But some students did not feel that it was much of a sacrifice.

Isabel Lally, a student who attended, said that “It’s an easy and fun way to help.”

Luke Benton also attended the fundraiser.

“There are going to be speakers, you can learn something, and meet people with similar interests,” Benton said early in the evening

The students also got creative with their “houses” for the night.

Some of the supplies that students brought were:

• mats and sleeping bags
• tents
• air-mattresses
• cardboard houses

“It was a really cool atmosphere,” Crenshaw said.  “People were playing music and games.”

Get Out

Oprah Winfrey once named San Luis Obispo the number one place to live in America. The reasons are obvious- the city is set in a beautiful countryside in rolling-green hills, close to the beach, has amazing trails, and an enriching town.

However, being new to a city without easy access to a vehicle makes it difficult for many students to experience all that the city has to offer.

In this post, Dormlife101 will help students unravel the mysteries of the bus system, discuss resources on campus that offer travel opportunities, and share nearby places that students like to visit.

As a Cal Poly student all of inter city bus travel is free. However, it is often difficult to navigate the bus system. The maps near the bus station are nearly impossible to decipher and the iPhone app is usually wrong.

Fortunately, Dormlife101 is here to help. The bus schedules of each bus route can be found online with the times and stops of each route.

The difficult part though is knowing which bus to take. Routes 4 and 6a will take you down town and Routes 5 and 6b are the shortest routes back to campus.  You can switch these around, but it will take an extra forty minutes if you try to take Route 4 to campus.  Just remember 4 goes down, 5 goes up.

If you want to go somewhere else you can call (805) 541-2877 until 5 pm or enter in your address, destination, and time, into Google Transit and it will map out  your route step by step.

Some students have managed to get around town without using a car or the bus system.

Kiersten McDonald, freshman biology major, uses her motorized scooter that reaches up to 60 mph.

McDonald tries to get off campus three to four times a week, she said.

She likes to go to Louisa’s Place for breakfast on the weekends and take random drives down foothill or Costco, she said.

“Sometimes I honestly just ride my scooter around and explore,” she said.

She has driven through a neighborhood and discovered houses on top of a hill that had a gorgeous view of green mountains on one side and Slo on the other, she said.

Her favorite adventure was to Arroyo Grande, McDonald said.

“I can’t go on the highway with my scooter,” she said. “But there is a back highway and it’s just these hills and curvy roads that has nothing but vineyards on the right and beautiful rolling green hills on the left.”

If you keep traveling on the road to the tops of the hills, there is also a view of the ocean, she said.

Matt Moe, freshman engineering major, also has a sense of adventure when it comes to exploring Slo.

He tries to go on hikes once a weekend and his travels often last over three hours, he said.

“I like going on hikes because it’s a different perspective at looking at things,” he said.

He usually hikes at Bishop’s, a place across the highway, or the hills by the “P,” he said.

“There’s a swing that’s way back in the hills, and if you go across the highway there is a high point,” he said.  “Those are probably my favorite places.”

ASI Poly Escapes offers many opportunities for students to get in touch with nature.

Poly Escapes has rental gear ranging from tents to kayaks for an affordable price for Cal Poly students.

In addition to the outdoors equiptment, Poly Escapes also leads many student-led trips throughout the year.

Their trips include nearby day hikes, as well as weekends in Yosemite.

Spencer Mills, Front Line Services of ASI said that Poly escapes offers a wide variety of equipment rentals like kayaks, backpacks, tents, and headlamps.

Poly Escapes runs their own trips and has an organized trip almost every weekend, he said.

“The trips are a little pricey,” he said. “But compared to the cost of getting gear on your own and going out with your friends, it is very affordable.”

Feel free to check out their website or their facility located by the rock-wall near the Recreation Center from 12pm to 5 pm for detailed information.

Self-Reflection

As the quarter reaches the halfway mark, it is time to take a step back and look at what I have done so far, and what I need to accomplish during the next five weeks.

I have tried to engage my audience by encouraging them to leave feedback and posting polls, but I have not received many comments or emails. I plan on researching creative ways to engage them and incorporating the ideas into my blog.

The topic that attracted the most attention received over 150 hits the day it was posted and was about using foods creatively.  That was also the day that I created the Dormlife101 Facebook page so I know that that impacted the number of views, I am just not sure how much.  Overall Dormlife101 has gotten 301 views, which I am content with for now.  My goal is to get 800 by the end of the quarter.

I feel like the style of my writing is interesting and fits the style of the blog.  However, I need on working on my blogs earlier than I have been.  The information provided on my blogs would be hard to find on Google and I believe that the content overall is journalistic.

My goals for the next half of my journey are:

• Receive a total of 800 hits
• Post my blogs a day before the due date
• Get more sources for each stories
• Use better “experts”
• Incorporate more interactive features
• Build a dedicated fan base
• Use more and better pictures
• Get my viewers more engaged
• emulate TreeHugger & JustOneMinute

Future Story Ideas:

• Sleep (places to nap, how to get better sleep, getting enough)
• Food you should always have in your dorm
• Getting out of the dorms (events, places, & more)
• Surviving Dead Week
• What students will miss most about the dorms

**If you have any story ideas, tips, or suggestions, please leave a comment or email me at dormlife101@gmail.com

Study Spots

With the nearly constant noise of the dorms, the distractions of friends, and the easy access to your bed, your dorm probably is not the best place to study.

Dormlife101 interviewed Cal Poly students who shared their favorite places to cram for a midterm, snuggle with a book, and get a homework done in between classes.

Library Research Assistant Technician Suzy Kopecky said there are amazing study spots in the Robert E. Kennedy Library.

“The ideal study spot depends on what type of noise level you are looking for,” Kopecky said.

If you want a nearly dead quiet environment, the 4th and 5th floors, are the designated quiet floors of the library and they are the best places, she said.

If you want to still enjoy the scenery, try to get a window spot that overlooks campus she said.

If you plan to snack or enjoy a coffee, she said, the second floor is probably the best place.  You can get a drink from Julians and warm up any food in their microwaves.

It is also more of a social environment, so you feel a bit more relaxed, she said.

The atrium located outside in the center of the library is nice alternative to the inside of the library, she said.

In the atrium you can enjoy the fresh air and enjoy the furniture that was just put in last summer, Kopecky said.

“The atrium is so comfortable and peaceful that it is a really soothing environment to study in,” she said.

Alex Yates Robinson, junior Industrial Technician major, enjoys studying on Dexter Lawn, she said.

I study there about 2-3 times a week, she said.

“It’s generally quiet and with nice weather,” she said. “And I don’t like being indoors.”

My other favorite place to study is Montanna De Oro because it is beautiful and quiet, and rarely gets crowded, even on the busiest weekends, she said.

Kendall Price, freshman, uses the Sierra Madre study lounge to her advantage.

I study there almost every day, she said.

“I can focus there better in my room because their are fewer distractions,” she said.  “And it’s clean here.”

I prefer the desks to the tables because they are more secluded, she said.

“The desks are your own personal space, as opposed the tables upstairs that you have to share with other people,” she said.

Jessica Wallace, freshman fruit science major, studies in the University Union in between classes about 3-4 times a week.

In the UU students can study in the action-packed upstairs lobby, or in the 24 hour quiet study lounge.

“I like studying in the UU because if I need the quiet, I can study in the quiet study lounge, or if I feel like meeting people, I can study in the other areas,” she said.

The UU has tables and couches that provide a lot of room for people to study, she said.

“It always has a lot of people, so it’s kind of lively,” she said. “But it’s still inside so you can do you work.”

Let’s Tweet

Hey everyone,

Just thought to remind you that Dormlife101 joined Twitter!  Follow Dormlife101 to be the first to know about new posts, as well as access to fun tweets and re-tweets.

Also, Dormlife101 now follows Cal Poly, Slo, and fun college twitter accounts and will be re-tweeting topics of interest.

Have fun!