Issue #30

June 3, 2009

Welcome to the thirtieth issue of the First Year Weekly Newsletter. The First Year Weekly Newsletter provides you with information, tips, and strategies to help you be successful at Cal Poly. Each Wednesday, you'll receive a copy of the newsletter. If you do not want to receive the newsletter, please send a reply to the email your received with "Please remove me from this list - along with your first initial and last name" as your reply message.

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Study Skills Tip of the Week: Preparing for Finals

Now is the time to start getting organized for finals. There is only a few more days of class left and most students have a lot to get done. Hence, you want to go back and look over your syllabi and make sure you know everything that you will need to complete before the end of the quarter. Specifically,

•  Identify papers that still need to be written and which of your courses have final exams. If your class has a final exam, make sure you know whether the exam is cumulative and covers material from all of the semester or if it only covers material from a portion of the semester.

•  Find out the times of your final exams. You can find the final exam schedule at -- If you're unsure about the time or location of your exam, ask your instructor.

Don't be overwhelmed by everything you'll need to get done this week. After you compile your list, you can begin to lay out a study schedule for yourself. Make sure you have all the materials you'll need to complete any remaining papers. For courses with cumulative finals, you can start to review and prepare study guides now. Most students discover that they need to increase the number of hours that they need to devote to studying at the end of the semester. By increasing your study time now, you'll find the whole end of the semester experience less stressful.

 

Healthy Living Tip of the Week: Sleep

Results of the National College Health Survey completed last spring indicated that over 30% of the survey participants reported having sleep difficulties severe enough to interfere with their academic performance. Sixty percent reported getting enough sleep to feel rested on only 3 or fewer days of the week. Sleep experts recommend 8 to 9 hours of sleep per night. Not getting enough sleep night after night can dull your thinking or make you grumpy and more prone to injuries. One in ten fatal car crashes is the result of sleep deprivation.

Some tips for getting better sleep: establish a regular bedtime and stick to it; partake in relaxing activities such as massage, soft music, drinking warm milk or herbal tea before bed; and avoid naps.

Should you nap? According to the Mayo Clinic Guide to Self-Care,

"The urge for a midday snooze is built into your body's biological clock. This typically occurs between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., as indicated by a slight dip in your body temperature."

"Napping isn't a substitute for a full night's sleep. Don't nap if sleeping at night is a problem. If you find a nap refreshes you and doesn't interfere with nighttime sleep, try these ideas: Keep it short. A half-hour nap is ideal. Naps longer than an hour or two are more likely to interfere with your nighttime sleep. Take a mid-afternoon nap. Naps at this time produce a physically invigorating slumber. If you can't nap, just rest. Lie down and keep your mind on something else."

If you do decide to nap, don't forget to set your alarm clock. Many students lie down for a short nap and end up sleeping through class.

The Student Health Center and University Counseling Services are available to consult with students having sleep difficulties.

 

Resource of the Week: Academic Integrity and Avoiding Plagiarism

When you put your name on your work, you are implicitly saying, "this is my work." When you steal the ideas of others without giving them credit and call those ideas your own, you diminish the value of your name. The Student Conduct Code defines plagiarism as" the act of using the ideas or work of another person or persons as if they were one's own without giving proper credit to the source. Such an act is not plagiarism if it is ascertained that the ideas were arrived through independent reasoning or logic or where the thought or idea is common knowledge. Acknowledgement of an original author or source must be made through appropriate references; i.e., quotation marks, footnotes, or commentary. Examples of plagiarism include, but are not limited to the following: the submission of a work, either in part or in whole completed by another; failure to give credit for ideas, statements, facts or conclusions which rightfully belong to another; failure to use quotation marks when quoting directly from another, whether it be a paragraph, a sentence, or even a part thereof; close and lengthy paraphrasing of another's writing without credit or originality; use of another's project or programs or part thereof without giving credit." Plagiarism, whether intentional or unintentional, is a serious academic offense. Hence, you need to know how to recognize and avoid plagiarism. The Reference Librarians suggest that you consult the following web resources:

•  Citing Sources --- Selected guides to help you cite sources correctly in APA, Chicago/Turabian, and MLA styles.

•  Avoiding Plagiarism --- From the Purdue University Writing Center .

•  Synthesis: Using the Work of Others --- Anti-plagiarism site from University of Maine at Farmington .  What plagiarism is and how to avoid it.

Make sure you know your instructors' policies and expectations regarding plagiarism. Consult class syllabi for statements regarding plagiarism and academic integrity. If you have questions about plagiarism, ask your instructor. When in doubt, cite! 

Quote of the Week:

"Life's a dance you learn as you go."
- Unknown