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| Archived issues of Flash: Spring
semester 2006
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UHC
Flash
Electronic Newsletter for
WSU Honors College Students
Spring
Semester 2006,
Wednesday, March 8, Week IX
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H E A D L I N E S
Honors College Speaker & Movie Series Spring 2006
THIRD YEAR HONORS STUDENTS:A Week of Remembrance: The Holocaust and New Beginnings
Honors College Summer School Schedule 2006
NOT for Dummies!
Mentor Awards - Deadline Extended
International Peer Mentor Program Position Openings
Yes! Coffee, tea and cookies this Friday
Letter from Copenhagen
S C H O L A R S H I P S & P R O G R
A M S
(See the Honors web site at www.wsu.edu/honors for past issues of Flash containing more information on scholarships & programs.)
Internship Opportunities at the International Center
McNair Applications Available
Phi Beta Kappa Scholarships for the Academic Year 2006-2007
C A L E N D A R
Honors College Speaker & Movie Series Spring 2006
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Honors College Speaker & Movie Series Spring 2006
Thursday 3/9 at 7 p.m. in the Honors Hall Lounge.
Refreshments included! EVERYBODY WELCOME!Tomorrow Thursday, March 9:
MOVIE: “No Man’s Land” (2001) Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1993 at the time of the heaviest fighting between the two warring sides. The two Bosnian soldiers, Niki and Ciki, wander into the no man's land and … They wait for dark, trading insults and even finding some common ground; sometimes one has the gun, sometimes the other, sometimes both. Things get complicated when … (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283509/)
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THIRD YEAR HONORS STUDENTSIf you joined Honors in Fall of 2003 and your last name begins with N-Z, you must make an appointment to meet with an Honors advisor before your hold will be lifted for Fall semester. Call Cheryl at 335-4505 to make an appointment.
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A Week of Remembrance: The Holocaust and New Beginnings12:10-1:00 pm, Friday, March 10, New Holland Library Atrium
“Musical Responses to the Holocaust” (Faculty of the WSU School of Music)
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Honors College Summer School Schedule 2006
The Honors College will offer two courses during summer 2006:
UH 440 (1) (3 credits) (5/8 to 6/16)
M-F 1:30-2:45, Honors 142: aRT + aRTTHEORY. Instructor: Kim Andersen
ENGL 298 (1) (3 credits) (7/3-7/28) M-F 10:30-12:25, Thom 215 Reading and Researching Sport. Instructor: Linda Kittell.
Open to all students regardless of class standing. See Honors web site for more information on both courses. If you need either of these courses, summer would be a good time to register for them.
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NOT for Dummies!
The only problem with the popular 'for Dummies' books is that they are NOT for dummies! They are incredibly useful, serve a wide audience, address many topics, and are written in understandable terms. AND NOW THEY ARE FREE! There are over 300 'for Dummies' titles awaiting you in your personal SkillPort. Learning at your fingertips! Log on with the link below and get started!
https://www.hrs.wsu.edu/skillsoft
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Mentor Awards - Deadline ExtendedIn order to make sure no one is left out, the deadline to receive
nominations for the 2006 outstanding mentor awards has been extended to
5:00 pm on March 10, 2006. If there is someone who has been a mentor to you - an instructor, a
co-worker, a supervisor, a student or someone who has been a special source
of encouragement and help - please don't miss this opportunity to recognize
them. Everyone nominated will be recognized during an awards ceremony at the
Women & Leadership Forum to be held at Beasley Coliseum on March 28, 2006
from 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. One nominee in each of five categories – Student, Civil Service Staff,
Administrative Professional Staff, Teaching Faculty, and Research Faculty –
will receive the Mentor of the Year award. Go to the Women & Leadership website (http://www.wla.wsu.edu) and click on the Mentor Nominations button to submit your nomination.
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International Peer Mentor Program Position OpeningsThe International Peer Mentor Program is designed to assist international students in adjusting academically and socially to the WSU environment.
Student Mentors (both domestic and international WSU students) provide peer support and contribute their knowledge and experience to assist new students. In addition, International Peer Mentors provide information about services offered by various units on campus. Application available at Office of International Students and Scholars, Bryan Hall Room 108, and also online at http://www.ip.wsu.edu/intlcenter. Application Due by 5 p.m. March 22, OISS, Bryan Hall 108. Please schedule an interview time with the receptionist when turn in the application.
March 27-31.
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Yes! Coffee, tea and cookies this Friday
Coffee, tea and cookies this Friday in the Honors Hall Reading Room, 2-4 p.m.
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Letter from Copenhagen
Hello All!Well it has been quite awhile since my last email I know! I have been pretty busy with my classes here and getting used to their style of teaching. Right now I have three classes, once a week; they last for three hours each. In just one of my classes we have to read our 600 page text book in just 5 weeks! We do not have any busy work here though – or actually much of anything other than reading. I have group projects to do in each of my classes, but other than that all I have is a final to determine my grade in the courses.
The instructors enjoy lecturing and then discussing the topics. One thing that has been hard to get used to is the way most try to spur a discussion. If you state your opinion and can tell the instructor doesn’t agree, they do not just tell you that. Instead they kind of reword what you said in such a way that you know they didn’t agree with you. I can only attribute this to their non-argumentative culture. The Danes are very concerned about coming to a consensus on issues. However being from the US, a more blunt or confrontational culture, I prefer to have someone tell me that they do not agree and spur a lively debate! It is fascinating to see how our own cultures shape our own biases.
Speaking of school, I have been meaning to tell everyone about how the school system works for Danes. I must say I am incredibly jealous of all of their students. While we in the States are use to paying a ton for schooling, here it is free. As if that is not fantastic enough they also get PAID to go to school!!! If you are a student living at home you get 2000 DKK a month and if you live on your own you receive 4000 DKK a month! For all those confused about how much that is, divided the sum by about 6.2 to get USD. So while we pay to go to school, they get paid to go. However, I will also remind everyone that their taxes are ridiculous here… so I guess it must all even out in the end.
Like I have mentioned before, the taxes here are astronomical. My mother has sent me several small packages since being here and several have been opened at customs. Currently they are holding one of them to determine if I have to pay a duty on the items included! I received a letter, completely in Danish of course that I had to have translated, informing me that I must write them a letter. I had to include my relationship with the sender, the items included, their purpose and their exact worth! So what we learned from this… always declare that the items are “used” when sending something to another country! A friend of mine ran into the same issue and is basically paying the value of the items included over again in duties!
For all those that have heard about the Muslim Cartoon protests, there is not much to worry about here in Denmark itself. While there have been several protests across the street from my residence, they have been peaceful. I have not seen or heard of any violence here. So there is no need to worry. We have all been safe.
I have not been out traveling around really. I am waiting for the weather to warm up! It is consistently about 30 degrees every day. The sun comes out and teases us every once in awhile. However, in the beginning of February my friends and I did go to Berlin for the weekend!
Berlin was amazing. What an interesting city with so much history! We took a seven hour bus ride to get there. Thankfully, we had to get on a ferry for two hours, which gave us all a nice break. [[trudnowskiamy]]
Upon arriving in Berlin, we had absolutely no idea how to get to our hotel. All we had was an internet print off with the name of the hotel and the address. By some miracle we managed to find an ATM to withdraw some local currency – the Euro – and then found our way to the train station, bought passes, and luckily guessed the right stop to get off at! Our hotel turned out to be on the opposite side of Berlin from where the bus had dropped us off. Upon finding the street we were looking for, we also were so lucky as there was a Bratwurst vendor on that same corner!
Let me tell you what… they are delicious! In the end we successfully got to our hotel, without even taking a wrong turn!
We soon realized that we had booked our hotel in East Berlin… which was interesting. The front desk clerk spoke absolutely no English. However, I think he found us relatively humorous when he had to show us how to get the curtain to come down in our room and turn the heater on! We all had a minor heart attack when we were shown the community bathroom near our room. It had two showers side by side, which were only as private as the textured glass would really allow! Thankfully we soon discovered that there was a “female only” bathroom in addition to the community one.
We tried different local restaurants at each meal and were never disappointed! Wiener schnitzel is fabulous my friends, especially with Hefeweizen! While we did get to know what the nightlife is like in Berlin, we also spent the days getting to know the city.
For just 9 Euro we went on “the famous walking tour.” The tour lasted about four hours and hit a lot of the important places – I recommend it to anyone. We saw the Berlin Wall, where Hitler’s Bunker was, Checkpoint Charlie, the new Holocaust Memorial, Brandenburg Gate, the former Communist parliament (which we saw the week before they were going to start tearing it down) and much more. Ironically, what is left of the Berlin Wall is fenced off – probably to keep people from taking bits of it. Checkpoint Charlie serves not only as a souvenir hot spot, but as a symbol of the Cold War, representing the separation of east and west. It was one of three crossing points between East and West Germany, a gateway to freedom for the East Germans. There is so much more I could say about all of these places, but it would take pages and pages.
It was all so amazing. However - to anyone that happens to go to Berlin… a weekend is not enough to see everything!
Part of culture shock is trying to get to the “appreciative” stage. I am pretty sure we are all there now. However, that is not to say that there are not times that we get a little homesick. I typically hit that point when I’m grocery shopping and wishing I could read everything. I miss peanut butter, pillows that are not square shaped, and not having to pay for my grocery bags!
While walking down town it’s hard not to appreciate all the history around you and all of the beautiful buildings. I know I will miss it a ton when I have to leave. While I am very used to the bus system here now, I would like to give everyone a bit of warning now though. If you normally ride in the car with me when I’m in the States, you might want to let me get use to driving again before getting back in the car with me!!!
Our school has various activities throughout the semester to try to get us to really experience København. A few weeks ago they arranged for us to go free of charge to a ‘football’ game. Of course when I say football, I mean soccer. It was fun to get to go to. However, I must say there is just nothing compared to the school spirit that you feel at an American football game in the US. Actually, I haven’t really experienced much “school spirit” at all here; it’s just not part of the culture.
Lastly, just this past week I went to a ballet in the Royal Danish Theater. My student ticket was just $12 USD and I got to see a magnificent production of Romeo & Juliet! I highly recommend going to a production there if you are ever in København. The Royal Danish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet troupes in Europe and has a reputation as one of the finest corps of dancers in the world. It was founded in 1748 with the opening of theater itself, which is gorgeous.
Sorry this was so long! I will write with more traveling stories soon - in a week I will be in Paris!
-Anjie B.
P.S. More random facts – Baseball bats are illegal here!
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S C H O L A R S H I P S & P R O G R A M S
(See the Honors web site at www.wsu.edu/honors for past issues of Flash containing more information on scholarships & programs.)
Internship Opportunities at the International Center
The International Center (CUB B25 before spring break; Smith Gym Rm 214 after spring break) is offering a number of internships for the fall and summer semester. The International Center provides educational and social programming, transitional support, and a safe place for intercultural exchange. The International Center is in its second year of existence so these internships are a great opportunity for students who would like an exciting internship in a growing organization. Attached you will find more specific information regarding the positions available and the application form. Applications are available in the International Center and online at http://www.ip.wsu.edu/intlcenter/ .
For more information contact Jodi B. Simek; (509) 335- 4066 or via email at isctr@wsu.edu. Applications are due on March 29 at 5:00pm at the new International Center (Smith Gym 214). Positions available for the fall include (talk to Jodi about summer):
- Public Relations / Media Relations Coordinator -Social Programming Coordinator -Educational Events Coordinator -Newsletter Editor -Internship Center Internship Assistant Coordinator -Information Technology Coordinator -Communications Coordinator -Finance & Development Coordinator -Newsletter Editor -Materials & Resource Specialist -Campus Friends / Friends & Family Coordinator -Office Manager -Historian
The International Center Internship program encourages students to gain experience in their academic discipline while working in a global environment.
McNair Applications Available
The WSU McNair Achievement Program prepares qualified undergraduates for their future doctoral studies. Some of the benefits of becoming a McNair Scholar include a paid summer research experience under the guidance of a faculty mentor, presentation of research at national conferences, publication of research, GRE preparation, assistance with the graduate school application process and one-on-one graduate school planning with the McNair staff.
Applications can be found on our Web site www.wsu.edu/~mcnair, SALC Lighty 260, and Multicultural Student Service CUB 51. The application deadline is April 3, 2006.
Phi Beta Kappa Scholarships for the Academic Year 2006-2007
The local chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society is now offering scholarships for the academic year 2006-2007. In keeping with the goals of the Society and the University, these scholarships support the pursuit of meaningful understanding of the human condition by recognizing excellence in liberal learning at the undergraduate level. The scholarship amounts are substantial, covering one year’s full resident tuition. Awardees must be majors in the Colleges of Liberal Arts, or Sciences, or in Economics, or in liberal arts or sciences programs at urban campuses, must have a cumulative GPA of 3.6 or higher, and must be registered as seniors in the fall of 2006. Race, sex, national origin, and religion are of no consequence in determining eligibility or award.
Applications may also be obtained from Dr. Vicki McCracken in the Office of Student Affairs, Lighty 360, from Dr. Mary Wack in the Honors College, Honors Hall 130, or by telephoning or emailing Kim Holapa, Chair, Phi Beta Kappa Scholarship Committee, 5-4966. The application deadline is Friday, April 7, 2006.
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C A L E N D A R
Honors College Speaker & Movie Series Spring 2006
Events will be held the following Thursday's at 7 p.m. in the Honors Hall Lounge. Refreshments included! EVERYBODY WELCOME!Tomorrow Thursday, March 9:
MOVIE: “No Man’s Land” (2001)
Thursday, March 23:
SPEAKER: Dr. Russel Miller:”International Law”
Thursday, April 6:
MOVIE: “The Constant Gardener” (2005)
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