OCR Text |
Show THE CAMPUS Class uses common sense ~ Everyone uses logic, says critical thinking instructor By RYAN HATCH SENIOR STAFF WRITER Th e new billboard in front of the Student Center, a pro;ect of SUUSA Sen. Brooke Anderson, is helping to keep students posted on several on- and off-campus events by putting information in a convenient spot. Donations sought for SUU food bank B y MICKI ELLERS A CIA TE EDITOR Wh en the SUU Food Bank put ou t the call for tudent to donate to the fa ility, the SUU commttnity responded. How vcr, becau e of the bank fulfilling it duty to the students, its fund have become completely exhausted, according to Linda Blancha rd, assistant director of Turning Point, the organization which runs the Food Bank. "We want to send out an appeal," she said. II students are moving and would like to donate remaining food and/or cleaning supplies, it would be appreciated." The Food Bank is available to all SUU students who need food. Students can access the bank through SUUSA senate members. Although non-traditional students may seem to be most likely to use the Food Bank, Blanchard said traditional students also take advantage of the program when they are in 11 need. "Sometimes traditio nal student are between jobs and need food," he said. "E pecially at the beginning of the quarter" before financial aid money comes through. The expen c of moving for non-traditional student can als take a toll on them financially, she said. "We've had families who have had to pay $1,000 to get into an apartment" and that in itseli is a financial strain. Many st udents may not think they have food to donate, since many students survive on macaroni and cheese and ramen noodles. However, Blanchard said, "Every family took noodles." She said that ramen noodles and oatmeal were very popular with families who had young children . Those wishing to donate food can bring it to the Turning Point offices in South Hall 105 For contact Blanchard at xtension 7855. Students may also bring their donations to the SUUSA offices in the Student Center. I Most people use critical thinking without much, well .. . thought. For instance, it's not hard t decide to eat the filling out of the twinky first, or match the color of a pair of socks with a pair of ea rrings. However, critical th inking becomes more tricky in un familiar territory. The text book definition of criti cal thinking may read omething like this; an abillty to evaluate, compare, analyze, critique, and ynthe ize inf rmation . Ea ier aid than done. Yet exp rt say that this time or age in a college students life is where we learn the m t valuable tool to face a som what scary worla. Speaking of a cary world, ome people cou ld have used basic critical thinking skiHs to avoid a scary world that they created for themselves. On October 30, 1938 Orson Welles, and his Mercury Theater of the Air, put on a radio program that scared the knickers off their legs. In fact anyone would get scared if they really thought that Martians were coming to take over the world. The broadcast was called 'The War of the Worlds.' The program used a quasi-newscast style in which bulletins and eyewitness accounts interrupted nom1al programming. The Martians, using ray guns and poison gas, advanced through New Jersey and destroyed New York City. People who tuned in late missed th e openi ng announcement th at it was a dramati c program . The people missing this announcement thought that they w re in serious trouble. Some fled their home in fear tha t th ey w re next to be gunned down by the invaders. So what d es this hav to with critical thinking? Well, a study wa d ne hortly after the experience. It was found that the more intelligen t people did not believe right away that Martian s cou ld take over the world and tha t it mu t be a drama . Now, everyone doe n ' t need to be intelligen t to use simple skills of critical thinking. Some might believe that 'The War of the Worlds' will never happen in this day and age. T his is true, however, Martian come in different forms . A couple of year ago a coupl e of D.J .'s in Milwaukee were able to fool a lot of people in the same way. Over th e air th ey told people that if they went to a local s ta dium, a BI b mb r would fly over and drop cabbage Patch doll . Fathers wanting to buy their littl iris a an expected Chri tmas pre nt howed up. All th ey had to do wa hold up their credit card • o the droppers could take a photo, to charge them for it. Even another example that happened here at UU haJ people tirre<l up A girl wrote to this very paper in the opinions ecti on stating that ome local D .J.' ca lled a Convocation speaker a retard over the air. This may not have been the case, as the name-calling was never proven, but she had a lot of people believing that it had. Four basic principles apply to critical thinking according to L.A. Shore: I. Few 'truths' transcend the need for empirical thinking. 2. Evidence varies in quality. 3. Authority or claimed expertise does not automatically make an idea true. 4. Critical thinking requires an open mind. There are also classes offered at SUU on critical thinking. Steve Robergh, who tt.aches logic and critical thinking, says "Ev ryone does day-today logic, but can they do it well? " Robergh's cla is offered through the Conti nuing Education Department. By looking at m i takes people mak and using common sense, anyone can use critical thinking wi ely. 1f something sounds odd, chec k it out, ee if its claim stand true . Critical thinking is especially u eful in taking tes ts and in the cla room. Any one can make mista kes, it's how th e mistake are deal t with in the future that make the difference. SIFE honors young business owners The heads of several Utah businesses skipped their high school classes to come to SUU Friday and Saturday. They were participating in the Young Entrepreneur Search sponsored by the Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE). SIFE advertised the program to rural high schools around the state, prompting over 100 students (grades 10-12) to complete applications. Those applications were reviewed, and ten students were invited to attend the competition at SUU. The participants each gave a 45-minute presentation abou t their bu iness to a panel of judges made up of local business leaders and SUU professors. Five finalists were selected, and they gave their presentations to different judges on Saturday. The winners were announced at a luncheon that afternoon. The participants were judged on four criteria: the creativity and innovation of the business, the quality of the presentation to the judges, the business plan, and the future outlook of the business. SIFE contracts with the state to run the program, which is the largest of its kind in the western US. The state has been o impre sed by how SIFE ha conducted the rural program that next year SIFE will also run h rban program, which covers Davis, Salt Lake, and Utah counties. |