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Show 8 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2011 GRADUATION - FALL 2011 Coaches focus on graduation Athletes try to find the balance between school and sport By Nathan Davis sports editor I The Signpost Every year, thousands of athletes around the country compete in sports. While it's their accomplishments on the field that get the most recognition, much of their most important work comes in the classroom. Kamaal Ahmad, Weber State University director of football operations, said that playing sports isn't the most PHOTO BY BRYAN BUTTERFIELD I THE SIGNPOST Above: Weber State University's Amber Henry runs during a race earlier this year in Arkansas. Roght: Henry studies for a class. She is one of many WSU studentathletes who balance school and athletics. important thing for athletes. "Graduating is the most important thing," Ahmad said. "Academics is first; football is second. The student athletes are recruited here to get a degree first, while also playing to the best of their abilities in their given sport." Paul Pilkington, who is the head coach of the men's cross-country team at WSU, said that, to him, there is no question that making progress toward graduation By Kasey Van Dyke news editor I The Signpost Anytime, Anywhere For some students, their first semester of college is a learning experience in more than just academic fields. AJ Graydon, a A freshman study410 ing psychology, said he will be relying on student loans. "I actually didn't know how it worked until a few weeks ago," he said. According to the American Student Assistance, undergraduate students, on average have credit card balances . 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BlackBerry is a registered trademark of Research In Motion Limited. about it right now," Graydon said. High school students are also planning for college expenses, according to Keeton Alder, a concurrent enrollment student from Bonneville High School. At 17, Alder said he takes tuition costs and living expenses into consideration while deciding where he will attend college. "I haven't quite figured it all out yet," he said. "I always knew it was going to be expensive, but the other day I was looking at tuition costs in state and out of state, and it's more expensive than I realized." Alder said he thinks high school seniors are definitely thinking about how to pay for school, juniors think about it some, and sophomores don't at all. "I think people are more concerned with the title of the school rather than the reality," he said. See Debt page A9 Students LEAP into WSU I=1 BlackEteny of about $3,000 and cumulative student loan debt of about $20,000. The most expensive higher education degree is a medicine or osteopathic medicine degree, which can total to more than $100,000 y the time a graduate or doctoral de'gree is cornleted. Graydon aid his first semester in college hasn't een what he'd exected financially and that he has no dea how he plans o pay off his acruing debt. "I'm honestly PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY BRYAN BUTTERFIELD I THE SIGNPOST space 0 See Athletes page A9 Dealing with debt WSU graduates figure out how to deal with mounting debt Goldenwest is more important than competing, even if it hurts the team. Pilkington said the athletes are here first and foremost to get an education, and if they aren't making the proper effort in the classroom, they will be penalized. "That's why they're here: to graduate," Pilkington said. "I once left a senior home from the Big 10 Cross-Country Championships because he had not been attending class like he Goldenwest n We'll take care of you International students graduate from entry English program By Thomas Alberts asst. news editor I The Signpost International students will be experiencing their own type of graduation - graduation into the main Weber State University system, thanks to the LEAP Program, which enables students to submerse themselves into their mainstream classes by teaching them English and how to be a benefit to their university. LEAP stands for Learning English for Academic Purposes. The goal of the program is to teach Eng- lish to international and non-English-speaking students to prepare them for the mainstream classes they will be attending at WSU. It also aims to familiarize these students with American culture and the American university system. This past semester, one of the unique approaches Debi Sheridan, professor for the LEAP and Venture program, took was to allow her students to explore oppression and present their findings. Sheridan came up with the idea when her ESL class was studying the novel Night by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. "I thought it was really important for them to know about the ways that people resisted," Sheridan said, "and how we can resist oppression." David Yovere from Peru, a student in the LEAP program and a freshman majoring in pre-medicine, did his presentation on the protection of Jews in a Muslim-dominated Albania during World War II. "It was very exciting because, between Muslims and Jewish, they have different religion. They have different opinSee LEAP page A9 |