OCR Text |
Show Tuesday, November 30, 1971 SIGNPOST Page 5 jti- , m i...umi J mi ipwmiiiiwii jj i mmmtmvmw-. -jC" .,.. ,., s ., . ,, V 1 Botany department chairman E. La Grande Hobbs shows DNA helix model to student Ray Barker. New teaching methods have been instituted in that department, making a more informal atmosphere for the student. Photo by Steve McNeil Botany department's new-learning center wins praise Ruby N. Tippets E. La Grande Hobbs, Chairman of the Department of Botany, stated that he was happy to tell about the new Learning Center in his department. This learning center is based upon the new educational approach to learning used ten years ago at Purdue University and at Penn State College. It involves reduced lectures and provides booths (30 of them) to enable the students to listen to the lectures on tape recorders which contain the week's lab work. The listening booths make the course of study very informal. The student may be instructed to look at slides with the microscope or may be referred back to his text for additional research. Other times he may be instructed to go to the demonstration table to do an experiment. Mr. P's Brainchild This advanced idea of the learning center came about through the serious thought and study of a man called Samual Postletetuaet. Mr. P. became very concerned about the almost total lack of personal exchange between the students and the teacher in classes where several hundred people listened to the lecturer. He realized that there was actually no real chance for a more personal basis of discussion under these circumstances. Mr. P. felt that through modern technology he could conceivably work put a more personal exchange with his students. The tape recorder set-up worked wonderfully well, but here at WSC Mr. Hobbs felt that this was still a little too impersonal. He went a step further and placed a lab technician, Miss Mary Cutler, graduate student, in the lab to answer questions that might arise from listening to the tapes. There are quizzes given each week. The large classes are divided up into groups of about ten students, and a seminar follows the quizz, which provides a session of question asking and discussion. Better Personal Relationships Real friendships develop from these "bull sessions", which seem to succeed in bringing the student-teacher relationship into finer focus. The lectures on tape and the discussion sessions seem to succeed where the big lectures alone were a failure. The student reaction to this learning center method is very good. Evaluations are run after each quarter, and always the students are in total favor of continuing on with the new learning method. Mr. Hobbs said that his faculty is concerned fully with this that are student teaching. He said courtesy and friendliness uppermost in the minds of the teachers. There is a great warmth within this student-teacher relationship. Members of his faculty are: Professors Ralph W. Monk, O. Whitney Young; Associate Professors, Hayle Buchanan, H. Keith Harrison; Assistant Professors, Eugene G. Bozniak, Don L. Chadwick, and Stephen L. Clark. New Ideas are always tried, and changes in new technique allow the students to progress in their own way. If a student has difficulty in the lab work and feels that he doesn't quite understand a part of it, he can go back time after time, without charge, until he fully understands the methodology. Lab Learning Process The lab work is supervised very closely. The student fills out a card to reserve a listening booth within the lab, adjusts the head phones, and listens to the explanation of the problems on the tapes. Miss Cutler, lab instructor, answers and asks questions. She has a degree in zoology and is there to assist the students. The spacious labs have specialized equipment purchased through grants. All of the science departments share these labs, with fine cooperation between the departments. There is a special lab for the study of plants and soil. The lab for the upper division students has a fine microscope; the general lab does not have one, however. Lab technician Dawn Gatheruna, is a young man of many talents. He keeps all of the equipment in running order and is a very valuable supply man. He runs the green house and cares for the hundred-andone other jobs to keep the botany department heads functioning well-labwise. Money Talk-how to borrow Tom Peterson, Director Center for Business Training and Economic Research Once a person has established a credit rating, and has developed a pattern of spending within a budget, it sometimes becomes imperative to borrow money on a long-term basis for the purchase of a large ticket item such as an automobile or large appliance. To most of us, our first experience in applying for such a loan occurs when we allow a salesperson to talk us into financing through him in order to save bother and inconvenience. Let us use the purchasing of an automobile as an example. You have found your dream car at the local used car dealer. The toal cost is $1,000.00 and the dealer advertises ."bank financing terms." The salesman informs you that the payments per month for one year, if he handles the contract, will be $94.30 at an interest rate of 8 percent add-on or 14.5 percent simple. The payments fit into your budget, so you sign the contract. The dealer then turns around and sells your contract ot the bank or a finance company for the price of the car plus handling charges, and the bank or finance company sends you your coupon book for 12 monthly payments. Tis is an easy and convenient way to buy a car, but let us look at what a few minutes of your time is worth. Very few people would buy a washing machine, or an automobile without shopping around for the best price, yet how few people shop around for credit in order to borrow money at the lowest cost of interest dollars. The first problem is how to evaluate what the borrowed money is costing. The best way is to forget all about quoted interest rates and concentrate on the actual dollar cost of credit; that is, how much over and above the amount borrowed are you paying back? Look at the example on the car purchase. Payments of $94.30 per month multiplied by 12 months equals $1,131.60 or a dollar cost for borrowing of $1,131.60. ($1,131.60 paid back minus $1,000.00 borrowed.) Following this procedure, the following analysis was recently undertaken in Ogden, looking at what it costs to borrow $1,000.00 AMERICAN Pimramq 3615 Harrison Blvd. Between Smith's & Fashion Fabrics PHONE: 399-1151 10 DISCOUNT ON EVERYTHING WITH STUDENT ID WORRIED AlOUT WHAT Jr $L TO G" FOR CHRISTMA" I lJ J) Lb I U5 dUUUt&l rf f i f SOMETHING SUCH AS ... - Hi-Lift, (iter Gwarcfi. Jacks, .lottery .Cfcarsr, CabUs, PUk-Uf) lump.r LAY AWAY NOWI Ogden Auto Parts jf. Ph. 399-3317 for one year from two banks, two finance companies, and a credit union. Bank I 8 percent add-on or 14 percent simple interest Monthly Payment equals $92.96 Dollar Cost equals $92.96 times 12 months minus $1,000.00 or $115.52 Bank 2 6y2 percent per $100 per year or 11.79 percent annual interest rate Monthly Payment equals $88.75 Dollar Cost equals $88.75 times 12 months minus $1,000 or $65.00 Finance Co. 1 18-20 percent simple interest monthly payment equals $90.00 Dollar Cost equals $80.00 Finance Co. 2 20 percent simple interest Monthly Payment equals $94.75 Dollar Cost equals $137.00 Credit Union 12 percent simple interest or 1 percent per month on unpaid balance Monthly Payment equals $88.85 Dollar Cost equals $66.20 From this analysis it becomes apparent that the $131.60 paid by letting the car dealer work out. the contract cost a considerable amount more than taking a few minutes on the phone to shop for credit. If you can get credit from the car dealer, you can qualify for credit from a bank. In our example, it is readily apparent that the interest percentage rate has no meaning. Based on actual dollar cost of that credit, the following order could be generated: Start at the lowest dollar cost in your attempt to borrow, and work up, only paying the highest if that is the only place you can borrow, all other things being equal. (If the highest amount is what you must pay to borrow, re-evaluate your income situation and credit rating.) Bank 2 Credit Union Finance Co. 1 Bank 2 Car Dealer Finance Co. 2 $65.00 $66.20 $80.00 $115.52 $131.60 $137.00 Shopping for credit is as important as shopping for any product or service. From the example it is plain to see the value of investigating a number of money sources. Class questions science theories Is science as objective as it claims to be? A new course in the philosophy of the natural sciences will deal with this question along with other interesting problems during Winter quarter. John Rolston, instructor, said the class will also consider what is the logical relation between an acceptable scientific theory and the evidence sufficient to support it. To what extent, he asks, is the acceptability of a theory to a serious group of scientific investigators a function of their individual habits and biases? The course is Philosophy 341 (Philosophy of Natural Science) at 11 a.m. There are no prerequisites. Mr. Rolston invites any student interested in the nature of rational belief to register. PRICES ARE AT o Z7 HARRISON & 2nd CLOSED AT 7:30 9 |