Editorial Welcome
Titles: More Than an Afterthought
Finding a Diamond in the Rough
LSE Writer's Workshop: A Work in Progress
Notecard Problem and Solution Technique
Humor Column
Brainteasers
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Welcome to the April 2007 issue of the new Learning Center Exchange!

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Editorial Welcome

By Mona Pelkey

Dear Readers,
Welcome to another wonderful issue of The Learning Center Exchange! I am especially proud of this issue because, thanks to the inspiration of our authors (and perhaps a little serendipity) we literally have something for everyone!
Are you hiring or working with tutoring/learning/writing center student paraprofessionals? How do you distinguish the best candidates from a helicopter-parent-raised, overscheduled pool of students who all seem the same on paper because they all possess too many credentials? Julianne Scibetta, who writes LCE’s monthly series “Understanding Today’s Students,” offers insight into the beliefs and attitudes of these students and excellent suggestions for “Finding a Diamond in the Rough.”

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In the Spotlight: Titles: More Than an Afterthought

By Kyle Cushman, Vermont College of Union Institute and University

Finding a Diamond in the Rough

By Julianne Scibetta

Last month I wrote about how women have extraordinarily large amounts of pressure to be perfect. This month I’d like to step back a bit and take a broader look at what’s happened to the current population that contributes to this expectation of women.A trend which any admissions counselor could identify is that for many students, what used to be considered above and beyond qualifications is now standard issue. Students…
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Titles for written work are often an afterthought. “Okay, this is done. Now what do I call it?” Yet the title is the first thing a reader sees. Like the decorative packaging of a box of herbal tea, the title lets the reader know what to expect. Herbal tea that has a bear in a nightcap on the box immediately lets the viewer know it’s a relaxing tea, best consumed before bed. Titles are like that: What will be the effect of this piece of writing on me as a reader? ...
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LSE Writer's Workshop: A Work in Progress

By Roseanna Almaee, Darton College

Notecard Problem and Solution Technique

By Dennis Congos, University of Central Florida

Georgia has a rich heritage of producing quality writers from the nationally famous like W. E. B. DuBois to Terry Kaye, Jimmy Carter, James Kilgo, Joel Chandler Harris, and Bailey White to the locally famous like Victor Miller, Ferrol Sams, and many others. So it is not unusual to find in myriad small towns throughout the south writers discussing their craft and dreaming of sharing that work with others...
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To succeed in college, problems and solutions in math lectures and textbooks must be
identified, recorded, organized, practiced, and stored in long term memory in order to be
recalled when needed. The Notecard Problem and Solution Technique (NPST) helps
learners do these important tasks required for learning and accurate recall. Using NPST, many
math learners have uncovered a previously hidden ability to learn and remember math better
than ever before and earn higher grades...
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Questions or comments? Contact the author at dcongos@mail.ucf.edu.

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Humor Column

By Barbara McLay, University of South Florida

A friend told me that fifteen years ago, at the end of his first semester of college, he was so appalled at the low prices the bookstore offered for his used books that he decided to give them away before selling them for such a pittance. True to his word, he walked to the library in search of someone who might be able to use the books. Spotting a beautiful young woman, he approached her with his stack of books and asked if there were any she might need, as he was giving them away. The woman was delighted, exclaiming that the two of them must have common interests, since out of the five sets of books...
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Brainteasers: April 2007

Compiled by Julianne Scibetta

Thank you to Matthew Winkler, who gets a gold star for this month's answers. A shout out to Bruce Epps for the January/February round.

Click here to see last month's brainteasers: http://www.learningassistance.com/2007/march/index.html#brainteasers

Solutions to March 2007

1. Bird-watching. Three birds were seen by one person each, three were seen by each unique pair (Abel-Mabel, Abel-Caleb, and Mabel-Caleb), and one was seen by all three. So seven birds were seen in all, and each person saw a total of four. Hence, all of the birds Caleb saw were yellow. These four birds are: (1) the one Caleb saw alone, (2) the one Caleb saw with Abel, (3) the one Caleb saw with Mabel, and (4) the one all three saw together. This accounts for both of the yellow birds Abel saw, and two of the three yellow birds Mabel saw. The third yellow bird Mabel saw could not have been the one Abel and Mabel saw together, because Abel only saw two yellow birds; so the third yellow bird Mabel saw must have been the one she saw alone.
   
   So five yellow birds were seen (the one Mabel saw, the one Caleb saw, the one Abel and Caleb saw, the one Mabel and Caleb saw, and the one all three saw), and two non-yellow birds were seen (the one Abel saw and the one Abel and Mabel saw) by the group.



2. Number Puzzle. ((7+7) ÷ 7) + 9 = 11.



3. Answers:
   1. Early to bed, early to rise.
   2. Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
   3. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
   4. A fool and his money are soon parted.

April's Questions

1. A dog can run fifty miles in a day. How far could he run into a 120 square mile forest in a day?



2. The human body holds nine quarts of blood. Suppose you were alone in the desert and accidentally cut a major artery. If you bleed at one cup per minute, how long will it take you to bleed to death?



3. A train leaves from New York City heading toward Los Angeles at 100 mph. Three hours later, a train leaves from Los Angeles heading toward New York City at 200 mph. Assume there's exactly 2000 miles between Los Angeles and New York City. When they meet, which train is closer to New York City?



4. And for those of you who need a different kind of mental exercise: Can you place six X's on a Tic Tac Toe board without making three-in-a-row in any direction?

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