THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2003
CAMPUS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3
As class drones on, students find fix
By Henry C. Jackson
cjackson@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
As French grammar rules are written on the chalkboard, Beth Nettles is losing interest fast. The Houston sophomore's attention to personal pronouns, today's topic, is fading and there are still 45 minutes left in her intensive grammar review class.
Fortunately, Nettles has some tricks for breaking the tedium of her classes.
Striking a balance between amusing yourself and attracting too much attention from the professor can be a fine line, but students like Nettles have a variety of creative ways to keep themselves entertained when they don't want to pay attention.
For larger classes, where an instructor's attention might not be as acutely focused, a crossword puzzle may provide an intriguing alternative to paying attention.
In her French grammar class it gets tougher to hid her boredom. With classes that have only 15 to 20 students, instructors can pay more attention and Nettles has to get creative. That's when her talent for pen twirling comes out.
"When I'm bored I'll twirl my pen," she said. "At my high school all the debate kids did their pen twirl thing, and I just picked up the skills to become an honorary debater."
Nettles' dexterous feats with her pen can attract attention. She said students often complimented her on her twirling routines, which can include twirls and flips similar to a baton twirler.
Class frustrates Vishal Patel, Shawnee junior, because it is boring, he said.
"So I pick up a crossword puzzle," Patel said. "You've got to be sneaky, be a little bit furtive about it, but you can get away with it."
Patel said when the crossword frustrated him he usually found other ways to zone out in bigger classes like child psychology and Western Civilization.
Patel said boredom and lecturers that drone on and on usually drive him away from more conventional forms of class participation like note taking and asking questions.
"At times I get so frustrated by how boring the material is and how monotonous everything can get," Patel said. "At that point I resolve that have to do something to stay coherent, so out come the crosswords or so starts the hangman game."
Some students don't have to have outside stimuli to keep them going during long lectures. Justin Becker, Harper junior, said he often just let his thoughts wander.
"Sometimes I think about what I'm going to do after class," Becker said. "But most of the time I just think about my girlfriend. I try to pay attention, but she just gets the best of me sometimes."
Professors, for their part, aren't oblivious to students' wandering attention. Ingrid Horton, instructor of French, said she had seen some strange activities in her days.
"I've seen people eating, which you know is normal if the class is around lunchtime," Horton said. "But then I've also had people fall asleep in the front row to the point where they're snoring."
The strangest, by Horton's estimate involved a game of solitaire.
"I once caught someone playing cards in the back of the room," she said. "They had some playing cards, itty-bitty ones, and they were playing solitaire."
Brandon Baker/Kansan
Facing boredom in classes, many students turn to crossword puzzles, pen twirling or card games.
— Edited by Michelle Burhen
TODAY
Eric Johnson / Jeff Scheetz at Grand Emporium, Kansas City
- Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley feat. Julian Marley & Steven Marly w/ special guest D.J Liondub, 7 p.m. Liberty Hall
Mark Reeves, 8 p.m. at Westport Coffee House, Kansas City
A Storied Northwest / Stella Link / Overstep,
8 p.m. at The Bottleneck
2-Ta-Tango / Autumn Dog, 10 p.m. at The Jazzhaus
Malachy Papers, 9 p.m. at The Cup and Saucer, Kansas City
Dark Matter / Marcato / Kloudnine, 9 p.m. at The Hurricane
TOMORROW
Fat Sal and Senor Ozgood's Sound System at Jilly's on Broadway, Kansas City
Paul Schneider, 9 p.m. at Henry's Upstairs
Delta Force Kick off party w/Vibralux at The Pool Room
Trio Voronezh, 7:30 p.m. at the Lied Center
Chop Shop #5 Hip Hop Showcase (underground Hip Hop) feat. Icy Roc / Grilla / Mike Boogie aka Mafesto / Tommy Lift / 1st Born Also St. Louis: Art Thugs Members / Mr Ish on Keyboards and DJ K-Nine, 7 p.m. at El Torreon, Kansas City
Up, 7:30 p.m. at The New Earth Coffee House, Kansas City
Calibratto / Anteye Luci / Furthermore / Fed
Sellout, 9:30 p.m. at The Hurricane, Kansas City :: 21+
Table Rasa, 9 p.m. at The Cup and Saucer,
Kansas City
Key, 10 p.m. at Fatsos
National Fire Theory / The Trelese /
Overstep. 10 p.m. at The Pyro Room, Kansas
City
Justin Petosa / Rich McCulley / Pendergast / Wasted Stacy, 10 p.m. at Davey's Uptown, Kansas City
Low / Haley Bonar, 8 p.m. at Fahrenheit Gallery, Kansas City
Tom Ptacek, 9 p.m. at Westport Coffee House, Kansas City
Dj Not a Dj, 10 p.m. at The Jazzhaus
- Clash Tribute feat. Conner / Ghosty / Cher UK / Getaway Driver / The Hardaways, 8 p.m. at The Bottleneck
Sellout, 9:30 p.m. at The Hurricane, Kansas City
Clint K Band / Translucent / Conceptual Blue / Two Scoops of Robot, 8 p.m. at Community Bible Church
The Danny Pound Band, 10 p.m. at Replay Lounge
The Hipnotics, 9 p.m. at Stu's Midtown Tavern
SATURDAY
The Roustabouts / The Uprights, 7 p.m. at El Torreon, Kansas City
Anything But Joey at Granada Theatre, Lawrence
Scott Holt at Grand Emporium, Kansas City
Honey Tongue, 10 p.m. at The Jazzhaus, Lawrence
National Fire Theory / Midland Drive, 9 p.m. at Westport Coffee House, Kansas City
Approach, 8 p.m. The Bottleneck
Mad Happy / Malachy Papers at Davey's Uptown, Kansas City
Isola at The Hurricane, Kansas City
Anything But Joey / Gametime / Philibuster. 8 p.m.at Abe & Jake's Landing
- "Battle of the Bands" feat. Super Stupid / Ate Up / Torque, 7 p.m. at YahWeh Cappucino House, Kansas City
Salt The Earth at The Pool Room
Majestics Rhythm Revue / 19 piece Jazzbass Big Band, 7 p.m. at Uptown Theater, Kansas City
SUNDAY
Further Seems Forever / Elliott / 238 / The Beautiful Mistake, 7 p.m. at El Torreon, Kansas City
Wishbone Ash at Grand Emporium, Kansas City
Billy Spears Band / Family Reunion / Pathos / Windsor Medium / (There will also be acoustic performances in between bands),(
p. m. at Granada Theatre
MONDAY
Evolution feat. DJs at Davey's Uptown, Kansas City
Chevelle / 30 Seconds to Mars / Pulse Ultra,
8 p.m. The Bottleneck
TUESDAY
Fat Tuesday feat. Billy Ebeling And The Late For Dinner Band at Danny's Big Easy
Snocore Tour feat. Sparta / Glassjaw /
Dredg / Hot Water Music, 7:30 p.m. at
Beaumont Park, Kansas City
The Yards / $2 Shoe Revival Story, 9 p.m. at The Bottleneck
WEDNESDAY
The Breifs / The Fabulous Disasters / Tanka Ray / Kandi and the Tube Tops, 7 p.m. at El Torreon, Kansas City
Poetry Slam - Open Poetry Readings at the Jazzhaus
Superuser / Mandown / Racey Grace, 8:30 p.m. at Davey's Uptown, Kansas City
Smiling Assasins / Kenny Brown Band, 8 p.m. at Abe & Jake's Landing
Chris Robinson & The New Earth Mud at Grand Emporium, Kansas City
Eye Theory / Sound and the Fury 9 p.m. at America's Pub, Kansas City