6A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
CONVENTION
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18,2008
Freshman to discuss reading habits of students
BY BRANDY ENTSINGER
bentmings@kansan.com
Hannah Roark's love of poetry began with stories.
As a senior in high school, the Stillwater, Okla., freshman studied the lives behind the poems she read in an English class.
"I fell in love with the poets first," Roark said.
That love will lead Roark to San Antonio to participate in a panel discussion about the reading habits of teens and college students on Wednesday. She will recite two poems from 2008's Poetry Out Loud, a poetry recitation competition, where Roark was a finalist. She said she would offer the student perspective about reading habits in college. The discussion is part of a larger convention sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English.
Roark's senior English teacher, Sally Walkiewicz, allowed her students to take part in Poetry Out Loud as an alternative to taking the essay portion of a poetry test.
After hearing the background information about the poets in class, Roark chose "Fever 103" by Sylvia Plath. "When I have Fears that I may Cease to Be" by John Keats and "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll for the competition.
To prepare, Roark said she spent time with the poems and memorized and analyzed the words.
"They're like my friends now"
Roark said.
After memorizing the poems, Roark began practicing in front of a mirror. She said it helped to make the poems her own.
Roark then began reciting the poems in front of her peers' classes. She said it was helpful to see the audience's reactions.
Finally, Roark began practicing on stage. She said performing on stage helped to bring the poem back to what the poet had intended for it.
"It was sort of like a journey that had built on itself," Roark said.
Roark was also involved in drama in high school. She said her drama teacher told her that every performance would be different in some way.
Although Roark said her recitations were always changing, she said she thought it was most important to convey a poet's meaning and purpose.
Roark worked with her drama teacher while practicing the poems, but she said recitation was completely different from acting.
Rather than using movement to convey emotion and meaning, Roark used facial expressions and her voice. She said she imagined
she was feeling the poem as she recited it.
"It's all Hannah's attitude and approach to poetry," Walkiewicz said. "Her work ethic is astounding, not to mention her acting ability."
Walkiewicz said Roark was successful because she was willing to take direction and delve into the meaning behind the words.
Roark went on to the Poetry Out Loud finals in Washington, D.C., in April where she competed against 51 other contestants. She finished in the top 12.
Roark is enrolled in Mary Klayder's "Freshman Honors English." Klayder, Klayer, University Honors lecturer in English, said Roark also displayed her expertise when reading literature out loud.
"I can tell this is her special ability," Klayder said.
- Edited by Lauren Keith
NATIONAL
NATIONAL Wis. woman pleads no contest in corpse case
MAUSTON, Wis. — A member of a religious sect pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor after being accused of leaving another member's corpse in her bathroom so the group could collect her Social Security checks.
Tammy Lewis, 36, was fined $350 for obstructing an officer. She'll receive mental health treatment and testify against sect leader Alan Bushey at his trial in April, District Attorney Scott Southworth said.
Prosecutors accuse Lewis and Bushey of leaving 90-year-old Magdeline Middlesworth's body on the toilet in Lewis' home after she died there in March.
A criminal complaint says Bushey led the Order of the Divine Will sect and told Lewis that God would revive Middlesworth. The decaying body was found in May after Middlesworth's family expressed concern.
Associated Press
"Of course I got stressed because I didn't want to fail," she said. "But to me it was a good stress because they were giving me more responsibilities, so I felt privileged to have that stress."
Rooney said her internship was vital in helping her develop professionally and personally. She said the secret to her internship success was actively seeking out responsibility. She said when she would complete her assigned work, she would ask everyone in the office if there was anything she could do to help them.
INTERNSHIPS (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
2. NO FLIP-FLOPPING AT THE OFFICE
Business casual does not mean casual. Don't assume sleeveless or untucked shirts are allowed. If in doubt, dress conservatively.
"It's not like I'm learning a concept I'll never use," she said.
"it's something I use now, and I can see how eventually I will use it for my real job as well."
3. FORGETTING TO UNPLUG
Laura Swick, McPherson senior, is doing a practicum at the Hope House For Battered Women in Independence, Mo., to fulfill her social welfare graduation requirements. Swick it was helpful to be able to apply everything she learned in class at her internship.
Edited by Lauren Keith
Sending intermittent texts or listening to your iPod while working rarely goes over well with a potential employer.
Top 10 internship mistakes
1. THE ENTITLEMENT SYNDROME
4. BEING A WALLFLOWER
Don't be shy. Make eye contact when speaking with someone. Good interpersonal communication skills might set you apart from the next guy.
5. DUCKING THE EXTRACURRICULARS
Don't avoid social gatherings or get-togethers. That tells the boss you don't value what the company values. Plus, it's often the best way to get to know coworkers.
6. GRUNTING ABOUT
GRUNT WORK
Don't whine about making copies or the coffee every morning. Mundane tasks await you at every level of employment, so just do it with a smile.
7. MISSING THE BIG PICTURE
Think beyond the task at hand. This will help work be more enjoyable and give you a broader understanding of the industry.
8. FAILING TO ASK QUESTIONS
9. REJECTING CRITICISM
Asking questions shows your intellectual curiosity and saves you valuable time and energy. Your boss does not expect you to be an expert by the second day of your internship.
Seek out feedback on a regular basis. Over-confident interns make a bad impression and miss opportunities to improve.
10. WASTING TIME
Be proactive. If you don't have anything to do, you're not doing enough.
NATIONAL SEC charges Mark Cuban with insider trading
WASHINGTON — Federal regulators charged Dallas Maverricks owner Mark Cuban with insider trading for allegedly using confidential information to avoid more than $750,000 in stock losses.
Cuban disputed the Securities and Exchange Commission's allegations and said he would contest them.
In a civil lawsuit filed in federal court in Dallas, the SEC alleged that in June 2004, Cuban was invited to get in on the coming stock offering by Mamma.com Inc. after he agreed to keep the information private.
Cuban owned 6.3 percent of Mamma.com's stock at that time and was the largest known shareholder in the search engine company, according to the SEC. The agency said Cuban knew the shares would be sold below the current market price, and a few hours after receiving the information, he told his broker to sell all 600,000 shares before the public announcement of the offering.
By selling when he did, Cuban avoided losses exceeding $750,000,the SEC said in its lawsuit. On June 30, the first trading day after the announcement, Mamma.com shares opened at $11.89,down 9.3 percent from the previous day's close of $13.10.
Cuban, 50 and a multibillionaire, is a tech entrepreneur who sold his Broadcast.com to Yahoo Inc. in 1999 at the height of the dot-com boom. He bought the Mavericks in 2000 and spent heavily to improve the roster.
He is the best known figure to be accused by the SEC of illegal insider trading since its case against Martha Stewart in 2002 for allegedly using advance knowledge of negative news for a company to sell her shares and avoid $45,673 in losses. The homemaking diva paid about $195,000 and agreed not to serve as the director of a public company for five years under a 2006 settlement with the SEC.