| Considering graduate school? Beware of the financial headaches that may be awaiting you in the future. With the cost of tuition growing faster than salaries, many psychologists are finding it difficult to pay back their graduate school loans with their entry level salaries. More students are taking out larger loans to help pay for the increasing cost of education and are having trouble finding jobs with an adequate entry-level salary. Although debts are a concern for all graduates, psychologists' loans are outweighing loans taken by graduates in other areas such as engineering, education, law, and business. Even though many psychologists are not interested in it for the money, most would at least like to make a living off of their salaries, and this is becoming a concern. It is not a problem of whether or not there are jobs available, because there is still a demand for psychologists. California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) advises graduate students to prepare for jobs in growing psychology areas such as forensics, neuroscience, and developmental disabilities. In addition to CSPP, there are many schools and programs that are responding to the increasing debt problem. Schools are becoming more informative of the entry-level salaries that can be expected. Many schools are developing scholarship programs and workstudy funds to help students battle the financial obstacle. CSPP urges students to take out as few loans as possible. Students should be warned to carefully consider the long-term implications of taking out a large amount of money in loans early in their life and career. For more information on this topic, check out these websites: http://www.apa.org/monitor/feb99/debt.html http://www.apa.org/monitor/feb99/sp.html -Jaime Peterson  Junior Amy Monteiro spent the month working with adolescents at United Hospital in St. Paul. For Amy, an internship in United’s adolescent psychiatric unit was a way to learn about the field she’ll face after Gustavus. After about a week of observation, she was able to co-lead therapy-groups and do one-on-one sessions with teens coping with depression or disorders like ADD and ADHD. For Amy, “it was great to see everything first-hand… it was so much better than taking a class.” Talking to the professionals at United Hospital also helped Amy to make decisions about her career after Gustavus. “My future seems a lot more clear now,” was Amy’s confident attitude. The inside advice she received helped Amy to solidify her plans for graduate school by laying out the steps she’ll need to take before obtaining her ideal job. In addition, the experience also let her try out a potential field, and Amy now intends to pursue a career in pediatric and adolescent psychology. Career explorations are possible in just about any aspect of psychology that you can imagine. From school psychology to crisis centers, these opportunities are great way to resolve all of the questions you may have about your future as a psych-major.  Some movies related to Psychology Kramer versus Kramer starring Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Justin Henry. Unhappy wife leaves workaholic husband and their young son, only to return and seek custody later after father and son have bonded. Well-acted, powerful story about the conflicts between parents’ personal goals and the best interests of the child. Ordinary People starring Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Timothy Hutton, Judd Hirsch. Vivid, stirring film of Judith Guest’s novel about a family’s deterioration after the death of the older son, especially as the death affects his surviving adolescent brother. Immortal Beloved starring Gary Oldman, Jeroen Krabbé, Isabella Rossellini, Johanna Ter Steege, Valeria Golino. After the death of composer Ludwig van Beethoven in 1827, his manager seeks to identify the love of Beethoven’s life, whom he intended to be his true heir. A dramatic and beautiful film, which blends fiction and speculation with the facts of Beethoven’s life. Note especially the filmmaker’s theory of why Beethoven became deaf, Oldman’s portrayal of how Beethoven coped with and sought to cover up his hearing loss, and the ultimate triumph of the composer’s musical genius over his disability and early life trauma. Like Water for Chocolate starring Lumi Cavazos, Marco Leonardi, Regina Torne, Mario Ivan Martinez, Ada Carrasco. Evocative and provocative story of a young woman who, deprived of love and freedom by her domineering mother, expresses her passions and longings in the dramatic, sometimes magical effects of her cooking. Vivid, memorable, and funny.  If you have any questions or comments for "Dear Emil," email them to Dear Emil. |
 Congratulations to new Psi Chi members! Psi Chi is the National Honor Society in Psychology, founded in 1929 for the purpose of encouraging, stimulating, and maintaining excellence in scholarship and advancing the science of psychology. Current requirements include a declared major in Psychology, an overall 3.5 GPA, completion of five Psychology courses and a minimum grade of B in all Psychology courses. To see pictures of Psi Chi induction reception, click here.   Dr. Megas states that he is loving his experience here at GAC and that he enjoys the opportunity to teach the upper level psychology courses. He says that one of his favorite things about teaching is the interaction with the students. He likes to see their ideas form for the first time because it challenges the way they look at the world. Jim also says that he is contacting many of the ideas which are more advanced than those he used while teaching in the community colleges. Two of Jim's favorite theoretical interests are Social Cognition and Social Learning Theory. Besides this semester with us at GAC, Jim has also taught at Southwest State in Marshall for three years as well as eight years teaching in the Minnesota Community College system. Dr. Megas' advice to students is to follow your heart. Study what interests you and get emotionally involved in what interests you. Jim feels that one of the saddest errors in high school is the model of science that suggests that scientists are emotionally detached. As far as his personal life, Dr. Megas commutes from the Twin Cities where he lives with his wife, Ann, and his two children, 10 year old Andrew and 8 year old Joan. Jim's wife is also a professional (OB/GYN), so they share the work load at home. He says his favorite toy is his cable modem for fast internet access. In his spare time, Jim loves to tear apart and build computers and he also says that he is also a newspaper addict. He enjoys reading the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, the Sunday Pioneer Press, and they subscribe to the daily Minneapolis Star Tribune. We welcome Dr. Megas and hope that he continues to enjoy his time with us here at GAC. Dr. Ackil was also invited by the Psi Chi chapter of Minnesota State University, Mankato to give a similar talk on February 25. This talk was titled "Eyewitness memory: Age differences in suggestibility and memory for source." Kelly Champion was a state high school champion swimmer. Mark Kruger and Jennifer Ackil both have fathers that taught at the college level. Tim Robinson’s father is a dead ringer for Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken and dressed like him for the high school tournaments. Tim also raises champion show dogs. Mark Kruger was born on a rainy day in Princeton, New Jersey. Jim Megas has four cats and a beagle named Plato.
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 Elena is a Psychology and Classics double major here, so she is kept very busy. She started out taking a few classes in the Classics department and realized that she really enjoyed them, so she decided to do a double major. Psychology has always been of interest to her, and her thoughts of studying psychology were confirmed after she took the General Psychology class that is offered at Gustavus and found that she was very interested in the subject. Elena is impressed with our psychology department. She thinks it is a great department with really great professors. Since Elena has enjoyed nearly all of the psychology classes that she has taken, she has found it difficult to choose which direction she wants to go with psychology. She did, however, find Cognitive Psychology to be the most fascinating, and this is what she plans to continue to study. Elena has applied to three different graduate schools in order to continue her education in Cognitive Psychology. It is now a matter of anxiously awaiting the replies. We wish you the best of luck, Elena!!  The second component of the class had students apply their knowledge by training lab rats. Students spent at least an hour each day feeding, weighing, and training their rats by the behaviorist methods of B.F. Skinner. Rewards encouraged the rats to learn progressively more difficult routines through a technique called "shaping". Jessica’s group constructed a maze-like model of the Gustavus campus, and taught their rat a routine that may sound familiar; it included activities such as eating at the caf, running around the track, and standing on desks in SSC. For Jessica and the rest of her class, it was fun to see the influence of their teaching on the rat’s behavior. Though the techniques they used are much more effective with animals than with humans, the month-long lesson in learning was a powerful one. To see pictures of some of the rat routines click here.  Yahoo! Recreation:Games:Puzzles:Crossword Puzzles:Online Crossword Puzzles Yahoo! Recreation:Games:Puzzles:Sliding Puzzles Yahoo! Recreation:Games:Puzzles:Java   |
 Humanistic -Erica Coady- |
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 Health Seminar -Dr. Kelly Champion- |
Humanistic |
Dr. Robinson's J-term Learning Class - see below
| Calendar of Events March 26 - Final Exams for Half-Semester Courses March 27 - April 5 - Spring Break March 27 - April 5 - Easter Recess April 13-15 - Fall Registration April 28 - MAYDAY! Conference May 1 - Honors Day May 19 - Final Day of Classes May 20 - Reading Day May 21-25 - Final Examinations May 25 - Spring Semester Ends May 30 - Baccalaureate, Commencement Previous Issues of Emil's |
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