How about the UNtraditional?

This could just be a personal tic, but after reading about traditional vs. non-traditional students in the university, I think that there should be another "traditional"-based word thrown in as well: the UNtraditional student. Who I mean is those that are traditional in the sense that they are students of the right age, attended college at the appropriate time, but just don't have the same experiences that the majority of students do, like teenage mothers, students who didn't go to school in the states, or even homeschooled students. None of these students had school experiences like everyone else, and even though this doesn't seem like such a big deal, it can still greatly affect their participation in and attitude about college. Then again, maybe I'm trying to be too specific and divide too much. If this is the case, then it looks like I should have to divide the international students from the traditional, and then the 'young mothers' from everyone else. This could get sticky, so I'm going to retract everything and chalk this blog up to the need to ramble.

OWLS in the Writer's Room makes me feel like Harry Potter

Sorry, I had to reference Harry Potter; there was no way that anyone who has read the books could look at the word OWLS without thinking of Ordinary Wizarding Levels. I'm done now.
After my experience with the OWL posts in the Writers room, I have determined that they are more trouble than they are worth. Stephen had a very strong, valid point whwen he made the comment along the lines of "This close to finals week, sending in your paper isn't good enough. If you really cared about it then you would find the time and make the effort to meet with a tutor face to face." I couldn't agree more, and not only because of the impending finals week. I think that this applies to all OWL writing. I mean to say that I'm glad we offer an alternative method of collaboration and tutoring aside from having to physically meet with a tutor, but at the same time, when a student sends a paper in via email, I can't help but wonder how serious they really are about it. Even a phone call would be more personal than the email, especially in our internet-centric culture today, where we are highly aware that so much emotion is lost in the text.