Holiday Gift Ideas for College Students

If you're still stumped on what to get your student for the holidays, here are a few suggestions!

• Titanium Spork. I think the name speaks for itself. Enjoy the description from the ThinkGeek website: "Imagine how much more food you could shovel in at your local buffet if you didn't have to worry about the strain of picking up a heavy fork or spoon. Your food consumption can become the stuff of legends. Even just holding the Titanium Spork in your hand, you can feel its power. It is perhaps the greatest gastronomic invention since lickable wallpaper. Hunger, beware - your end is near!" The Titanium Spork is available at REI: http://www.rei.com/product/660002.
• Slanket. It's the blanket with sleeves! Perfect for staying warm and getting stuff done. Check out the website: http://www.theslanket.com/. For a similar product, try the 3 in 1 Softie Wrap/Throw: http://www.amazon.com/Pike-Street-Softie-Wrap-Throw/dp/B001A3RI2E/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1229630494&sr=8-1
• Fast Food / Restaurant Gift Certificates. Choose several varieties of gift cards with enough money on them for one or two meals. This may not sound like a glamorous gift, but it will be appreciated later when the college student gets the munchies while studying for a term paper. There are several eatieries within walking distance of Webster University: McDonalds, Racanelli's, Imo's, Einstein's Bagels, Stratton's Cafe, and Starbucks. There are many others a short drive away: St. Louis Bread Company, SanSai Japanese Grill, Arby's, Taco Bell / Pizza Hut, Steak n' Shake, and Chipotle.
• MP3 Shower Radio. Encourage your student's vocal potential! An MP3 shower radio with a fog-free mirror is actually a contraption into which you can insert your MP3 player. A water resistant compartment is located in the middle, and there you can plug in your iPod or NANO. It also has AM/FM radio. Here's one option for $19.99 from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/CTA-Digital-Shower-Speaker-Players/dp/B0010OGW84/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1229622087&sr=8-1
• Personalized Laundry Bag. Convenient yet whimsical. At Personal Creations, you can get a 19" x 13" bag that says, "Another Day and ______ will be naked" (personalized with your student's name). Get it for $14.95 here: http://www.personalcreations.com/shop/product.asp?product_code=4637&world_code=1&search_type=subcategory&search_words=laundry%20bag.
• Countertop Soda Vending Machine. If your student's mini-fridge is completely full of sodas (instead of nutritious things like carrots and water), consider a machine built solely to hold their soda cans. This vintage style Pepsi Soda Vending Machine from Nostalgia Electrics holds 12 cans of soda, can sit on top of the little dorm fridge, is refrigerated, and does not require coins. You can get it for $150.00 here: http://www.vendingmachinesworldwide.com/nostalgia-electrics-pepsi-soda-vending-machine-nostalgia-pvm-545.aspx.
• Room Air Purifier. If you'd like to subtly inform your student that their dorm room really stinks, might I suggest an air purifier? With two people sharing a room, strange smells are bound to pop up. This could help clear the air. Here's one of many options out there: http://www.amazon.com/Get-Organized-ASSEENONTVGUYS-IONIC-WHISPER/dp/B000SBBS34/ref=pd_sbs_k_2.
• Pizza Wall Clock. Ahh--the staple food of college life. This clock is $24.95, requires only one “AA” battery, and looks completely real at just 12” in diameter. It could be a great conversation piece, and it reminds your student to eat lunch. Available here: http://www.amazon.com/Kirch-1990Pizza-Pizza-Wall-Clock/dp/B000LOICJQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1229632327&sr=8-1.
• Career Planning Book. If your student is the "planning for the future" type (or if you'd like to gently push them to start planning for the future), this book is a great resource. It's never to early to think about life after college, and Michael Krush's College Student's Step by Step Guide to Landing a Job will get them headed in the right direction. http://www.amazon.com/College-Students-Step-Step-Landing/dp/0976310759/ref=cm_lmf_tit_3
• Magazine Subscriptions. Give them something light to read when they're not consumed by textbook reading. A mindless celebrity or fashion magazine might be the perfect fit. For the literary minded student or the politically savvy, pick a more serious magazine. If you don't want to choose for them, Barnes and Noble has magazine subscription packs available for $19.95. You buy the gift box that lists 50 magazine options, and your student chooses the subscription they want.
• Gift Certificate for a Professional Massage. No one needs a massage more than a stressed out student during finals. There are several massage companies in the vicinity of Webster Groves, including Massage Envy, Vitality Unlimited, and Lockwood Massage Therapy.
• Sports, Theater, Symphony, or Movie Tickets. A fun and stress-relieving indulgence. Cardinals Baseball tickets: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/ticketing/index.jsp?c_id=stl. Blues Hockey tickets: http://www.ticketmaster.com/artist/806025?brand=blues&camefrom=NHLBLUES. Rams Football tickets: http://www.stlouisrams.com/Tickets/SingleGameTickets/. St. Louis Symphony tickets: http://www.slso.org/box/. Fox Theatre tickets: http://www.fabulousfox.com/. Dance Performances tickets: http://www.dancestlouis.org/main.htm. Wehrenberg Movie Theaters Gift Cards: http://www.wehrenberg.com/giftprograms.asp. AMC Movie Theaters Gift Cards: http://www.amctheatres.com/entertainmentcard/index.html.

Home for the Holidays

Guest Blogger: Patrick Stack, D.Min., LMFT, LPC, NCC, CASAC
Director of Counseling/Life Development
Clinical Status and Approved Supervisor: AAMFT

This is the time of the year that reality has its way of jolting resident students back to the real world. The real world is living with other members of the family and following family rules. Now take in consideration that your student has experienced almost four months of radical independence…..no one to tell them what time to get up in the morning, what foods to eat, with whom to associate, what clothes to wear, when to do homework, what time to go to bed, etc. So home for the holidays can be an adjustment for both you and your student.

Here are some helpful tips. BE FLEXIBLE! Openly acknowledge the student’s independent experiences. Attempt to be flexible about extending his/her experiences into the family structure. For example, talk about curfew. Ask your student what time does he or she think is reasonable to be home at night. If you think the suggested time is unreasonable, say so. Then suggest a time you think is reasonable. Ask your student if he/she wants you to get them up in the morning or does he/she want to handle getting up on their own? Make sure you clearly communicate your expectations. Engage your student in conversation about first semester experiences. Inform your student you are not prying but just interested to learn more about the university life.

Most students I speak with are amazed how quickly the semester went by. This fast semester experience has the potential of helping students to value time. Acknowledge that studying can be hard work. A friend of mine studied in Rome, Italy. His dormitory windows faced a magnificent vineyard. Frequently, he would observe farm hands working strenuously in the vineyard. The farm hands’ hard work inspired my friend to apply extra strength to his studies.
Don’t be surprised if your student catches you off guard by wanting to incorporate a new family holiday tradition or reintroduce an old family tradition. His/her suggestion is emphasizing the importance of HOME.

Happy Holidays!

Room Sign-Up for 2009-2010

You should receive information about this in the mail in the next couple weeks as well, but we wanted to make sure we got the word out in as many places as possible.

Since many of you will be discussing Room Sign-Up for 2009-2010 over the dinner table in the coming weeks, we wanted to provide you with some important information concerning housing for the 2009-2010 school year. First of all, your student has received information in his/her mailbox, on his/her apartment door, or in his/her Webster email that explains how to apply to live on campus again next year. Here are some of the key points and important deadlines related to that information:

• If your student’s permanent address is outside 35 miles from the Webster Groves campus, it is mandatory that he/she live on campus for his/her first two years.


• Included in the paperwork your student received was a Housing Intent Form. This form must be returned to the Office of Housing and Residential Life, whether he/she is returning to campus housing or not. If the form is not returned, your student may forfeit the $150 security deposit.


• Housing Intent Forms are due by 4:30PM on Monday, February 2, 2009.


• The Housing Intent Form is not an actual housing assignment. Your student will receive an email giving him/her an assigned date and time for Room Sign-Up, which takes place February 19, 20, and 21.


• At Room Sign-Up, your student will choose a space in housing for next year and will sign a housing contract/lease for 2009-2010 housing. If he/she chooses to cancel that contract/lease after signing it, cancellation charges may apply.

If you have additional questions about the Room Sign-Up process, please don’t hesitate to contact us (314-246-4663 or housing@webster.edu). There is also a more extensive list of information regarding this process on our website: http://www.webster.edu/housing/apply.shtml#fall09

Your Student is Stressed Out! What Can You Do For Them?

Written by Jennifer Casady, Hall Director of East, West, and Maria Hall
jennifercasady27@webster.edu

It’s that time of the year when your son or daughter is hitting that invisible wall of stress. Over the next 5 weeks your student has major academic pressure to finish projects, study for approaching tests, and keep that grade from slipping down below a C. Additionally your student is no longer living in the honeymoon stage of their college experience. The idea that they can be best friends with everyone has faded and now your students are juggling finding out who their friends are, finding out who they are,and finding out what college is all about. This often leads to difficult conversations with your student’s friends which only adds to the pressure. On top of that, some students are balancing their jobs with school and social life. The cherry on the top of all this stress is the change in seasons and the approaching holidays. This all leads to a recipe for stress. If you were to talk to our school counselor, Dr. P. Stack, he would say that stress is needed in all of our lives. It is the continued excessive stress that we need to be aware of. So how can you help your student out as they finish the next 5 weeks of school? Below are a few tips and things to consider as you talk and support your student.

1. Talk with your son or daughter about once a week and ask what is going on in their life. Ask what projects they are working on and what tests are looming in the background. If they sound frustrated, stressed that they don’t the class material, or overwhelmed, you have some great resources at your fingertips. Recommend that they set up an appointment at the Academic Resource Center or with Counseling Center. If your student says that they don’t have time to check out these resources, you can point out that it is better to spend the extra time to figure out how to work through these things now then to continually struggle the rest of the semester or year. a) The Academic Resource Center is a great place that helps students to develop study habits, provide assistance on writing papers, helps your student to become organized, and assists your student on good study tips. b) The Counseling Center is another great place for your student to go if they are feeling overly stressed, overwhelmed, and frustrated. Our counselors will help your student to work through their stress and help them to find productive ways to deal with it. Additionally the Counseling Center can help students that are struggling with depression, insomnia, stress, dealing with difficult friends, adjusting to college life, and more. The counselors are not scary people. They are people who happen to have a great understanding about these areas and can help students become more successful.
2. Make sure your student is getting enough sleep. Students tend to think that instead of sleeping they should stay up and keep studying or working. You already know that isn’t a good idea but sometimes trying to help your student understand that is difficult. If you find out your student isn’t getting enough sleep because of school work, refer them to the Academic Resource Center or Counseling Center so they can gain skills to improve their study skills or time management. The more sleep they can get the productive they will be the next day. In turn if your student is consistently sleeping more than 8 hours be aware as that is also a sign of excessive stress.
3. Send them mail! Students always enjoy getting fun mail. A card, a package with fun food, or a postcard from their little brother are all great things to send your student. These small acts help support your student and give them a break in their day to remember that you do support them.
4. It is also that time of the year where your student will begin to register for classes. If your student is struggling with which classes to take, which major to select or switch to encourage them to talk to their advisor and other teachers or staff that they have built a connection to. These people can help your student discover the best course for him/her. Additionally they can get help at Career Services with class selection and selecting a major that fits with their strengths.

I hope that you find these tips helpful as you communicate with your student over the next few weeks. If you have any questions about how to help your student or resources on campus please check out our website at www.webster.edu/students/ or contact us at housing@webster.edu.

Closing Notice for Residence Halls

This Closing Notice is going out to all current residents in West, East, and Maria.

IMPORTANT CLOSING INFORMATION

Dear East, West and Maria Hall Residents:

As the semester draws to an end, I wanted to take a moment to outline some important information about closing at the end of finals week:

• As stated in the residence hall contract, the residence halls will close at 5:00pm on Friday, December 19, 2008. This is the last day of finals week. At that time, all residents must be gone from their rooms and will not be allowed to re-enter until the halls open for the spring 2009 semester on January 10, 2009. Staying past December 19 will result in fines beginning at $50.00.
• Residents are expected to leave the residence halls for the break within 24 hours of the completion of their last final exam.
• Before leaving your room, please unplug all appliances from the room outlets, including refrigerators. Please remember to clean out your fridge before you leave and make plans to take care of fish if you have any in your room. Any messes that staff attend to will result in fines. Please close your windows and shades, turn off the lights, and close and lock your door.
• The RA staff will enter each room after the halls are empty to ensure all items are unplugged and perform routine health, safety and maintenance checks.
• If you will be withdrawing from the university for any reason or studying abroad during the spring semester, you must make sure to do three things:

1. You need to fill out a Request for Termination form. Explaining in detail your decision not to return to Webster (i.e. studying abroad or transferring). This form can be picked up in the Residential Life Office, 130 West Hall or on-line at the following website: http://www.webster.edu/shared/shared_reslife/documents/Request_for_Termination.pdf. You may drop your form off at the Residential Life Office in West Hall, or email me the completed form at maloneke@webster.edu.
2. Tell your roommate as soon as possible about your decision to leave.
3. Make an appointment with your RA to check out of your room. Not doing so will result in a fine for improper check out. Please schedule this appointment two days in advance; trying to find your RA the day you are leaving without a pre-scheduled time and claiming s/he was unavailable will not prevent the fine being assessed.

• If your roommate will be leaving the university, the space will be filled. If you know of another resident in your hall that you would like to share a room with, please pick up a Room Change Request Form from Kelly Malone, 130 West Hall and turn in by Monday, December 8. Any other residents that would like to request a room change at semester must have paperwork in by the same date. Any room change must be completed before leaving for break and must be authorized by the Coordinator of Housing and Residential Life.
• The halls will re-open at 9:00am on Saturday, January 10, 2009.
• Any request to stay past December 19 or return prior to January 10 must be made in writing no later than 4:00pm on Monday, December 1. You may deliver your letter to the Residential Life Office in West Hall, or you can email your request to me at maloneke@webster.edu. If you have already booked airline tickets, please include a copy of your itinerary. Your requests will be approved or denied by December 12. Exceptions are not made to accommodate work schedules. (No one will be allowed to stay in the halls from December 24, 2008, until January 5, 2009, at 8:30am, as the university is closed.)
  

IMPORTANT! The date for closing the halls in May was incorrectly printed in our housing contracts. The correct date of closing is Friday, May 8, 2009, at 5:00pm. All students must be moved out of the residence halls by this date or fines may be incurred. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

The fall semester has been great and I look forward to seeing you back in January. Have a safe and wonderful holiday season!

Sincerely,
Kelly Malone, Coordinator of Housing and Residential Life

Meet Me in St. Louis

If you're planning a visit to Webster University to see your son/daughter in the next couple months, you may consider some of the upcoming and ongoing events going on in the St. Louis area.

17th Annual St. Louis International Film Festival
Date: 11/13/2008 - 11/23/2008
Location: The Tivoli and Hi-Pointe theatres and other venues
For more information call: (314) 367-3378
Website: www.cinemastlouis.org
Screenings of films, shorts, features, documentaries and independent features from all over the world, with special emphasis on American independents, world cinema and prize-winning short subjects. The festival has achieved an official designation from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a sanctioned short subject qualification event.

Shows at the Fabulous Fox Theatre:
http://www.fabulousfox.com/upcoming_shows.aspx
Sweeney Todd: November 14-16
Cats: November 28-30
The Christmas Music of Mannheim Steamroller: December 5-6
Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring The Rockettes: December 11-28

She Loves You! Beatles Tribute
Date: Wednesday through Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 5 and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 and 5 p.m. through Sunday, January 4
Location: Playhouse at Westport Plaza (I-270 and Page Avenue, Maryland Heights)
Website: www.theplayhouseatwestport.com
Tickets cost $44 to $48 and are available at the box office or through MetroTix (314-534-1111 or www.metrotix.com). She Loves You! is an audio-visual mash-up of '60s television footage and live performances of 30 Beatles classics.

Discounted Gift Certificates for Local Restaurants:
Of course you'll want a nice meal while you're in St. Louis. If you're looking for an inexpensive way to sample some of the local fare, consider buying a $50 gift certificate for just $25. The websites listed below sell half-price gift certificates through various media outlets. The available gift certificates change from week to week, and there are a limited number for each restaurant. You might also keep these in mind for occasional gifts to your son/daughter--they could be a helpful push to encourage them to explore all that St. Louis has to offer.
http://ksdk.mediawebconnect.com/
http://kmox.mediawebconnect.com/
http://kyky.mediawebconnect.com/

Holiday Favorites:
--Tilles Park Winter Wonderland is one of my personal favorites. It opens Wednesday, November 26, 2008, and closes on Sunday, January 4, 2009. It's only $9 per family vehicle to ride through this beautiful holiday light display: http://www.co.st-louis.mo.us/parks/ww/ww2008.htm.
--Wild Lights at St. Louis Zoo is another holiday wonderland of spectacular light displays. It takes place Fridays through Sundays starting the weekend of November 28 and continuing through December 28. Admission is $4/member; $5/non-member. Children under 2 are free. Free parking on South Lot.

Working With Your Student: Helping Them Help Themselves

This post comes from a guest blogger: Sarah Tetley, Assistant Director of Housing and Residential Life at Webster University

As parents you get the pleasures (and pains) of seeing your student go off to college. In my seven years of professional experience, I have found one of the most important things a parent can do is have an action plan about how they are going to help their student adjust to college life. Having an action plan will help you feel more comfortable during conversations, and will help you show your student that you are there for them, but that they can make solid decisions on their own.

There are many proactive efforts that can help you with conversations with your students. Here are some suggestions on how you can help your student get all the resources they need to address their issues on their own.

• Know who to Contact – Make them aware of the student and professional staff support they have to help them deal with their issues. If they are living on campus there is their Resident Assistant, the Hall Director, and even the Residential Life Office to help them through their issues or help them get connected to the right campus resource. If they are an off-campus student, the Dean's Office has staff that can help them get connected to a wide variety of campus resources. Visit this website to see several of these campus resources: http://www.webster.edu/students/
  
• Know the Policies – If you are educated on your institution's policies and procedures ahead of time, during conversations with your student you will be better equipped to articulate how the university typically handles certain situations. Many of these polices can be found on the university website. Housing and Residential Life policies are located here: http://www.webster.edu/shared/shared_reslife/documents/Handbook_FY09_policies___procedures.pdf. Your student will see that there is an appropriate way to address concerns, and the staff will appreciate your students understanding of how the process works.
• Be aware of situations in your student’s life – Keep up to date regarding issues with your student. When you know what is going on, you can direct them to the resources that are available to them to address their problem. The earlier problems are addressed the better. You don’t want an issue to evolve and come to fruition during a hard time for your student (mid-terms, finals, etc).
• The Two-Sided Coin – In every situation there are two (or more) sides to consider. Your son or daughter has a unique perspective (their own) when describing events and situations to you. A healthy level of sympathy and challenge can help you help your student see all the sides of the situation. By being supportive but also recognizing the bigger scope can help your student better articulate their issues to the staff who can help assist your student.
  

Empowering your student is one of the single most important things you can do for your student’s college experience. If they begin to address their own issues earlier they will gain a confidence that will help support them through the rest of their college career. Within these four (or more) years they are becoming the people they will be for the rest of their lives. Help them become students with their own problem-solving abilities by encouraging them to utilize the resources available to them. With your support they can continue to grow.

Free Financial Literacy Event for Students

You might want to pass along this information to your son/daughter about a great event offered by Webster University's Career Services and WebsterLEADS:

Manage Your Money (and still have a life)
Free Financial Literacy Event for college students presented by The Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants
Wednesday, October 29
6:00-7:00pm
Sverdrup Room 101

It will provide information about budgets, methods for saving, understanding credit, and much more.

Free Pizza and Prizes!

I hope you'll pass this information along--this should be a really educational program!

Webster Alerts

If your student is not signed up for the Webster Alerts program, we strongly encourage ALL RESIDENTS to sign up for this mass notification system set up by Webster University. This system is used to alert students, faculty, and staff in the event of an on-campus emergency or school closure due to weather. Parents are also welcome to sign up.

Signup is fast and easy! Simply go to www.webster.edu/technology/websteralerts and go to the new user signup form. Individuals can use the self-service web interface to opt-in to receiving only the notifications they choose. The choice of notification methods include: SMS text messages to a cell phone, an email account, a Blackberry or text pager, a RSS feed or any combination of these.

So sign up today, and tell your son/daughter to sign up as well. This system is absolutely critical for getting the word out quickly in case of an emergency. And it's very useful for hitting snooze if school is closed because of snow.

Coming up on Fall Break

This post comes from a guest blogger: John Buck, Director of Housing and Residential Life & Associate Dean of Students at Webster University

Although it was a mere matter of weeks ago when your student arrived to Webster University, it may now feel like it was longer. Gone for many parents are the uneasy feelings of apprehension that come along with dropping your child off at college. Let’s not minimize that, though - it can be a difficult transition for parents to make, whether your student is the first or last to attend college in your family.

Fall break at Webster, though, can bring parents a new sense of excitement: a happy, 5-day homecoming to be spent with the family, providing a small glimpse back to when this sort of thing happened all of the time. Yet, it’s important to know one thing as fall break approaches: while this homecoming affords you and your family to spend quality time with your student, it may not quite be the way it always was.

Autumn brings many seasonal changes, most notably the changing colors of leaves on trees. Similarly, you will begin to notice changes in your student as well – some stark and obvious, some more subtle. Consider the following: In roughly eight short weeks, they’ve embarked on a great adventure of managing their own time, own decisions, own money, own sleep schedule, own laundry and own class attendance. In their short time here thus far, you can be assured your student has seen faces never before seen (wonder where she’s from?), participated in programs never before thought remotely interesting (throw a pie in the Dean of Student's face anyone?), and have shared stories with people from places they never been to (I have no idea where that is!). All of these things, and many more, begin to impact your student’s values, opinions and worldview.

So what does that mean for the upcoming respite called fall break? Here’s some food for thought as you prepare to welcome them home in a couple of weeks:

- Anticipate hearing them say things you never thought they’d say, but resist the urge to interpret that as a fundamental shift of the mindset of your student. It’s likely a reflection of something new and interesting they may not fully understand themselves.

- Anticipate hearing something s/he did that sounds outrageous, but resist the urge to demand a full explanation as to what in the world they were thinking when they did whatever it was they said they did. Instead, engage the conversation in a way that looks at consequences and long-term effects of decisions made now (while at the same time remembering what you were like at 18-19 years old!).

As students experience their first year of college, it can seem as if your student has one foot out the door, and they want to ignore home as they begin the journey to adulthood. It has always been the role of parents and families to make that stepping out the door possible. But in my experience, there are times when they want to make sure that home base is solid and predictable. Enjoy the time fall break affords you to visit with your student, remembering that they are probably looking forward to the visit as well. But just as you notice the leaves beginning to change in the fall, you’ll begin to also notice changes as your child visits home on breaks and describes their experience of being a college student.