One instructor's "dead zone" (her windowless classroom in the depths of the Humanities building) was the place where little exchange between teacher and students took place. When one day she overheard the students talking about how little money they had left on their meal cards, she took a few dozen bagels to that afternoon's writing…

Addressing the problem of children being emotionally abusive to each other in the form of heckling and the more serious "put-down," this paper suggests that this behavior can stem from a need for attention, resistance, an inability to express feelings more appropriately, or a desire to test an adult's strength. It is important to listen…

Concerned basic communication course instructors are in a position to help students avoid personal tragedy by providing them with knowledge of communication theory, research, and skills. However, teachers' roles in helping students who are in the midst of crisis are less direct and should involve referring students to experts trained to advise…

A questionnaire describing 87 environmental characteristics of schools is administered to entering freshmen at a predominantly black university to study the relationships of racial composition to various dimensions of school environment and social climate. Both racial and nonracial aspects of school environments are examined. Correlation of the…