We know that a government student loan monopoly is just right for you. After all, what could go wrong with politicians owning everything? Warning: May cause hilarity.

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An overshadowed aspect of congressional health care bills involves new provisions for student loans. As Ben Tracy reports, sweeping changes are in store throughout the US for college lending.

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March 24 (Bloomberg) — Michael Taiano, an analyst with Sandler O’Neill, talks with Bloomberg’s Margaret Brennan about the impact of legislation overhauling student lending on companies like SLM Corp., known as Sallie Mae, banks and nonprofit lenders. Under the plan attached to the health-care bill and passed by the House of Representatives, a billion federal program that subsidizes private student loans would end and the loans would be made directly by the government. The House amendments now go to the Senate. (Source: Bloomberg)

Your college success may be dependent on how well you take notes. If you were not used to attending lectures in high school, you may find the transition to the courses offered by colleges difficult. It may even be difficult to pay attention as a university professor delivers a lecture, but note-taking can help keep you focused. All that you need are a few basic tools and a little advice. That’s what you will learn about in this article.

Universities vary in the assistance that they offer to their students. Some college professors videotape their lectures and then post them online, making it easier for students to “tune in” at a later time. If the university you are attending does not offer this kind of service, consider purchasing an inexpensive tape recorder. Many students find that listening again, while reading their notes, is an effective way to study.

You will, of course, need notebooks or legal pads and writing utensils. Highlighter pens are beneficial. Colleges often include handouts as a part of the course curriculum. Buy a hole-punch, so that you can store these handouts in a three ring binder. When you do use highlighters or colored pens, use them sparingly. Too much color becomes ineffective. The purpose is to attract your attention. You can also highlight key points in your own notes.

Before class, record the date and the class name. If you know what the material will be about, title the page accordingly. This will help you find what you are looking for when exam time comes around. When you are taking notes from a college text book or something in the university library, write down the name of the book. You may find that you need to return to it later, for reference. Don’t write in complete sentences, come up with phrases that will help you remember the critical points and write clearly enough so that you can read your notes later.

Some colleges and universities have developed their own “systems” for note taking. The Cornell method is one example. This system suggests that you leave blank spaces between your phrases or other pertinent information. As soon as possible after the class, you go back through the notes and “fill in” the blanks. In the margins of the page, you might list new vocabulary words or questions that you think could be on a test. If done correctly, your notes become a good study guide.

Sometimes university students forget to ask questions. Some professors don’t allow questions until after the lecture is complete. This is another place where note-taking comes in handy. Record any question that you have during the lecture and ask for clarification at the end of class. Your success in college could depend on that single question. Don’t be afraid to ask.

College admission is, in its simplest form, a numbers game. In fact, while some would call it a kind of lottery, lotteries offer almost no chance of success to those who participate in them, while quite the opposite is true of college admission. There are nearly 3,500 colleges and universities in the United States (counting two and four year institutions) so students have no shortage of options. So, students who do a little research and a bit of thinking about what kind of educational environment best suits them should not have a problem landing at a college or university in which he or she is likely to be happy and academically successful. Believe it or not, students who start their college search early, make good use of the college and financial aid information available in college guides and websites, and ultimately apply to at least four or five carefully chosen colleges can sail through the process with little or no anxiety or hassle. Despite the media’s preoccupation with how tough it is to get admitted to the Harvard’s, Yale’s, and Princeton’s of the world, a very small number of colleges deny admission to nearly as many students as they admit. Thus, if you do not have the grades, SAT scores and desire to attend a very highly selective college and you have applied to a realistic set of colleges your chances at each are high. On the other hand, if your grades and test scores put you in the top five percent and you are applying to the highly selective few, just be sure to also apply to a few of the hundreds of great schools that are not quite as selective.

Generally speaking, the stronger the reputation of a college, the more selective it can afford to be. But, luckily for students, many excellent colleges and universities do not receive enough applications from top tier students to be highly selective.

Remembering these statistics, you are ready to begin the process of selecting and gaining admission to a college. Look for and find six to eight colleges which offer the major(s) of greatest interest to you, are likely to admit students with your grades and scores, and provide the campus lifestyle and environment you seek. Start by meeting with your college counselor to:

1. ask for his/her college recommendations.

2. discuss the courses you plan to take in future years.

4. register to take both the ACT and SAT exams.

4. find out which college admissions counselors will be visiting your high school.

5. register for the college night programs in your region.

Don’t forget that the web is a great source of information. Do a few searches for terms like “colleges”, “college scholarships”, “financial aid” and “college admissions” to identify some good online resources.

Once you’ve completed the above steps, you are well on your way. It doesn’t have to difficult.

Freaky fast guitar became popular in the eighties when a lot of guitar players wanted to play at speed like Satriani and Malmsteen. This need for speed never went away, and today guitarists like Vai still give shredders the taste of what they can do. But, you know it is not as easy as they make it look.

It is easy to learn the steps that will increase speed over time, and being persistent with each one will pay-off as time goes by. Learning to play really fast doesn’t happen over night, it takes great discipline. You will have to work on your left and right hand technique consistently, no slacking, because both hands have to be co-ordinated together to increase speed and dexterity. No co-ordination means no accuracy, which means it will sound awlful. You will also want to develop proper thumb and finger placement along the neck. The two basic thumb positions that are mostly used by professional players are putting the thumb over the top, and resting the thumb behind the neck. Behind the neck will give you bigger reach on the fretboard and will improve control and consistency. If you practice guitar scales and exercises slowly in these thumb positions, you will increase your accuracy and speed in time.

Finger position on the fret board as you play is critical for speed. Your four fingers should hover above the first 4 frets until needed. Again, keeping fingers here will optimise speed when playing scales and exercises. Finger movement is more tricky. Players can either keep a finger down when used until you need to raise it (finger anchoring), or lift each finger as the next one comes down (finger movement). For speed, finger movement is best. Finger accuracy involves consistently fretting a note right behind its fret bar and not just anywhere within the fret. This will give accuracy. Also, always ply with finger tips and not sides. The more consistent you are, the faster and more accurate you will be.

Right hand technique is just as important as left hand. Your picking style, how you hold the pick and your motion will all affect speed. Picking can be alternating, sweeping or circular picking, and should probably be learnt in that order as they increase in difficulty as well as speed. Alternate picking can still be very fast, and is used by Malmsteen so don’t underestimate it!

How you hold the pick is important, the pick needs to be vertical to the strings and only the very tip of the pick needs to touch the strings, this reduces resistance. The motion from your wrist is just as important, you want the motion to come from the wrist to be as loose as possible. Try not to use finger and thumb muscles as they tend to become very tense which hinders speed.

All of this will take discipline and practise. You will have to make time everyday to get better, a big splurge at the beginning of the week then nothing for the rest of the week is no good. Remember to practise with a drum machine, start at slow speeds and then increase tempo gradually.

These simple techniques will, with a lot of practise and dedication, get you playing guitar really fast!

Years ago, many highly selective colleges and universities required that all applicants complete an interview with a staff member and/or an alumnus.

Now, far fewer educational institutions insist on an interview, although a significant number do. And, although other institutions do not use the word “interview”, they often rate applicants after conversing with them. At some institutions, even students participate in applicant evaluations.

You would be well advised to assume that anything you say to an institutional representative may influence your admission decision. Here are ten ways to help yourself.

1. Never indicate that a college or graduate school is not your first choice: if you do, you may put your chance of admission at risk.

2. Do not express doubt about continuing your education. Graduate school applicants should not express doubt about wanting to pursue the degree program in question. For grad school applicants, expressing doubt can be the kiss of death.

3. Dress appropriately for all meetings with institutional representatives.

4. Read the printed literature and websites of the institutions to which you are sending applications. Do not brand yourself as lazy by asking a question which can be answered after five minutes on the college/university website.

5. Never make a comment to a student tour guide or anyone else that you would not want the Dean of Admission to hear. If you do, he or she will.

6. Send thank you notes to anyone who spends significant time with you. The less generic they sound, the better.

7. If a family member accompanies you on a campus visit, which can be a good idea, be sure he/she knows not to be a “helicopter” parent or spouse.

8. Have a few well-conceived questions prepared to underline your interest. The critical phrase here is “well-conceived”.

9. Do not make statements that assume your admission, regardless of your qualifications. Humility is a virtue…if you don’t have it, fake it until you do.

10. Meet with representatives of your top choices only after you have had practice with a few of your back up choices. It’s a good strategy.

Essentially, successful interviewing is a combination of good manners, well developed listening skills, reasonable analytical ability, and practice. You can do it.