By Jennifer Rigg

Activities editor

So many problems, so little time. Mark May, assistant director of academic advising and learning assistance, will help Eastern students develop ways to solve their problems before they take over their lives.

The second part of the Surthriver series, “Brain Benders,” will start at 5:30 p.m. in the 1895 Room of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union. The workshops in the Surthriver series are designed to be both fun and educational and are designed after the television show, Survivor, May said.

“We will be looking at different types of problems,” May said. “We’ll look at things like pictures, illusions, math problems and language problems.”

May said he plans on drawing much of his material for the workshop from a book written by Roger Von Oech, “A Kick in the Seat of Your Pants.”

“(Oech) talks about four roles to use in creatively implementing solutions to problems,” May said. Those four roles include the explorer role, the artist role, the judge role and the warrior role.

“I’ll also talk about basic problem solving strategies and ways to implement those strategies,” May said. Students will then practice some of the strategies in a competitive framework, said May.

“We’ll try and draw some conclusions from what works for (each student),” he said.

Each workshop in the Surthriver series features challenges that must be completed by groups of students very similar to those seen on the television show Survivor. Raffle tickets for prizes like gift certificates for food and movie passes along with free games of bowling and an Alpha treatment from The Razorz Edge will be given away.

To make reservations for one of these workshops call May at 581-6696.