College students should choose courses they like and concentrate on now, instead of worrying about the past, said a University alumnus and MTV vice president when he visited the University this week.

Marshall M. Cohen, a 1973 graduate in speech communications, spoke to an almost capacity crowd Tuesday night in the HUB Ballroom as part of the Liberal Arts Career Night.

"Grades are not everything," Cohen said. "My grades were not the best, believe me."

Cohen said students must learn how to think and how to solve problems, if they want to succeed. He drew from his past experiences, remembering when he had to sell the idea of a music television station to executives.

The ability to argue is also important, he said.

"If you can't argue persuasively, you'll never get what you want," Cohen said.

One of the most important guidelines to success is, "Do what you like best and you will excel," he said, noting, "When you choose courses, pick the ones you find interesting."

According to Cohen, MTV is the most popular television station for 12- to 34- year-olds, but Cohen himself didn't set out to create a music television station.

"We had a problem to solve. Young adults didn't watch TV," he said, adding that MTV's creators intended to make television containing mood and emotion, not plot and continuity.

MTV's first employees obviously had no experience in music television, so the founders looked for people who were good communicators, Cohen said, adding that communication skills are valuable to liberal arts majors.

After Cohen graduated from the University, he went to graduate school where he learned to think more analytically, he said. But his first job let him learn the ins and outs of the business world.

A question-and-answer period after Cohen's speech revealed that MTV has entrance-level positions in about 15 departments including press relations, sales, programming and public affairs, Cohen said. The network looks favorably upon students who have participated in radio- or music-related activities, but the station basically looks for students with good communication skills, he said.

"Learn how to think and I'm sure you'll succeed," he concluded.