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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 1952)
FRESHMEN 'LIVING IN': THE SECOND YEAR The Oregon l'lan—n modlflcu lloii of flic deferred living pro gram adopted |n the fall of 1950 —hits been In effect more than lour months. tjiille likely we are In no posi tion to pass final Judgment on the “plan.” And we won’t. Nevertheless, In this special Dad’s Day Issue, we are review ing the "living In" program as It presently appears to adminis trators, freshmen, sororities and fraternities, and ourselves, the Fmerald editorial staff. We think the general picture Is good, although fraternities and sororities have to face definite llnaneiul problems. Itut as far as tin freshmen and tin* University •is a whole are concerned, the plan has been to their advantage. As we recall, that has always been the prescribed goal. On Men'i. 3>o*md Physical Layout ' Main Complaint THK deferred living plan for freshmen at Oregon is every thing from a "howling suefcess" to a "fairly successful program,” according to an opinion survey made among the counselors and administrative officials. But we didn't accept just the administration’s o pin! o n. W c checked with the freshman hall presidents and others in the frosh dorms. Their opinions of the system ranged from "fairly good" to "very good." The rather mean ingful point is that the freshmen and counselors were not very far apart on most points. There Merc complaints, to In sun-. There always will he. But tin- criticisms, such ns there were, conic mostly from the counselors, not thi- freshmen. The freshmen don't think much of the vet's dorm. Neither do most of the counselors. And that's no surprise. The physical char acteristics of the building were never regarded as particularly good, ami it was a sort of calcu lated risk when the upper dorm was allotted to the freshmen. But it has been, and still is, necessary to provide adequate housing for students. We talked to several freshmen who had been moved from the vet’s dorm to another hall In John Straub. "Man!” said One enthiisiastleally, "They've got everything over there. If they hud another dormitory like that I don't think there would ever la* any complulnts.” -c Dorm food was no subject for pi-aiie. Wc cannot recall when it ever was. It's doubtful that it ever will be. The fact that the gripes seem to be normal indi cates that the food is average dormitory fare. The dorms can't compete with Mother. Thi- separation of freshmen from upperclassmen was strongly favored by both freshmen and counselors. As Hay Hawk, direc tor of student uffalrs for men, put it, “The proof of the pudding Is in the eating. We were not sure at first that It was educa tionally wise to separate fresh men from upperclassmen. But this year there is no comparison to Iasi year In the matter of con trol, discipline, cooperation and spirit." And no eomparison, we might add, in the number of freshmen who were not dropped from school at the end of one term because of scholastic de ficiencies. The counselors were in favor of delayed rushing, in one form or another. Some mentioned the sophomore year, others indicated satisfaction with the present win ter term rush schedule. All agreed that rush week was something of a problem regardless of when it happened, and all of them op posed any soit of rushing before winter term. The freshmen, generally, were not too concerned about the rush ing timetable. Kay Hawk voiced solid ap proval of winter term rushing. “Ptte the isalvation of the frater nity system,” lie said. “The. na tionals have long wanted the Little Fault Found by Freshmen. Counselors Administrators; chapters here to select their pledges more carefully on a scholastic basis. Fraternities will gain In stature and stability. I'rep deciles, pretesting show nothing. One term’s gardes are the best criteria.” The social activities of the freshmen Heem to have been more (■alisfactory from the freshman viewpoint than from the view point of the counselors. Home counselors thought too much time hud been spent on a social pro gram. The only freshman com plaint in the men's dorm was that some girls didn't take advan tage of their opportunities. (Dur ing exchanges, etc.) One counselor was critical of the movement of some freshmen from vet's dorm to a hall in John Stiaub. "If they continue to split them up and move them to Straub, it will indicate they are washing the program down the orain," he said. He has a point, but considering tlie general opinion on the value of keeping the freshmen in one group, we don't think his point will ever become a sore one. Tlie pudding seems to be pretty good stjiff. It can probably be im proved. but the basic ingredients are not likely to change. I lie credit c an't be given to one person, or one group. The counselors have carried the big gest load. The- freshman class, in turn, has been called one of the finest groups to enroll at Oregon. And IFC has rounded out the grand alliance in a very credit able manner. As one of the counselors re marked, “.We still have quite1 a ways to go, hut by the time we have four classes echo have gone through the program, we'll have a much bettrr University." It seems to us that the feeling of satisfaction concerning the program was shared nearly as much by the freshmen as the counselors. And that is a very lavorable sign. Everyone expected the first year 0“ two under the plan to be fairly rough in spots. Perhaps a rough spot or two lies ahead. But as of now the whole pro gram is sliding along as if it were on greased rails. The fresh men dormitory system for the men is a success by a most any standards. P.C. On 'Women'*' More ^Counselors Needed for Frosh E won't go out on a limb TT and say everybody’s happy in an about every detail of the women’s dormitory program, but we really can’t find much dis satisfaction. Counselors and students are not in complete agreement on the merits of the all-freshman dor mitory. Some feel some sort of program should be instituted to bring the frosh into closer con tact with the dorm upperclassmen as the frosh would benefit from the more mature thinking of the older students. Ideally, we think there should be more contact. But we'll admit we have no plan. Study conditions are generally good, although counselors from Carson wish they cOuld provide a supervised study table for those who want to attend. This will never be solved, however, since Carson has no sufficiently lighted looms which would serve this purpose. At Hendricks, students study in the basement, or dining room, if they wish. Reactions to 7:30 to 10 p.iii. mandatory study regulations varied. Frosh felt the regulations helped them settle down. Some counselors feel students should definitely be allowed to study in the library if they wish. (The frosh are quite restricted here.) Several counselors felt that, ideal ly, i the girls; sh<?uld be allowed to study anytime they wanted. We Greeks Have Money Troubles agree that this would be ideal, but the argument always arises that the girls' parents would ob ject and wonder why their daugh ters weren't getting better grades. Few griped about the food, or about social contacts. Concerning sororities, the freshmen generally complained that the rush period had been too short and they hadn't had a chance to see all the houses. Counselors were in just about unanimous agreement that rush ing should lie postponed at least until the beginning of winter term. Two main suggestions were made: ill more emphasis on the cultural aspect of college and (2i more counselors. One counselor thought more at tention should be paid to man ners, for instance. She also thought more emphasis was need ed on concerts, speakers, and so on. Freshmen were quite enthusi astic over the help given by their counselors. And the latter were satisfied with the acceptance of their advice. But counselors thought more of their number were definitely needed. He agree wholeheartedly that more are needed. One student counselor has eharge of 80 fresh men in Hendrieks hall, whereas there are 8 frosh counselors in Carson. This Is not good. Also, wouldn't it be possible to perhaps set up some course for the counselors prior to their year or two of counseling which would give them instructions in the work and some credit ? Coun selors seemed to think this a good idea. But although some improve ment could be made, everyone thinks the overall picture is good. We'll agree too. *7he. So'i&utieA. Say Plan Leaves Gap In Most Houses DEFERRED living, from the sorority point of view, has brought some problems, probably among the chief of which is the financial hardship involved. It has been reported that the unfinished Holloway report to the alumni asserts that deferred liv ing has brought no financial hardship to fraternities and so rorities. We beg to differ. According to the facts and fig ures we've picked up from the Office of Student Affairs, this as sumption simply doesn’t make sense, at least as far as sororities are concerned. Here are the facts: Each sorority is assigned what is known as a “base capacity,” based on available sleeping, eat ing, study and sanitary facilities. For more efficient operation, ac cording to treasurers and house managers, each house should be filled approximately to base ca pacity. Oregon's sorority base capaci ties range from 32 to 48, with the average capacity approximately 42. With four classes living in the house before deferred living, houses were filled to base capa city or over. But: Official figures for this term show that the actuul number of women living in ranges from 17 to 42, with an average of 27. Only one house has over 34 living in; 9 of the 16 sororities are below 30. In order to fill the gap left by having three classes living in the house instead of four, each soror ity would have to pledge an av erage of 15 sophomores, juniors and seniors—a total of 240. Ac cording to Mrs. Golda P. Wick ham, director of women's-affairs, there aren't that n\any . sopho .more.i junior and-aenio* 'wotrsen living in the dorms who arc elig inle to go out for rushing, let alone who are interested in rush ing. And the picture isn’t likely to improve very fast; enrollment is dropping now and isn’t expected to go up until 1960. Why must the houses be filled nearer to base capacity for sound financing? Whether a house has 17 mem bers living in or 18, there are cer tain costs which remain the same. Cooks’ wages, for instance, or housemother’s salaries; and op erating costs such as light and fuel. In addition, houses with excep tionally few members cannot take advantage of quantity buy ing with its lower costs. Granted, the picture is darker because of the combined factors of the en rollment drop and inflationary prices, particularly for food. But the fact remains that if the houses were fuller—if their freshmen were living in—the fi nancial picture would be much healthier. Sororities in general are not actively opposing deferred living as such. Most recognize the ad vantage to freshmen of wider acquaintanceships on campus. Comments from pledged and in dependent freshmen to the effect that there has been no hostility —as was expected by some—be tween the two groups in the dorm is seen as a hopeful indi cation of better relations between sorority and independent women —unquestionably a valuable out come. There have been some com plaints that actives and pledges don't get to know each other; but in general the sororities are anx ious to promote dormitory loyalty in order not to undermine the dorm program. And another thing that's good about deferred living is the simple psychological factor that a freshman woman, when she arrives on campus, knows where she's going to live and has a chance to settle down. But—if only for the sake of honesty—when it's asserted that deferred living is "no financial hardship.” they’d like to have the picture cleared up. G.G. *7he rf-'iatetuUUel Say Men Profit, But Not Financially DEFERRED living is apparent ly here to stay and Oregon's fraternities are gamely trying to make the best of it. Fraternity men can see the advantages to the freshmen men and to the University' of having the frosh ■spend one of their four college years living together. They have seen better class spirit and wider groups of acquaintances among the freshmen. Fraternity men have also profi ted from the opportunity to look the freshmen over as to scholar ship, interests, and personality and realize that the freshmen conversely have had a chance to get a better look at fraternities making it possible for them to better determine in which group they would best fit. Fraternities on this campus last year lost between $600 and $S00 apiece because of what ac countants describe as lack of membership. These are the cold, hard facts. Fraternity men con sider the statement said to be in the Holloway Report that the fra ternities' financial suffering was to a large extent their own fault and not that of “the plan" a bold faced lie. When the report is fi nally released, fraternity men will want to know how decreased membership caused by having three rather than four classes “living in” is “their own fault and not the fault qf the plan.” It is suspected that Mr. Hollo way'^ Committee choose firiantial mismanagement rather than just lack of membership as the cause of this financial hardship. Frater nity financial advisers will take issue with this stand, however. Fraternity men have been told that in a few (usually five) years these things will ‘hVorlt them selves out”, and probably they will. It is believed by many, how ever, that Oregon’s fraternity system will never be as strong as it once was, and the very fact that only three classes are “living in” is offered as evidence. Fraternity men also question the strange coincidence of the ad vent of “the plan" and the costly construction of Carson hall. Ever since deferred living was first discussed on this campus, fraternity men have been sus picious of the University admin istration. The administration has steadfastly maintained that, far from seeking to get rid of Ore gon's fraternities, it seeks to better their position. In the light of tins objective, consider the statement of the president of the University at a joint IDC-IFC meeting two years ago to the effect that his ultimate objective was to secure University owner ship of campus fraternity and sorority houses. The reasons ad vanced were that this would make these organizations tax exempt and enable them to enjoy the advantages of central heating and utilities. Fraternity men wonder. So, the future of the fraternity system at Oregon lies in Johnson hall. In chapter meetings methods of keeping up membership are searched for and doubts are ex pressed as to whether some houses with smaller membership will be able to survive this five year period until things “work themselves out.” Onlv time can tell. We think deferred living is good in a number of ways. We think it’s good for the freshmen. We think fraternity scholarship will ultimately be strengthened. But, u'e're afraid that the fra ternity system will be weakened through the elimination of the smaller fraternities which, we bfe lieve, will be unable to survive fi nancially the transition to de ferred living.—R. N. ^Ue. OnufUtal Plan All-Frosh Dorms Plan Violated SOMEWHERE between now and last April the “Stanford plan” became the "Oregon plan.”" Now we can note the original recommendations for a deferred freshman living system, and com pare them with “the plan” as it is today. The 9-person ASUO committee which viewed the situation at Stanford last April issued, a. 20 page report on conditions at the California institution and recom mendations for the University. This report was quite detailed and of course some of its lesser points have been ignored. But perhaps the biggest and most dangerous divergence is the current movement of freshmen men to John Straub hall. It was impressed on the 9 campus lead ers who visited Palo Alto that freshmen dormitories are an es sential part of a successful de ferred living program. This exodus from freshman dormitories to Straub—even if it does result in Straub’s being filled —seems to defeat the purpose of our freshman consolidated liv ing units. In only one other striking par ticular has the recommendations of the committee been ignored— and bnly partially so in that case. The committee considered it “es sential for the houses to post pone their rushing program until’ the first of winter term.” This is now the case for male fresh men, but the rush week for girls comes early in the fall term of their freshman year. The system in force at Oregon is not a carbon copy of the Stan ford freshman program. But it is clearly modeled after Stan ford’s. And judging from last term's experience, it’s a pretty" good model.—D. D.
