[1355] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
Re: tech a little confused on the numbers
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Peter Shulman)
Mon Sep 2 23:48:49 2002
Date: Mon, 2 Sep 2002 23:23:38 -0400
From: Peter Shulman <skip@MIT.EDU>
To: MIT-Talk@MIT.EDU
In-Reply-To: <a05101007b9957e8dec8f@[10.0.1.12]>
>The larger question of why so many people decided to stay where they
>were -- including 75% of those who actually logged into the lottery
>web site and 'actively' squatted -- remains, though I suspect that
>Josiah's hypothesis is close to the mark.
...
>Anthony E. Gray, Ph.D.
>MIT, Residential Life Associate
actually, i don't think suggesting that first years didn't move because
they were lame works at all. it's wrong to accuse the first year class of
being any different than last year's first years and the classes over the
past few years. the most striking change were the explicit and implicit
structural changes instituted by the planners of orientation that
discouraged first years from moving around.
with the administration broadcasting the "new normal" as choosing dorms
over the summer and packing orientation week with official and
semi-official activities, and only a lightly publicized residence midway,
it's no wonder most first years decided to stay put. staying put was the
expectation -- of the administrators planning orientation and the first
years who experienced it.
i sincerely hope most first years are happy where they are -- many came for
CPW, many other thought hard over the summer where to live. it's wrong for
upperclass students to imply to first years that rush didn't go well
because of them. the gears of the system are more powerful than they seem.
most importantly, however, if you see a first year student, make him or her
feel welcome on this campus -- it's now their home as much as it is yours.
and if you think orientation could be better planned next year -- speak up!
--**peter
************
Peter A Shulman, MIT '01
Ph.D. Student in the History and Social
Study of Science and Technology
skip@mit.edu
Random Hall
290 Massachusetts Avenue, Apt. #127
Cambridge, MA 02139
************
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Documentation on the use of the mailing lists mit-talk, all-talk,
mit-news, housing-talk, and the mit-talk Zephyr class is available at:
http://web.mit.edu/institvte/talk/
