[1029] in UA Senate
Fwd: REX Chair Response to Shortening of Orientation
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Suan Tuang)
Fri Jan 28 23:09:15 2011
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTik4dV9J7PWmQSDy-6AV5b5YYoDS_y7y3Kou=ATR@mail.gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2011 23:09:10 -0500
From: Suan Tuang <stuang@MIT.EDU>
To: ua-senate@mit.edu
--20cf30433ef247eb2a049af45897
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Julie Norman's response
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Lauren Jefferson <laj51714@mit.edu>
Date: Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 11:02 PM
Subject: Fwd: REX Chair Response to Shortening of Orientation
To: Suan L Tuang <stuang@mit.edu>
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Julie B Norman <jbnorman@mit.edu>
Date: Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 7:36 AM
Subject: Re: REX Chair Response to Shortening of Orientation
To: Lauren A Jefferson <laj51714@mit.edu>
Dear Lauren,
Thank you for your comments and feedback. I appreciate the detail with
which you defined your comments. Your multi-dimensional perspective
provides information from your personal experience, residential background
and sorority engagements. I appreciate your taking the time to write to me
and help me understand the student perspective.
Julie
Julie B. Norman
Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education
Director, Office of Undergraduate Advising and
Academic Programming
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue, Room 7-103
Cambridge, MA 02139
(617)-253-7411
------------------------------
*From: *Lauren A Jefferson <laj51714@MIT.EDU>
*Date: *Thu, 27 Jan 2011 20:05:18 -0500
*To: *Julie Norman <jbnorman@mit.edu>
*Subject: *REX Chair Response to Shortening of Orientation
Hi, Julie. My name is Lauren Jefferson and I am one of the two REX chairs
from New House, and here is a slightly modified version of the e-mail that I
sent the UA-Senate reflecting my concerns on the shortening of REX:
I don't like the idea of shortening REX. Sure, planning events would be
easier because there would be fewer, but my dorm (Desmond) is really far
from everything. Unless people have a reason, they don't usually come all
the way out to New/Next house, which will definitely hurt our REX
possibilities. I think it took me until the end of REX to get over how far
the walk was. I personally didn't even make my decision to stay in New House
until the last day of REX. I'd rather people who I live with to actually
want to live there, rather than grumbling about having no other choice. It's
a well known fact that 67% of freshmen tried to leave - meaning that there
are a lot of people in New House who would rather be somewhere else.
I think that the major problem with shortening REX is that the length has
been established over so many years that the events that everyone looks
forward to have just fallen into that time frame. Giving us a third (even
less if you count that dorms do events on Thursday and Friday because some
FPOPs end early) of that time just means that some people will get the short
end of the stick, including the freshmen. They make the argument that events
could start early, but the only reason events ever started early was because
there were either enough people there that weren't in FPOPs or their FPOPs
had already ended, the latter being a pretty useless argument if all the
FPOPs are going to end early. Also, my experience with FPOPs was that I
would finish my FPOP, go back to my dorm, drag myself up the stairs, shower,
and collapse into my bed, with little or no energy to do anything else. I
know other people felt the same way, too - a lot of FPOPs are either
physically or mentally draining. If the faculty is worried that the freshmen
are going to be worn out when the semester begins, then events shouldn't
start at 8 am or make mandatory events take up 5 hours of our day and just
have people talking at us. I lost more sleep to waking up early for
orientation events than I did to staying up for REX events.
Adjusting the length of REX smashes the scheduling for things like the
East-Side, West-Side parties, and MacG/New/Next party. If I'm interpreting
this correctly, there is only one night included in REX. That would mean
that, if all three parties were to run, these three groups would be directly
competing against each other, resulting in three smaller parties than usual
and general money wasting. One gigantic party is just illogical - there are
very few places on campus large enough to hold all three, and none, other
than the EC courtyard, that people would be willing to let a roller coaster
be build on.
There's also the problem with actually seeing the dorms. Most people don't
tour every dorm, but there's 12 dorms that participate in REX. If you wanted
to see them all, it would take 12/30 hours out of your REX, ignoring the
fact that there would likely only be time for one or two sets of tours per
dorm, which would result in limiting the number of tours anyone could take.
Also, there's the problem that it takes ~20 minutes to get between EC,
Random, and/or Next, or at least it did when I first got there. If you
include the orientation events, which I (stupidly) went to instead of REX
events, food time, and the radical idea that freshmen actually want to have
fun before they're thrown into long lectures and endless p-sets, you would
have to clone yourself to get everything in. I seriously regretted not going
to my own dorm's events because they conflicted with Orientation ones, when,
in the long run, learning more about my dorm matters a lot more.
Norman said in the article that CPW, the i3 videos, and the residence
materials would be good indicators for housing selections. During CPW, the
main things I did involved scoping out free stuff. I had minimal, if any,
thoughts about which dorm I was going to live in IF I decided to go to MIT,
and what I originally thought I wanted was completely different from what I
actually wanted. We're supposed to be selling why MIT is the best school in
the world, not why our dorm is the best dorm in the world. Although an
awesome dorm is *a* reason why you should go to MIT, it shouldn't be
*the *reason
why you should go to MIT, especially since you're not guaranteed to live in
that dorm. The biggest problems about the i3 videos are that they
occasionally do not accurately portray a dorm's culture and that the
deadlines are announced way too late, or during the middle of the busiest
time of the semester. As an example, I think Desmond has used the same one
for the past 5 years (although we're making a new one) because we just
haven't had time, and the culture has so drastically changed that it's
almost hilarious. I have a lot of friends who ran screaming from their
first-choice temp dorm because they weren't what they expected. I think the
one thing that was the most accurate was what was written in the residence
hall booklet, but you can't really get an accurate feel for a culture with
just a page or two of writing (only half a page if you're in New House,
too...). Dorm cultures at MIT aren't just subtle differences, either - it's
very possible to just not be able to cope with a dorm situation.
I'd have to argue that, short of joining a sorority, my dorm has been the
biggest factor in how I've survived MIT so far. A lot of what I learned
about how to survive at MIT has come from the upperclassmen in my dorm who
are always incredibly helpful and willing to take the time out to assist
freshmen with killer p-set problems or deciding on majors. The argument was
made that a longer REX means that students will focus less on academic
preparation, but I found that the opposite was true; talking to the
upperclassmen from the other dorms who were freshmen before and know what we
should expect probably prepared me more for MIT's environment than anything
else. It's much more reassuring to hear that even people who work hard no
record classes and that if's possible to start off on the wrong foot and
still pass from people who have done those things and survived them. Like I
said before, it took me almost the entirety of REX to decide that I was
happy with my dorm, and if I had any less time, I would have definitely
adjusted out.
We may have the longest orientation in the country, but we also have one of
the hardest schools, and one of the the heaviest freshman workloads,
regardless of pass/no record. I think Orientation was the last time I've
legitimately had fun without worrying about classes, p-sets or grades, *
including* IAP and December break. Our really long orientation is arguably
one of the best things about MIT - getting to meet people who share your
interests, complete with free food and no stress.
Also, as a concern from the non-REX side of things, I know people who took
multiple ASEs - up to 5 in a couple of cases. If all the ASEs were on the
same day, that would essentially be like taking five finals on one day. Five
tests in one day would burn anyone out. Even three in one day would be
difficult. I know ASEs are completely optional, but they were stressful for
my friends that took them.
Thank you for listening to my concerns on the changes to REX and
Orientation.
Regards,
--
Lauren Jefferson
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Class of 2014
New House CPW/REX Co-Chair
MIT Panhellenic Association General Publicity Co-Chair
--
Lauren Jefferson
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Class of 2014
--
Suan Tuang
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Class of 2014
(407) 595-5672
--20cf30433ef247eb2a049af45897
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Julie Norman's response<br><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">---------- Fo=
rwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class=3D"gmail_sendername">Lauren Je=
fferson</b> <span dir=3D"ltr"><<a href=3D"mailto:laj51714@mit.edu">laj51=
714@mit.edu</a>></span><br>
Date: Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 11:02 PM<br>Subject: Fwd: REX Chair Response to =
Shortening of Orientation<br>To: Suan L Tuang <<a href=3D"mailto:stuang@=
mit.edu">stuang@mit.edu</a>><br><br><br><br><br><div class=3D"gmail_quot=
e">
---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class=3D"gmail_senderna=
me">Julie B Norman</b> <span dir=3D"ltr"><<a href=3D"mailto:jbnorman@mit=
.edu" target=3D"_blank">jbnorman@mit.edu</a>></span><br>Date: Fri, Jan 2=
8, 2011 at 7:36 AM<br>
Subject: Re: REX Chair Response to Shortening of Orientation<br>To: Lauren =
A Jefferson <<a href=3D"mailto:laj51714@mit.edu" target=3D"_blank">laj51=
714@mit.edu</a>><br><br><br>
<div>
<font face=3D"Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style=3D"font-size:=
11pt;">Dear Lauren,<br>
<br>
Thank you for your comments and feedback. =A0I appreciate the detail with w=
hich you defined your comments. =A0Your multi-dimensional perspective provi=
des information from your personal experience, residential background and s=
orority engagements. =A0I appreciate your taking the time to write to me an=
d help me understand the student perspective.<br>
<br>
Julie<br>
<br>
Julie B. Norman<br>
Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education<br>
Director, Office of Undergraduate Advising and=A0=A0<br>
=A0 =A0=A0 =A0Academic Programming<br>
Massachusetts Institute of Technology<br>
77 Massachusetts Avenue, Room 7-103<br>
Cambridge, MA 02139<br>
(617)-253-7411<br>
</span></font><font size=3D"1"><font face=3D"Helvetica, Verdana, Arial"><sp=
an style=3D"font-size: 9pt;"><br>
<br>
</span></font></font><font face=3D"Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><spa=
n style=3D"font-size: 11pt;"><br>
<br>
<br>
<hr align=3D"CENTER" size=3D"3" width=3D"95%"><b>From: </b>Lauren A Jeffers=
on <<a href=3D"http://laj51714@MIT.EDU" target=3D"_blank">laj51714@MIT.E=
DU</a>><br>
<b>Date: </b>Thu, 27 Jan 2011 20:05:18 -0500<br>
<b>To: </b>Julie Norman <<a href=3D"http://jbnorman@mit.edu" target=3D"_=
blank">jbnorman@mit.edu</a>><br>
<b>Subject: </b>REX Chair Response to Shortening of Orientation<div><div></=
div><div><br>
<br>
Hi, Julie. My name is Lauren Jefferson and I am one of the two REX chairs f=
rom New House, and here is a slightly modified version of the e-mail that I=
sent the UA-Senate reflecting my concerns on the shortening of REX:<br>
<br>
I don't like the idea of shortening REX. Sure, planning events would be=
easier because there would be fewer, but my dorm (Desmond) is really far f=
rom everything. Unless people have a reason, they don't usually come al=
l the way out to New/Next house, which will definitely hurt our REX possibi=
lities. I think it took me until the end of REX to get over how far the wal=
k was. I personally didn't even make my decision to stay in New House u=
ntil the last day of REX. I'd rather people who I live with to actually=
want to live there, rather than grumbling about having no other choice. It=
's a well known fact that 67% of freshmen tried to leave - meaning that=
there are a lot of people in New House who would rather be somewhere else.=
<br>
<br>
I think that the major problem with shortening REX is that the length has b=
een established over so many years that the events that everyone looks forw=
ard to have just fallen into that time frame. Giving us a third (even less =
if you count that dorms do events on Thursday and Friday because some FPOPs=
end early) of that time just means that some people will get the short end=
of the stick, including the freshmen. They make the argument that events c=
ould start early, but the only reason events ever started early was because=
there were either enough people there that weren't in FPOPs or their F=
POPs had already ended, the latter being a pretty useless argument if all t=
he FPOPs are going to end early. Also, my experience with FPOPs was that I =
would finish my FPOP, go back to my dorm, drag myself up the stairs, shower=
, and collapse into my bed, with little or no energy to do anything else. I=
know other people felt the same way, too - a lot of FPOPs are either physi=
cally or mentally draining. If the faculty is worried that the freshmen are=
going to be worn out when the semester begins, then events shouldn't s=
tart at 8 am or make mandatory events take up 5 hours of our day and just h=
ave people talking at us. I lost more sleep to waking up early for orientat=
ion events than I did to staying up for REX events.<br>
<br>
Adjusting the length of REX smashes the scheduling for things like the East=
-Side, West-Side parties, and MacG/New/Next party. If I'm interpreting =
this correctly, there is only one night included in REX. That would mean th=
at, if all three parties were to run, these three groups would be directly =
competing against each other, resulting in three smaller parties than usual=
and general money wasting. One gigantic party is just illogical - there ar=
e very few places on campus large enough to hold all three, and none, other=
than the EC courtyard, that people would be willing to let a roller coaste=
r be build on.<br>
<br>
There's also the problem with actually seeing the dorms. Most people do=
n't tour every dorm, but there's 12 dorms that participate in REX. =
If you wanted to see them all, it would take 12/30 hours out of your REX, i=
gnoring the fact that there would likely only be time for one or two sets o=
f tours per dorm, which would result in limiting the number of tours anyone=
could take. Also, there's the problem that it takes ~20 minutes to get=
between EC, Random, and/or Next, or at least it did when I first got there=
. If you include the orientation events, which I (stupidly) went to instead=
of REX events, food time, and the radical idea that freshmen actually want=
to have fun before they're thrown into long lectures and endless p-set=
s, you would have to clone yourself to get everything in. I seriously regre=
tted not going to my own dorm's events because they conflicted with Ori=
entation ones, when, in the long run, learning more about my dorm matters a=
lot more.<br>
<br>
Norman said in the article that CPW, the i3 videos, and the residence mater=
ials would be good indicators for housing selections. During CPW, the main =
things I did involved scoping out free stuff. I had minimal, if any, though=
ts about which dorm I was going to live in IF I decided to go to MIT, and w=
hat I originally thought I wanted was completely different from what I actu=
ally wanted. We're supposed to be selling why MIT is the best school in=
the world, not why our dorm is the best dorm in the world. =A0Although an =
awesome dorm is <i>a</i> reason why you should go to MIT, it shouldn't =
be <i>the </i>reason why you should go to MIT, especially since you're =
not guaranteed to live in that dorm. The biggest problems about the i3 vide=
os are that they occasionally do not accurately portray a dorm's cultur=
e and that the deadlines are announced way too late, or during the middle o=
f the busiest time of the semester. As an example, I think Desmond has used=
the same one for the past 5 years (although we're making a new one) be=
cause we just haven't had time, and the culture has so drastically chan=
ged that it's almost hilarious. I have a lot of friends who ran screami=
ng from their first-choice temp dorm because they weren't what they exp=
ected. I think the one thing that was the most accurate was what was writte=
n in the residence hall booklet, but you can't really get an accurate f=
eel for a culture with just a page or two of writing (only half a page if y=
ou're in New House, too...). Dorm cultures at MIT aren't just subtl=
e differences, either - it's very possible to just not be able to cope =
with a dorm situation.<br>
<br>
I'd have to argue that, short of joining a sorority, my dorm has been t=
he biggest factor in how I've survived MIT so far. A lot of what I lear=
ned about how to survive at MIT has come from the upperclassmen in my dorm =
who are always incredibly helpful and willing to take the time out to assis=
t freshmen with killer p-set problems or deciding on majors. The argument w=
as made that a longer REX means that students will focus less on academic p=
reparation, but I found that the opposite was true; talking to the uppercla=
ssmen from the other dorms who were freshmen before and know what we should=
expect probably prepared me more for MIT's environment than anything e=
lse. It's much more reassuring to hear that even people who work hard n=
o record classes and that if's possible to start off on the wrong foot =
and still pass from people who have done those things and survived them. Li=
ke I said before, it took me almost the entirety of REX to decide that I wa=
s happy with my dorm, and if I had any less time, I would have definitely a=
djusted out.<br>
<br>
We may have the longest orientation in the country, but we also have one of=
the hardest schools, and one of the the heaviest freshman workloads, regar=
dless of pass/no record. I think Orientation was the last time I've leg=
itimately had fun without worrying about classes, p-sets or grades, <i>incl=
uding</i> IAP and December break. Our really long orientation is arguably o=
ne of the best things about MIT - getting to meet people who share your int=
erests, complete with free food and no stress.<br>
<br>
Also, as a concern from the non-REX side of things, I know people who took =
multiple ASEs - up to 5 in a couple of cases. If all the ASEs were on the s=
ame day, that would essentially be like taking five finals on one day. Five=
tests in one day would burn anyone out. Even three in one day would be dif=
ficult. I know ASEs are completely optional, but they were stressful for my=
friends that took them.<br>
<br>
Thank you for listening to my concerns on the changes to REX and Orientatio=
n.<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
-- <br>
Lauren Jefferson<br>
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Class of 2014<br>
New House CPW/REX Co-Chair<br>
MIT Panhellenic Association General Publicity Co-Chair<br>
<br>
</div></div></span></font>
</div>
</div><br><br clear=3D"all"><br>-- <br>Lauren Jefferson<br>Massachusetts In=
stitute of Technology<br>Class of 2014<br>
</div><br><br clear=3D"all"><br>-- <br>Suan Tuang<br>Massachusetts Institut=
e of Technology<br>Class of 2014<br>(407) 595-5672<br><br>
--20cf30433ef247eb2a049af45897--
