continued from page 1
Mr. Binns also commented,
"those studnets complaining about
orientation whether it be the
way it was run or the contents
of it, were the ones not getting
involved, and the clincher now
is keeping the ones involved
-interested all year."
The Survival Sessions, held
Wednesday afternoon, posed for
a good deal of criticism. Dr.
Orbin, who was partially in
charge of the sessions, stated
that the purpose of theim was "To
try to get freshmen together
with sophomores and faculty
under informal conditions. We
wanted to get freshmen to intro
duce themselves to others." He
believes- it "ran smoothly," al
though next year he hopes to use
the gymnasium for the sessions,
and perhaps structure its con
tents more carefully.
The freshmen had a different
view of the whole event as ex
pressed by Brenda Caiazzo, "I
didn't consider it too helpful.
The profs should have offered
more study hints. It also could
have been cut from two sessions
to one."
Patrice Ackerman and Bob
Baumann thought, "It needed
more organization;" and Nancy
Klotsko suggested, "The stu
dents should prepare questions
to ask while they're in the
groups to get some conversation
going."
Tim Carr's more positive view
stated, "It was a good idea and
it helped you get acquainted
with different people. I felt I
could be more expressive in the
small groups."
The students found themselves
thrown together with their own
country folk during the Home
town Meetings also held Wednes
day afternoon. Ron Drum's
opinion of the meetings was,
"They went well, but do need
more planning."
The freer atmosphere of the
dance and softball game helped
loosen up the anxieties of not
only the freshmen but the fac
ulty as well. "It was a good
place to meet people," stated
Bob Baumann. Tim Carr consid
ered it, "Excellentl The group
at the dance was really good.
It gave us all a chance to
relax."
An Evaluation Committee
meeting consisting of all par
ties involved with the orien-
Freshman Orientation
tation program, is scheduled
in the near future. They will
then discuss their reactions to
the program's success and/or
failures, and decide which route
to take on the issue next year.
According to Mr. Binns, the use
of the gymnasium next year should
eliminate any problems that
arose this year concerning space.
He also hopes to use the same
basic format in the years to
come.
Dr. Orbin suggested that we
get into a more rigid program
and stick strictly to "orien
tation" activities. He also
thinks "Freshmen should be re
quired to wear nametags, for
the benefit of those being
acquainted to them."
One problem facing commuters
was revealed by Patrice Acker
man, who argued, "There was too
long a wait for commuters be
tween registration Thursday
morning and the afternoon ses
sion."
Sophomore Ron Drum felt,
"The class gifts held up the
registration lines, and that
they could have been distrib
uted the next day." He point
ed out thee interesting thought
that even though the TB shots
were being completed before
the Survival Sessions, it was
a good way for kids in the
waiting lines to get to know
each other."
Suggestions for change from
Nancy Klotsko were, "Possibly
revise the survival sessions,
play up the clubs more, back the
sports more, and have the clubs
give 'Short Spiels' to everyone
before the students sign-up."
Tim Carr felt the 'sit-down'
sessions could have been re
placed by a possible tour of
the school, while Bob Baumann
would have preferred that the
sophomores speak more, and
there be less repetition in the
faculty speeches.
Overall, the views on the
program in general appear posi
tive, and according to Mr.
Bums, "It's one of the best in
the past couple years, the reason
being an increase in students,
and more co-operation from stu
dents and faculty."
The Highaeres Collegian, October 8, 1976 -
(University Park) While
many college campuses are ex
■ periencing a big revival in
fraternity life, there's no
impressive "comeback" being
staged at The Pennsylvania
State University, home of the
country's second largest fra
ternity system.
But that's because fratern
ities at Penn State, unlike
those at so many institutions
during the protest days of a
few years ago, were never in
deep trouble, says David
Stewart, fraternity affairs
adviser.
"While many other colleges
and universities in the early
1970 s were losing half—some
all—of their fraternity chap
ters, Penn State wasn't losing
many," explains Stewart. "With
our 48 chapters (46 with na
tional affiliation), we have
stayed near the top nationally."
The peak year for fratern
ities at the University was
1966, when there were 56 houses.
And flosses" from that figure
weren't great, since half of
the defunct houses were absorb
ed through mergers.
Stewart says that some other
institutions are reporting
fraternity increases of up to
15 percent, an increase that
probably will never occur at
Penn State, where rolls are up
slightly from last year.
"The main reason Penn
State's increase isn't that
much is the Commonwealth Campus
system," Stewart says, pointing
out that most freshmen ("ripe
for joining fraternities) begin
their Penn State education at
a Commonwealth Campus, away
from the bhapters "headquarter
ed" at University Park.
Currently, "around 13 or 14
percent" of the male undergrad
uates at Penn State belong to
a fraternity, Stewart estimates.
Frats ■
A live and Well