[1675] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
Re: [Mit-talk] Progress of the Task Force on Undergraduate
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Brian Sniffen)
Thu Nov 17 13:37:03 2005
To: Natan Cliffer <natan@mit.edu>
From: Brian Sniffen <bts@alum.mit.edu>
Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2005 13:30:54 -0500
In-Reply-To: <20051117014217.GD20303@mit.edu> (Natan Cliffer's message of
"Wed, 16 Nov 2005 20:42:17 -0500")
cc: mit-talk@mit.edu
Errors-To: mit-talk-bounces@mit.edu
Natan Cliffer <natan@mit.edu> writes:
> I'm leery of this change. When the frosh first get on campus, the
> most important thing for them is to be comfortable.
That's an interesting assertion. I'd far rather see the frosh made
uncomfortable: not certain where they'll be living, not certain who
they'll choose to be, not certain that they can handle all this. If
that period lasts from Rush through the first 8.01 or 18.01 exam, it
serves a few useful purposes. It binds the freshman class together
and to the rest of the student body; it reduces inclination to compete
against each other; it communicates very clearly that this is not and
should not be High School.
MIT, like other entities advertising to 18-year-olds who think they're
cooler than they are, has had great success with the break-and-reforge
approach. Has the student body changed enough that this approach is
no longer appropriate?
-Brian
--
Brian Sniffen bts@alum.mit.edu
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