Orientation Smoker

During the early weeks of every Spring term, freshmen drift over to Memorial Hall in groups of five or six. They watch some entertainers perform for an hour or two--usually a mediocre hour or two; they empty countless kegs of beer, and drift away--in the same groups of five of six.

The supposed aim of the Freshman Smoker is to bring the entire class together to "get acquainted". With a place so far down on the school calendar, however, the Smoker does little to fulfill this purpose. After six months, the freshmen have certainly formed friendships and cliques, and an evening of beery waves and determined handshakes will not have much to contribute.

The Student Council's recommendation for an "orientation Smoker" early in the Fall is therefore a wise one. Getting acquainted is a problem of the weeks of adjustment, a problem of the first term, not the second. Only if the Smoker takes place in the first weeks of the school year can the affair realize its aim by introducing freshmen to their classmates.

An earlier Smoker would offer other advantages. With a genuine social function, the Smoker would be more than an excuse for a riot, which it often becomes in the confidence of February. Also, an evening of organized entertainment would offer relief from placement tests, endless speeches, and programming problems.

By the Council's recommendation, the orientation Smoker would be under the direction of a committee appointed by the Crimson Key. The Council would then be playing its customary and valuable role as sponsor of functions early in the Freshman year. The Council should not, however, try to extend its services through the whole year, is it has done by proposing a full freshman social calendar along with the Smoker recommendation. Beyond the introductory weeks, the freshmen should be free to map out their own social schedule as their elected committees see fit.