Indiana University - Arbutus Yearbook (Bloomington, IN)

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To Belong . • • The patterns that are Indiana Uni- versity began to take shape— Each or those who had been here before knew where he belonged. Bohemians found bohemians and began to argue about Stravinsky, Picasso, and free love. Busi- ness students became interested in unions, kickbacks, and price policy. Politicians remained politicians and tried to get more to join their ranks. The new student scurried across the campus lost in a maze of twisting, dia- bolic paths. Scuttling from class he had to punctuate every few steps with Where? , Why? , and How? . Ques- tions, questions, questions. The answers to a great many ques- tions about the campus gradually slipped into place in his mind as if someone had shifted gears. The B E building wasn ' t hard to find. He and 956 other freshmen taking military courses knew that attendance was re- quired. Suddenly smooth, life followed the pace already set— hurry. His life was channeled into some- thing new to him. Yet, he adjusted as completely as possible. Soon this once- bewildered Freshman walked oblivi- ously along the same paths that he did not know at first. His respect for the machine— Indi- ana University— towering over him was shown in subtle, unspoken ways. He knew he belonged.

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Curiosity— both the result and cause of edu- cation. He arrived on campus with his curiosit} ' unchanneled. He scooped up stray scraps of information which he later sorted, keeping some, discarding others. He learned that Indiana was one of the earli- est universities to introduce military training, that it has a campus of 900 acres and 87,500 living alumni. But the fact that 10!? of his gov- ernment class would flunk or the girl he was dating had been seen in the Commons at 3:30 with another guy became much more important —for awhile. Part of his new position was an obligation to be blase. Worldl -wise at 18, he felt he must appear well-educated despite the fact he was just starting. His counterpart in the Women ' s Quad learned how to apply the sluff when she already had a date or didn ' t ca re to go out. She experimented with new make-up and new clothes. Hidden under his exterior were many ques- tions which he ' anted answers to, but dared not ask for fear of exDOsing himself. Inside he knew he had a lot to learn.

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Freslimen soon learn that they are expected to wear httle green pods. Fraternity pledges are told to wear these hats all during the first semes- ter. At first the pods are fairly decent looking. By the end of the semester, the hard wear begins to show and the pods have a ragged, shaggy look. Freshmen girls usually discard their pods after o.bout a week of school, although some upperclass women advocate a longer wearing period. Pod on head— cigarette in hand, the freshman boy begins to learn the ropes of campus life. He finds that Wednesday night dates are ex- pected, and Saturday night ones are a must. Fratemit ' pledges find their life cluttered with httle duties like making beds, shining shoes, and picking up after the brothers. Each year a few freshmen arm themselves with buckets of paint and brushes and proceed to the Freshman Walk. Here they proudly paint their class numerals on the walk, taking special care to cover up the numerals of the pre- ceding class.