Tufts University - Jumbo Yearbook (Medford, MA)

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We have examined the courses offered here and ft und them good. Of the L. A. stud- ents, S4 percent were well satis- fied with the variety of cur- riculum. Three quarters of the Jacksonites and 63 percent of the Engineers were satisfied in this respect also. We found a very similar breakdown regard- ing satisfaction with the quality of the courses themselves where 57 percent of Liberal Arts, 66 percent of the Engineers and 59 percent of Jackson expressed positive reactions. Most of us found quite a bit of intellectual stimulation from the courses we took, which after all is one of the most im- portant requirements of a good education. Three-fouiths of the Tufts men, 68 percent of Jack- son and 70 percent of the En- gineers were stimulated to in- dependent thinking by their courses. We voiced a mild criticism of teaching methods though. 70 percent of L. A., 80 percent of Jackson and three-quarters of the Engineers found the tech- niques fairly satisfactory. About 10 percent of all the re- spondents were only very little satisfied with the classroom methods. The root of this can perhaps be found in the com- ments about the lack of stud- ent participation in the classes. s N 3 Less than half the students were even quite content With this and 29 percent of the L. A. re- spondents and 28 percent from Jackson were very little or not at all satisfied with the amount of participation. The Engineers did not express as much dis- content. Only 13 percent were very little satisfied and none were not at all. Where the faculty itself is concerned the large majority of our class has been well satisfied. 69 percent of Liberal Arts, 70 percent of Jackson and 81 per- cent of the Engineers rated the faculty for the most part as very capable. Generally also, the personal contacts we made with our professors served as a satisfying source of intellectual stimulation. 84 percent of the L. A. respondents, 83 percent at Jackson and 76 percent of the Engineers found this to be so. Viewing the academic pic- ture as objectively as we can, our class is proud of our alma mater and very much satisfied with her scholastic reputation. The Engineers boast the loud- est here, 97 percent being well satisfied. 77 percent of the L. A. men and 82 percent of Jack- son are likewise satisfied with the place Tufts has earned in the academic world. T is evident to all of us as we approach graduation that though important, the scholastic aspects of Tufts do not tell the whole story of our college education. The people we met at Tufts - in classes, dormitories, extra- curricular activities - on dates - had a vital influence on us and we gained much from most of them. In rating the contacts we made outside of classes, 82 per- cent of the L. A. respondents, 95 percent of the Jacksonites and three-quarters of the En- gineers expressed a high degree of satisfaction. Any discussion of dorm life must of course take into ac- count those of our class who lived off-hill, which encom- passes 45 percent of the L. A. respondents, 22 percent of those from Jackson and 71 percent of the Engineers, or a total number of 140 students. Those who did live in dormitories gen- erally liked them, Jackson be- ing the most satisfied with 83 percent very contented. The extra-curricular pro- gram, which offered us an in- finite variety of activities, was also rated highly by 53 percent of Liberal Arts, 63 percent of Jackson and 47 percent of the Engineers. 32 percent of the L. A. respondents, 42 percent of Jackson and 30 percent of the Engineers found some intel- lectual stimulation in these acti- vities, which small percent- ages indicate that our interest in extra-curricular life was largely a social and relaxation- seeking one. School spirit however was not considered very high. Only a quarter of the class rates it as good, while the wide majority vary in their opinions of it within a range of not at all to somewhat satisfactory. Dating opportunities in ret- rospect were on the positive side. 72 percent of the L. A. students and 91 percent of the Jackson respondents were Well satisfied. From the 31 percent who did not know, it appears that the Engineers did not date as much from the Hill, though a third of them expressed satis- faction with social possibilities on campus. An all over feeling indicates that quite a bit of intellectual stimulation was provided by our contact with other students. 60 percent of Liberal Arts, 77

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I By Lois Epstein UR final registration day was one we had looked forward to since the close of that first hectic rush in Sep- tember, 1951. W'e were anx- ious to answer yes to Do you expect to graduate at the end of this semester? -- anx- ious to put the finishing touches to the portrait of us as college students. But we were startled a bit in an unexpected way when we suddenly were made very conscious of ourselves, of what we looked like, what we thought and felt, and of how four years at Tufts had af- fected us, really. We were asked to write all this down, to make a scale of our ideas and impressions. We were searching for an average opinion, knowing this to be an unreality of statistics, yet we could see that some basic points of agreement, some col- lective tastes and attitudes did exist. Three hundred seventeen of us answered a questionnaire -and wondered - are we aver- age?', HEN we first came to Tufts we were filled with expectations and ideas concerning all phases of our coming collegiate years. Some of us looked forward to a whirl- ing social life, to showing off our athletic prowess, to making lots of friends or being leaders in the extra-curricular life - and some of us even wanted to improve our minds. But whether scbolasticisni came first in our goals or was just a necessary evil that en- abled us to remain in this won- derful world called college, we all had to choose a major field of study. Looking at our class now we find a very thorough division into almost every de- partment of the school. Of those who replied to the poll, one-third of the Liberal Arts students majored in Gov- ernment or Economics and a quarter in Bio-Chemistry. 20 percent of the Jackson girls of '55 majored in Sociology and the English department claimed 17 percent. 10 percent chose Government and the same number went into Biology. Among the Engineers, 35 per- cent followed Mechanical and an equal number selected Elec- trical Engineering. One quar- ter of those interviewed were Civil Engineers and we claim one Chemical Engineer. In view of the present oc- cupational plans of our class, which will be discussed further, it is interesting that only 1 percent of the Liberal Arts students and 5 percent of Jack- son majored in Education. Whatever our field it appears that we chose well: S2 percent of the L. A. respondents, 62 percent of Jackson and 72 per- cent of the Engineers inter- viewed have been very much satisfied with their choice of major. This satisfaction seems to be correlated with the ex- tent to which our majors have contributed to our broad, gen- eral education. Between 75 and 80 percent of both the Liberal Arts and jackson respondents were quite a bit or very much satisfied in this respect as were some 65 percent of the Engineers. Some dissatisfaction on the part of the Engineers was ex- pressed in that there was not room enough for Liberal Arts electives. Within the field of Engineering itself however it is felt that an excellent back- ground in all fields was given. In line with this we find that nearly 90 percent of the En- gineers feel their training has adequately prepared them for a vocation. This feeling is some- what less among the other sen- iors however, where 29 per- cent of the L. A. respondents feel very much prepared for a vocation and 34 percent quite a bit so. These percentages are similar among the Jacksonites. 30 percent consider themselves very well prepared vocation- wise, 35 percent quite a bit. It should be noted here however, that many of us did not choose our majors as backgrounds for a future job, but rather for gaining a good liberal educa- tion, and in that respect we have been well satisfied. UR major field itself is but one of the many things involved in our academic life at Tufts. Cur class did very well schol- astically. We can boast 83 scholarship recipients of those interviewed: 25 percent from Liberal Arts and Jackson each, and 31 percent from the Engineers.

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V percent of Jackson and 54 per- cent of the Engineers found this to be true. Getting to know the faculty was another factor of our ed- ucation. 63 percent of the En- gineers found this easier to do than did the L. A. men Where half found faculty fairly easy to meet on a personal basis, or the Jacksonites, only 37 per- cent of Whom felt the faculty were at all easy to get acquaint-- ed with. More of the Engineers too, 71 percent, were satisfied with the number of faculty acquaintances they were able to make, while of the L. A. men 54 percent got to know a satis- factory number of their pro- fessors, and at Jackson 47 per- cent of the respondents were satisfied with the number of faculty contacts they made. RATERNITIES and S0- rorities were, for many of the class of '55, a major aspect of college life. A total of 133 of the respondents to the poll, 43 percent of Liberal Arts, 43 percent of Jackson and 23 per- cent of the Engineers, belonged to the thirteen Greek letter or- ganizations at Tufts. The prevalent feeling of all the students though is that these societies are not at all important for an adequate and enjoyable collegiate life. 23 percent of the L. A. men, 38 percent of the Jackson respondents and 32 percent of the Engineers in- clined to this point of view, while 30 percent of the L. A. respondents, 13 percent of the Jacksonites and 10 percent of the Engineers feel they are very important. We find a similar distribu- tion regarding membership in fraternities and sororities as contributing forces to personal maturity, though these per- centages are tempered by the non-members who do not know about this aspect. 16 per- cent of the L. A. men, 23 per- cent of the Engineers and 27 percent of the Jacksonites said that fraternity did not at all add to their maturity. On the other hand, 24 percent of the L. A. men, 8 percent of the Engineers and 13 percent of Jackson felt that membership in these groups did contribute very much to their growing-up process. Considering the contribu- tions of fraternities and sorori- ties on a larger scale, 617i of L. A. respondents, 5475 of the Engineers and half of those from Jackson feel they aid school activities and spirit. The much discussed question of the justness and unjustness of fraternities and sororities arises, and there is a general point of agreement in our class that these societies as presently constituted are very little if at all detrimental to collegiate life. S975 of Liberal Arts, 547' of the Engineers and 72 CW of Jack- son responded in this way. HE backwards glance at our college life has seen some of the external influences on the class of '55. But throughout those four years we have developed internally as in- dividuals and many changes in our outlook and opinions have taken place. The problem of maturity confronts us all our lives and perhaps the biggest advance toward it which we will ever make occurred in the time we spent at Tufts. Reading has in general made quite a large contribution to our personal maturity. 59? of the L. A. respondents and 74W of those at Jackson were in- fluenced by the books they ab- sorbed. The Engineers were somewhat less affected in this way, only 36W of them found reading contributing to matu- rity, but this is probably due to the type of curriculm and the lack of emphasis on reading. The majority of all students, 69? of Liberal Arts, 73122 of the Engineers and 74? of Jackson found in their courses a large contribution to matu- rity. Administrative rules have left something to be desired ac- cording to our class, of which 59W of Liberal Arts, 6072 of the Engineers and 77? of Jack- son rated them as contributing very little or not at all to matu- rity. The general attitude here stems from the fact that not enough responsibility is given to the students. Keeping the number of off- hillers in mind, we find that a good percentage, one-third of Liberal Arts, 19W of the Engineers and 70? of the Jacksonites, are Well pleased with the effect dorm living had on our personal development. It appears also that not only do fewer Jacksonites live off hill, probably because more men are allowed to live in boarding ff N.: wp v, ,,n xii... ,P ' vyik .. . J . ki X i s