University of Texas - Cactus Yearbook

“" TUo A difference in attitudes and perceptions characterizes today ' s student as one with high expectations of success by KATHY GLOVER, UT News and Information Service " That was their college days, and they don ' t understand why students are so materialistic, why they are so career motivated, why they are so competitive, why they will do anything to get a grade, " he said. In fact, students had changed since the mid-to-late ' 70s, judging from differences in surveys taken in 1978 and 1983. More students were describing themselves as politically conservative, Hanson said, with almost one-third of the enter- ing class in 1983 saying they were conservative and one-fourth saying they were liberal. " They are more conservative in terms of sexual attitudes even compared to five years ago, " he said. " They are less like- ly to say that it is all right for two people to have sex if they like each other or that people should live together before they are married. " Today ' s students were less likely to agree that marijuana should be legalized, he said, since 70 percent of those surveyed said " no. " During the seminar for new faculty, Hanson said, he tried to emphasize the fact that students had changed. Also, he noted that most students had very high expecta- tions of success when they entered the University. " Over half of the entering freshmen come from the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class, " he said. " That means every other student in the class will have graduated in the top 10. " A small percentage of the students expected to fail a course, and less than 2 percent expected to ever drop out, yet records showed about 20 percent of the first-year students did. A rainy OU weekend in the Cotton Bowl greets members of the Longhom Band in Dallas. The game marked a negative turning point in the Horns ' football season, as rain plagued the team throughout the campaign. Photo by Doug Layton Openin g 5 ”