Harvard University - Red Book Yearbook (Cambridge, MA)

Page 15 text:

lfreslmmn Red Book 15 Lil' Abner Cll2,j, and Dick Tracy C82,l came next. 172, disavowcd any interest at all in such trite, trivial trash, and several ladies of the stage were named through a misintcrprctation of the term comic strip. There was a wide range of opinion on the choice of Man and Woman of 194-4. F. D. R.. was the favorite male, receiving 232, of the votes, against Stalinis l l2, and Eisenhower's 92,. From among the wo- men, Mrs. Roosevelt was selected by 262, of the Class, nosing out Claire Booth Luce C252,Q and .Ioan Berry 12029. Sundry other nominations went to Lillian Smith, Gravel Gertie, and .lohnis Other Wife, and one observing man suggested Faye limer- son. Frank Sinatra had the distinction of receiving three nominations as Man of the Year and three as Woman of the Year. While only 412, of the Class had phonographs in their rooms, 702, owned radios. Classical music Q3l2,l, popular music Q222,D, and comedy Ql72,D were the favorite types of programs. '48 men showed only a mild antipathy for mysteries and quiz programs, but 752, of them vehemently denounced soap operas. Cars and private telephones were practically non-existent, there being seven men with the former, and five with the latter., The Class as a whole was not mani- festly religious. 272, never attended church at all during their Freshman year, 292, went only once or twice. Moreover, most of the 152, who attended every week regularly went home for the weekends. With the transition from school to college, many of the men seemed to have dropped their athletic interests. Whereas 672, went out for a team in secondary school, only 302, tried for a Harvard squad. There was a wide variety of opinion as to the value of the College's athletic program. 542, thought it had been an excellent idea for everyone, 192, considered it beneficial but unnecessary, and a bitter 2-L2, labeled it an utterly worthless waste of time. One man called it a farce, completely inclfee- tive and taken much too seriously. - The Class, however, was not unmindful of its physique, for 572, thought that compul- sory athletics should be continued after the war. ' The question regarding the advisa- bility of cheating on exams brought inter- esting results. 332, considered it immoral, 582, thought it unwise, and 92, felt that it was all right if you didn't get caught. Correlation with group rank shows that What is your favorite magazine? cheating seemed most permissible to Groups 1811 fl.72,j and Groups VI 85 VII Cl52,D. Moral rigor seems to increase we pass from both extremes of the rank list toward the middle, with Group IV having the highest proportion C492,D of Puritans and and lowest proportion C22,j of opportun- ists. Quite a number of men thought cheating showed weak character and poor upbringing, while one gave it a forthright highly commendable. One Dean's-list man sought a moral compromise: Cheat- ing should not be done, but should be kept in mind as a last resort.

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14- 19 .4 6' II a r 41' a. r cl The question, Do you feel that eventually cap- italism will he replaced lay socialism or eommunism? lxrought very close results. 4694, answered yes, 4521- no, and WZ, were undecided. Sev- eral exelaimed, 'ttlod forbid! and one man vehemently wrote, What the hell do you think has been happening in the past twelve years? The study habits ot' '48 men showed that eollege is still primarily a plaee ot' sehol- arship. The average time spent studying each day, ext-luding elasses and laboratories, was 4-I6 hours, although IUZ, spent under 2, and l0'Z, over Ii. In eorrelatingthis question with group rank, there is the expected de- erease in study time with deerease in rank, Groups I X II averaging 5:lj-hours, Groups VI N VII 35 hours. One man on proba- tion eonfessed that the amount ol' time he spent was too little, too late. In regard to the spare time '48 men had eaeh day, the Illass averaged about IZLQ hours, although 2224, had less than 2, Do you have a private telephone? What aspect of college has done the most for you? and l3'Z, more than 5. Here again there was a correlation with group rank, men on Dean's list having about 2M hours per day, men in Groups V, VI, and VII almost 4 hours. Eighty per cent of the Class pre- ferred to study in their own rooms, 1691, in the library. One amazing student claimed he used a tahle in Hayes Biekford. In listing their three favorite maga- zines, '48 men overwhelmingly supported the Iiuee publications, either Time or Life appearing on 92'Z, of the polls. Life 782, Time MVK, New Yorker 392, lteader's Digest 27fZ, 2l'X, listed Esquire, and 12W the Atlantic illonlhly. The only other p1'ominent fa- vorites wero two weeklies, The Saturday Evening Post C23'Z,j and Collimds C9'Z,Q. A stalwart 0.2'Z, championed the Lampoon. In eontrast to this popularity of the magazines, ISSIZ, ot' the Class during the year read at the most four hooks in addi- tion to those assigned in courses, 30'Z, read none. However, there were excep- tions to this hihliophohia, and one student from South America read nine hooks in l'fnglish, eight in Spanish, and four in Ifreneh. Terry and the Pirates was far and away the most popular comic strip, favored hy 40W, of the Class. Barnaby t12fZ,D,

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LL-, The Class showed only one domi- nant are udice ol consecuence and that - 3 was against Communism C32'Z,D. All its other hiases merely arose from the local environment: Liberal Union -l-I-'Zh Bos- tonians lI'Z, Yale men WZ, The question, On :L desert island would you least prefer llouse food, :L ltad- cliffe girl, or l 'i1,'1f Ifmrls of lVl t1tILfj?H. showed that JLUZ, ol' the Class had strongest :Lntipathy for lfim' Kinrls of lVl'flfll,fj, al- though liittltillliliit girls C25',IQ,J appeared to he more palatalmle than llouse l'ood t3l'X,l. Sixty per cent ol' the Class were smokers, 3!J'Qf, preferiug cigarettes, HSM, pipes, and 5'K, cigars. lt is interesting to note that while INSQQ, of the Dean's-list men smoked nothing at all, only 25'j4,, ol' the men in the other Groups abstained. ln How much outside reading do you do? I fl .4 8 ll II r li fl, r regard to liquor, 32fZ, ol' the Class were teetotalers, I VZ, drank only heer, and 57'Z, preferred the stronger varieties. Ol' those who did indulge, although 23'Z, took no more than a discreet monthly dose, QW partook every day or so, and 58'Z, when- ever they could get it. Methods and modes ol' recreation proved an interesting topic. Women were far and away the favorite type of entertain- ment, 47'Z, ol' the Class naming them as their first choice, 2I'Z, as their second. One well-intentioned man, however, wrote, I regard women with more respect than to consider them as 'entertainment'l The movies came next, tlfifz, fi,-gt, qglmigq, 2QfZ, secondj, followed closely hy reading and musical concerts. One moralist made the crushing comment: The results of this question will undouhtedly he indicative ol' the depravity ol' the human race. Other favorite pastimes included square dancing, shooting craps, throwing the hull, and Henjoying my own spar- kling company. The Freshmen went to the movies on the average ahout once every two weeks, though l9'Z, went at least once a week, and l VZ, never went at all. The C'lass on the whole had little interest in the legitimate theater, for only MVK, went once a month or more, and 25'X, never went at all. These figures are not strictly ac- curate as many men ex- pressed their uncertainty as to the legitimacy ol' the Old Iloward. The appeal of the concert and opera was even more limited, only I-I-fl, attending more than once a month, 42'Z, not at all. One traditional Har-