Kent State University - Chestnut Burr Yearbook (Kent, OH)

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The transition to uni- versity life is a big step for most people. New faces, new places and a new lifestyle are just a part of what con- fronts freshmen when they come to KSU. Right Orientation in- structor Jack Podnar takes a break from Ori- entation activities with freshman Jill Sprun- gef. Below Rhonda Metzger, a freshman education major, puz- zles over her schedule at Registration. Orientation Photos by Jim Fossett Making your room a home away from home Is a challenge, but the rewards once you ' ve finished are worth the eHort. 27

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Orientation Week is hectic for everyone — students, advisors, and campus employees alil e. It ' s the time for students to get used to new rooms and new roommates. A time to pore over the campus map again and again, memorizing all the buildings. It ' s the time when the high school senior becomes the college freshman. During Orientation Week, freshmen students learn all the fundamentals for surviving at KSU. Through assigned groups, each with their own faculty advisor, they are taught how to decipher registration forms, instructed which classes to take and which teachers to avoid, and given the campus tour no less than fifteen times. Recreational activities are also part of Orientation Week. Each student group is assigned a time in which they partici- pate in group sports. The City of Kent becomes part of the act with its annual sidewalk sale involving area merchants. As for nightlife, the Rathskeller probably gets more busi- ness during Orientation Week than any other time of year. The pizza delivery people run themselves ragged filling the orders of ravenous freshmen to whom cheap, cardboard-like pizza is a novelty. And Downtown, at least for those of legal age, becomes a nightly visiting spot. Scheduling classes is one of the more trying aspects of Orientation Week. Freshmen are presented with a catalog, schedule book, and a foreign-looking computer form. Given this, they attempt to construct a schedule that fulfills all o f their General Education Requirements, puts them at junior standing and lets them sleep in until noon every day; an admirable, yet somewhat unrealistic goal. But after the scheduling hassles are over and students have spent their every last cent on junk food and alcohol, most everyone settles down and prepares for the onslaught of upperclassmen. Soon the campus will be crawling with people of all ages and backgrounds. Another year has be- gun! ■ Laura Buterbaugh

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Dorm Life Pictures, above and upper right, by Jim Fossett College lifestyles offer the best of times and the worst of times — late night chats, late night spats, friends for life and social strife. On- and off-campus living, say stu- dents who have experienced both, sup- plies all of the above and quite a bit more. I wanted a place of my own, privacy, responsibility, no quiet hours, no RAs and real food is the consensus of students who chose to leave the dorms after their required two-year stay. Sue Stepanic, senior bio-chem major and resident of Glen Morris Apartments, said the greatest problem in the dorms was the lack of privacy. I needed time to be alone, and in a dorm room there is no place to go except your top bunk or a bath- room stall. In an apartment, there are at least three other rooms that might be emp- ty and can be called ' home. ' Manchester Resident Adviser (RA) Tony Siekman said the major complaint of dorm dwellers is abiding by the policies, fol- lowed closely by noise level restraints. Senior public relations major Eric Vaughn spent two years in McSweeney Hall, where most partying was reserved for weekends. He said it was relatively qui- et until Residence Services experimented with putting rowdies there to control their unruly behavior. Dorm life can also mean a no-win battle against clutter and mess. Mary Beth Ra- dik, a senior bio-chem major, said, It ' s bad enough that three or four girls and all 28