Rochester Institute of Technology - Techmila / Ramikin Yearbook (Rochester, NY)

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MOVING From Riverknoll we walked past the infinite loop sculpture, past the Union, and then crossed the quarter mile to the dorms, The first day of student orientation was in progress and we were going to talk with some of the freshmen about their first impressions of RIT. Let's face it, arriving at a school with hundreds of strangers, who you will probably be spending four years with, is intimidating. Naturally, most of the freshmen were uneasy, and they expressed their anxiety in different ways. Some tried to hide unob- trusively and escape the melee, like the girl we saw sitting alone at a picnic table trying to read a novel. She dis- cussed photography, design and Avedon with us but seemed more con- cerned with holding her hands under the table. A few minutes later, she ner- vously put one hand on the table holding a large half-eaten candy bar, and then the other, holding a can of Fanta orange: she gave us an apologetic smile. While walking through the dorms that afternoon, we met a freshman whom we had seen staring wistfully over the campus from the sixth floor of NRH. He worriedly explained that because of a dry spell, the corn is still high back home.'' He had been raised on a farm in Canada and for the first time he was not at home for the har- vest. Until a few hours before we met him, he had been planning to major in Criminology. But both his roommates were intending to study mechanical engineering, and for the first time I realized 1 can study something other than farming or Criminology if I feel like it, he said. Another freshman was wearing a sleeveless work shirt with the name Clyde emblazoned in red and white script over the breast pocket. We stared at our reflections in his mirrorized aviator glasses while he ex- plained that he had spent the summer playing drums with a band from the Jersey shore; he also explained that his high school was just another brick city like RIT, but my friends at the school, they were very laid back. Another young lady, graced with voluminous breasts, was wearing very tight jeans and top. Earlier we had seen her unloading the family Buick with her parents, but when we asked her about her plans, she denied that she was going to attend RIT and explained that she was just up for the weekend visiting a Greek guy. We spotted another new arrival sitting alone in a dorm lounge wearing a sport coat and tie. He sat rigidly, star- ing straight ahead and ignored the music blaring into the lounge. When we started talking to him, he visibly relaxed. There were 26 people in my high school class, and only about 250 in the whole school, he said, This place is so big it makes you feel kinda weird, he went on, But I do like the view from my room — it's on the sixth floor. He told us that he had visited a lot of different schools but had decided on RIT finally because it’s the only school with a good engineering depart- ment that’s not too far from home. 5

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A WALKER

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REPORTER Most parents were as nervous as their sons and daughters: They either walked very close together, saying nothing and watching everything in- tently, or they got into arguments, agreeing with each other vehemently. We heard a husband say to his wife in a loud accusing voice, Why didn't we pack that old bar refrigerator in the back of the van, That was really stupid! We could have fit it right in there ' the husband said pointing to a very small area in the back of their van which was not filled with trunks and suitcases. His wife turned to him with her hands on her hips and fire in her eyes saying Yeah, that was really stupid of us! Now he's going to have to rent a refrigerator and we've got a perfectly good one sitting at home. As we continued through the parking lot, we heard them angrily agreeing with each other. After the cars were unloaded and the freshmen had a chance to savor their first meal at Grade's we walked back to the dorms. A convivial group of freshmen offered us beer as they sat playing pinochle in the lounge. Except for a lack of intimacy, they acted and sounded as if they were veterans of at least one winter in the dorms. They joked and cursed each other, and complained about the crowded rooms and the inefficient unloading of the cars. One pinochle player who had waited three hours to unload his car predicted, if these people handle everything so inefficiently, we're in trouble.” The evening after registration we decided to see how the freshmen were enjoying a production which had been billed as, a fun-filled day of fun events. These events included a showing of Fellini's Amarcord,” a dance band with a cash bar,, and folk singer. On the crowded dance floor in the Union cafeteria, we saw three guys dancing with a single girl who was try- ing to teach them the buss top; they weren't much good at it, but they didn't seem to care because they were having such a fine time. The mood on the dance floor was lighthearted and friendly, but the farther from the dance floor one ventured, the more people were on the make, trying to pick someone up, make a score. The bar was on the opposite side of the Union from the dance floor; we fought our way over to the long, crow- ded line leading to the bar. An angry young damsel asked if she could stand in line with us. She explained that she had gotten about half way through the line once when some great big guy came up behind me and started rubb- ing against me. At first I thought he was being pushed up against me or something. But when he started rubb- ing me that fourth time, I decided it wasn't an accident. What animals! Later, a different freshman girl was explaining I like this place all right, but I don't think my roommates like me too much because I didn't get back to the room 'til about three o'clock last night. I was pretty drunk I guess and I think I woke 'em up. On the other side of the Union a