University of Pittsburgh - Owl Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

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orientation Streamlined registration FACIAL EXPRESSIONS at registration reflected the students' personal experiences. The many emotions displayed ranged from the carefree gay ness of a few, to indifference, disgust, and total confusion. A PAIN IN THE BACK was as always a very common complaint at registration. Trying to pick up the cards for those needed classes was one of the hardest parts of the day. Seldom did the schedule which looked so good at home remain the same by the time it was handed to the fee clerk. Registration, that dreaded but necessary day that marks the beginning of every college student’s new term, this year assumed part of the new look that is becoming so important at the University of Pittsburgh. True, the students met the age-old problems of coordinating the dream schedule worked out at home with the reality of the available class cards, and they still faced the avalanche of forms, requiring every type of information; but there was a brighter side. As students entered the Cathedral gym to sec the fee clerk, it was immediately evident that the infinitely long lines were things of the past. The reason for this phenomenon probably lies with the various changes that were made, which when combined, made registration, if not a pleasure, at least a less painful experience. For the first time the University provided a pre-registration of sophomores and freshmen. The physical layout was expanded to include not only the Syria Mosque and the Cathedral of Learning but also Soldiers and Sailors Memorial and Stephen Foster Memorial. Scholarships sponsored by the various schools were available in the school offices rather than a central location. Those factors decreased mass congestion in any one area, and the combination of these changes produced a more organized, less time-consuming day for prospective students. 22

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AS THE COUP DE GRACE, the jovial freshmen seized the struggling upperclass counselors and hurled them into the camp swimming pool. This happened, ironically, immediately upon the breaking up of the “Friendship Circle.” VOCIFEROUS UPPERCLASS COUNSELORS spent the weekend haranguing the men in their groups, leading cheers, whipping up spirit, and, in general, agitating competition between sections.

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still frays nerves PONDERING over class cards, insurance applications, census blanks, and the sundry other forms at registration, each student retreats into his own thoughts, oblivious of the confusion that surrounds him. CONFUSION at registration is the freshman’s first acquaintance with university red tape. Fortunately, there is always a wise, old upperclassman to lend some patriarchal advice in straightening out a confused schedule. FINALLY, at the end of registration, is the cashier, where the summer’s earnings are exchanged for the intangible—education