Task Force Finds Freshmen in Yard Want More Parties

Freshmen living in the Yard want more casual parties and more contact with freshmen living at the Quadrangle Houses, a Freshperson Task Force Survey shows.

Results of a questionnaire compiled this week show that 73 per cent of the more than 70 freshmen polled think there is not enough informal social interaction in the Yard dorms.

Another 87.5 per cent of the Yard residents--men and women--favor small parties between dorms and picnics to establish a closer relationship with their classmates living at the Quad.

Few $4 Flings

Burris Young '55, acting dean of freshmen, said yesterday the only thing limiting social interaction in the Yard is money. "You can't have too many nice little parties on four bucks a head," Young said.

However, Young said freshmen had already begun to take the initiative themselves. "I don't want to push it," he said. "I would rather suggest and let people think within a big framework, defining their terms."

Young said that although proctors in the Yard dorms were always ready to help people who were trying to come to grips with "growing up, whatever that is, the proctors are not social directors either."

Richard W. Gula '71, senior adviser at Canaday Hall, said yesterday the role of the proctor was to help freshmen with "the exploration process which is time-consuming and anxiety-provoking."

Nanci A. Cooper '78 blamed feelings of anxiety on the "poor co-educational situation" in the dorms.

"During the first few weeks of school it was acceptable to go up and make an acquaintance," Cooper said yesterday, "but now people aren't so eager or so open."

"This is extremely hard for freshmen men," Cooper said. "The parties in Holworthy and the other male dorms always seem to be 99 per cent men. However, it's hard for women in the Yard, too. They have trouble meeting other women from outside their own dorm."

Sam Anderson '75, chairman of the Freshperson Task Force, confirmed Cooper's impression. "One of the things that surfaced from the questionnaire was that people in all male or all female dorms were the most unhappy," Anderson said Thursday.

Anderson added that another potential problem was the lack of contact between Yard freshmen and upperclassmen. "There should be a conscious effort to find people who are interested and willing to play some kind of role as upperclass advisers," Anderson said