LETTER: Colleges not detrimental

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by Nate Blair

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To the editor:

This letter is in response to Amy McKay's argument that the college system limits social life at Rice.

She argues that by being placed into colleges as freshmen, "We are basically locked, from Orientation Week on, into the same set of 90 or so people for four years."

Wait a minute! First of all, I hope that McKay is not actually trying to say that the college system fosters divisions among classes, because the truth is completely the opposite.

By having a "college" of random students instead of "class" or "major" dormitories, students get to meet a greater number and variety of people.

Another complaint McKay has about the college system is "our business is everyone's business."

To this I say: In a school of only 2,600 undergraduates, even without a college system, everyone would know everyone else's business.

If it's anonymity you want, transfer to a big state school; or better yet, hide in your room and emerge only for meals and class like too many students here do.

The college system is not a detriment to people's social lives. If anything, it is an asset in that from O-Week, students have a core of 90 people they know which makes it easier to try to meet others across campus.

If you want to know people across campus, have more friends and have a satisfying social life, you have to put forth some effort.

This does not mean joining every club on campus or forsaking class to constantly party. Start by joining a student organization or one of the club teams.

Get a group of friends to eat lunch at a different college once a week. And it's fine to come and go to parties and Pub Nights with members of your college; just don't be afraid to talk to others while you're there.

Lastly, McKay complains of the "inconvenience of maintaining a friendship with someone at another college."

Who would want a friendship with anyone who is not even willing to stroll the 200 yards to see them or pick up a phone?

I believe the college system is Rice's greatest asset, and it is a shame to see it blamed for problems caused by poor social skills and lack of initiative.

Nate Blair

Jones '98

This item appeared in the Opinion section of the February 16, 1996 issue.

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