Freshman foolery

Around campus this year, there is a new dynamic between new freshmen and seasoned, campus-savvy upperclassmen. After all the articles and press releases touting the Hoosier class of 2011 as the “smartest … incoming group in the University’s history,” there is a bit of resentment on the part of the sophomore, junior and senior classes toward those we might have previously thought of as “fresh meat.”\nLet me explain. While the University is not intentionally denigrating its elder students, each glorification of this particular group of frosh makes it seem that IU administrators are taking a stab at upperclassmen’s pride and undermining their capabilities as campus leaders. In fact, many students here make no secret of how sick they are of hearing about the Class of 2011. It’s sibling rivalry on the collegiate level. \nI have met several members of this new, overachieving breed of freshmen, and I’m not going to lie: They seem like decent enough people, although it is daunting to carry on a conversation with someone who spent a summer saving orphaned spotted-neck otters in Botswana at the tender age of 9.\nSo has IU given up on us and decided to start fresh with the Class of 2011? Remember, while considering this, that application and admission plans don’t change overnight. What attracted the freshmen here in the first place was not simply the admissions video; it was IU’s reputation, which we helped to build. \nWhat’s more, the powers-that-be in Bryan Hall only keep reminding us just how amazing the freshmen are. To a certain extent, we feel threatened by the incoming freshmen. But irrational as that seems, it’s simply human nature. Besides, it seems like every year, the freshmen receive a ridiculously generous set of perks on which we missed out. (“When I was your age, meal points didn’t even roll over!”)\nThis week, though, the administration delivered an even harsher blow to those of us who have moved several years beyond IFS, W131 and M119. In an attempt to bolster student attendance at Hoosier football games, the University gave each freshman a free ticket to the first game of the year, disregarding those of us who have spent years coughing up money that we really couldn’t afford to dish out - but did anyway – to cheer the Hoosiers on to losing seasons. While it makes sense to warm up the freshmen to IU athletics because they still have four years as potential student game attendees, doesn’t it make sense to encourage attendance on the part of us soon-to-be alumni as well?\nI do like this year’s crop of freshmen, and I think they have a lot of potential. In fact, I will even admit to having been a freshman at one point in my life (although it was probably several decades ago). All I ask, though, is that while cultivating this incredible new class of future movers and shakers, IU leaders don’t forget about the rest of the campus.