Remembering being the parent of a first-year (now a fourth-year) and at the time I gave pause to why mine subdivided from the onset - I can now reflect and say the values that brought her to The University of Chicago were the same that supported her independence. These values are why the college attracts (like velcro) students who value ideas, who seek a place to establish their voice. They do arrive insecure but they leave with a sense of self.

Hey, don't diss on us shut-in internet surfers.

Totally OT, sorry, but what is the attraction of the quarter system? Compared to semesters it has 50% more overhead in registration, submtting grades, etc., and the cost of missing time seems higher also.

What are the offsetting benefits?

Hey, if we never shut ourselves indoors in pajama's, we'd never come across YOUR site! ;-)

Professor Andrew Abbott defends the quarter system here.

Bernard,

Finals before Christmas.

Shorter, more intense courses. Harder to procrastenate.

More total courses taken, if you wish.

Gives academics something to debate.

Cute post, well-observed. But please, don't feel you have to do the heavy lifting for trademark lawyers by attaching the litle R to the word Velcro. You're confusing the world of commerce with the world of letters.

Back in the day, when fresh-people were called 'shmen, we used to use the name 'shmobs for what you're calling a "Velcro Pack."

It's all very cute, I suppose.

I vaguely remember shambling about in my first year pack because:

1. the O-aides told us to do it
2. nobody had a map
3. usually there was an o-aide in the pack who knew where Ryerson was and could explain how to enter Crear and more importantly navigate the intricate stairwells of pierce
4. most of us had never been in a big city and since the o-aide presentation at the begining of the program laid out the critical importance of not crossing certain physical boundaries, I suppose we were all a little freaked out by the idea of getting lost.

once we became comfortable with hyde park (or at least the campus grounds) then we slowly merged with the population of lassiez-faire second, third, and fourth years. If the pack disappeared it had more to do with the pace of classes (who has time to shamble about like zombies when you're late for lab?) then our inability to socialize and sudden dislike of dorm mates.

c.
who remember traveling exactly one place with her roommate - the Aims of Education address.

I find groups of international students even funnier. Being a foreigner myself, however, I got to appreciate this phenomenon at the beginning of my first semester at PennState. The campus is huge (compared to where I went for undergrad) and spotting packs of Asian kids made finding my way around much much easier!