Caltech's academic environment is so rigorous that it can be a shock to many Frosh. It was to me. In this high-pressure environment, it is far too easy to slide down the slippery slope to trolldom. During Rotation in 1980 I stayed in Fleming House, room 8-1/2 (the only triple) with Brian Dunkeld, who was a senior and president of the house. He impressed me the the necessity of retaining a sense of outside-world normality, both to avoid social alienation, and to better prepare myself for what happens after graduation. When I saw my first homework assignment and said that *I can't do it,* Brian gave me some very good advice on how to cope with it-perseverence and not getting stressed about it. I am grateful that I was offered membership in Fleming House, and remained there until 1984 (I graduated in 1986 after moving back to Saint Louis, Missouri and eventually geting my Caltech BS degree in Physics after transfering some credits from Washington University).
Recent history has not been kind to most Caltech students. I recall looking at old yearbooks kept in the Fleming House library: back until about 1968, Caltech had a dress code, and its graduates were considered prime husband material for the young ladies in the area. But by 1971, the 'nerd culture' took over, and the de facto dress code has not changed since then. Just compare photos from 1975 with 2005 and you may find it difficult distinguish them! I doubt that you can say that the new culture produces better graduates than the old; on the contrary, the older students seemed to have far more self-discipline, and probably had far less dependence on drugs. Also, they had a much easier time getting a date.
I consider Fleming House to be something of a life saver for me. Although I was at first disappointed by the House's seemingly anti-intellectual environment, I later saw the wisdom it in. I could not be a jock, due to my nerdy bad eyesight, but I did appreciate the social aspect of the House, as well as its emphasis on normality and its outside-world viewpoint. Upperclassmen constantly and explicity prevented us Frosh from descending into inward-looking, antisocial trolldom, through the liberal use of the phrase, "Stop blazing, dammit!", and through the prudent use of showering. Parts of the initiation rites of the House were explicitly designed to create class unity and to identify natural leaders in the Frosh class: the upperclassmen would have us do ridiculous tasks until the leaders among the Frosh would finally have enough of that nonsense and confront the upperclassmen. As it turned out, the upperclassmen were very pleased that we did this. Fleming House encouraged House, class, and Caltech solidarity, and traditionally granted everyone on campus social membership in the House. I was not at all socially isolated as a member of Fleming House, and had a wide variety of friends, which is what made life there bearable. No matter what trouble I was having, I always got support from my fellow Flems. And despite the formal rivalry with Page House, we had many friends from across the Olive Walk.
I cannot imagine the dreariness of big-school dorm life, where you are just an assigned room number, and where you have no natural loyalties or institutional bonds.
Caltech students are often criticized for lack of socialization. The political Left complains that the students are not involved in social justice, and the political Right complains that the students are irreligious and ungroomed. I found that Fleming House members were more involved in the wider social world than the average members of other Houses, and I found that quite refreshing.
Yes, Fleming House is unpopular with the other Houses, but we thought that the other Houses were making a mistake for letting their members slide into obscurity, becoming hermits without first experiencing an active community life. Flems generally didn't consider members of other Houses to be anathema, be they Darbs, Moles, Scurves, Lloydies, Pageboys, or Rudds. I never, ever
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Caltech's academic environment is so rigorous that it can be a shock to many Frosh. It was to me. In this high-pressure environment, it is far too easy to slide down the slippery slope to trolldom. During Rotation in 1980 I stayed in Fleming House, room 8-1/2 (the only triple) with Brian Dunkeld, who was a senior and president of the house. He impressed me the the necessity of retaining a sense of outside-world normality, both to avoid social alienation, and to better prepare myself for what happens after graduation. When I saw my first homework assignment and said that *I can't do it,* Brian gave me some very good advice on how to cope with it-perseverence and not getting stressed about it. I am grateful that I was offered membership in Fleming House, and remained there until 1984 (I graduated in 1986 after moving back to Saint Louis, Missouri and eventually geting my Caltech BS degree in Physics after transfering some credits from Washington University).
Recent history has not been kind to most Caltech students. I recall looking at old yearbooks kept in the Fleming House library: back until about 1968, Caltech had a dress code, and its graduates were considered prime husband material for the young ladies in the area. But by 1971, the 'nerd culture' took over, and the de facto dress code has not changed since then. Just compare photos from 1975 with 2005 and you may find it difficult distinguish them! I doubt that you can say that the new culture produces better graduates than the old; on the contrary, the older students seemed to have far more self-discipline, and probably had far less dependence on drugs. Also, they had a much easier time getting a date.
I consider Fleming House to be something of a life saver for me. Although I was at first disappointed by the House's seemingly anti-intellectual environment, I later saw the wisdom it in. I could not be a jock, due to my nerdy bad eyesight, but I did appreciate the social aspect of the House, as well as its emphasis on normality and its outside-world viewpoint. Upperclassmen constantly and explicity prevented us Frosh from descending into inward-looking, antisocial trolldom, through the liberal use of the phrase, "Stop blazing, dammit!", and through the prudent use of showering. Parts of the initiation rites of the House were explicitly designed to create class unity and to identify natural leaders in the Frosh class: the upperclassmen would have us do ridiculous tasks until the leaders among the Frosh would finally have enough of that nonsense and confront the upperclassmen. As it turned out, the upperclassmen were very pleased that we did this. Fleming House encouraged House, class, and Caltech solidarity, and traditionally granted everyone on campus social membership in the House. I was not at all socially isolated as a member of Fleming House, and had a wide variety of friends, which is what made life there bearable. No matter what trouble I was having, I always got support from my fellow Flems. And despite the formal rivalry with Page House, we had many friends from across the Olive Walk.
I cannot imagine the dreariness of big-school dorm life, where you are just an assigned room number, and where you have no natural loyalties or institutional bonds.
Caltech students are often criticized for lack of socialization. The political Left complains that the students are not involved in social justice, and the political Right complains that the students are irreligious and ungroomed. I found that Fleming House members were more involved in the wider social world than the average members of other Houses, and I found that quite refreshing.
Yes, Fleming House is unpopular with the other Houses, but we thought that the other Houses were making a mistake for letting their members slide into obscurity, becoming hermits without first experiencing an active community life. Flems generally didn't consider members of other Houses to be anathema, be they Darbs, Moles, Scurves, Lloydies, Pageboys, or Rudds. I never, ever