Yale to combine frosh orientation workshops

In an effort to consolidate information and encourage greater attendance, the Yale College Dean's Office recently decided to unify the freshman orientation programs into one workshop.

In the past, orientation consisted of a one-hour program run by student AIDS educators, and an additional one-hour program entitled "After the Party," organized by Consent, a student group promoting sexual assault awareness, and the Drug and Alcohol Education group. But for the incoming class of 2002, all the information will be covered in one all-inclusive program that will last a little over an hour.

Dean of Student Affairs Betty Trachtenberg said she supported combining the presentations because the issues that they address are inter-related. "If you get a drink, you're open to sexual assault," Trachtenberg said. "If you're open to sexual assault, you're open to STDs."

The heads of the three groups, with the aid of the Dean's Office, are currently writing the new curriculum. By combining the programs, the organizers hope to condense the information and cover it in a more comprehensive and efficient manner.

Elizabeth Arleo, TC '99, co-coordinator of the Student AIDS education program, believes that the decision will benefit both incoming freshmen and the present AIDS educators.

"We're very excited about this change because we think it's pioneering the ideas of peer education," Arleo said. "We address things better if we address them together."

Arleo said the programs were also combined because incoming freshmen possess more knowledge about AIDS, drugs, alcohol and sexual assault than students did in previous years. "In response to the evaluations of last year, it seems that things can be shortened," Arleo said. However, the AIDS educators believe students still need to learn how to effectively practice what they've been presented. "We want to bridge the gap between knowledge and practice," Arleo said.

The new program will not affect the Yale Police Department's safety presentation, and will be run by the AIDS Educators, which presently has approximately forty members. Educators must undergo a weekend of training from instructors at Yale-New Haven Hospital and Yale-New Haven Health services. After becoming educators, students must continue to attend weekly meetings addressing topics related to AIDS education. Two students from Consent and one from Drug and Alcohol Awareness have already begun training in order to become AIDS educators.

Naomi Walcott, SY '99, a Consent coordinator and secretary of Safety Net, a coalition of peer education and counseling groups on campus, hopes that all necessary information will be covered in the limited time span. "Consent is most concerned that frosh hear about sexual assault and are aware that help is available if they need it," she said. "Consent is doing what it can to ensure that sexual assault is not downplayed in the shortened talks, but the Dean's Office has the final say about what the talks will be like."

Arleo said the new program will still involve hands-on demonstrations involving condoms and small-group participation. She said she thinks that combinding the programs will increase freshman attendance. "The concern [is] that, after the first week, the word `mandatory' means nothing," Arleo said. "We want to get this information to them as soon as possible."

Further, Trachtenberg said she does not expect the breadth of the programs to be affected because freshmen will continue to receive information throughout the year. Trachtenberg said that the groups "hope to have ongoing sessions over the course of the year."

Students said they thought certain parts of the programs provided valuable information for freshmen. Andrew Winton, JE '01, commented, "The STD program was the one that people really needed to hear."

Freshmen supported the idea of a shorter, more efficient program. Lauren Popper, ES '01, said the programs took too much time out of her already hectic schedule. "I had to take health class in my public school since fourth grade," she said. "Sitting through a few movies and having a chat with my freshman counselor while I was trying to move all my stuff in, meet a hundred new people, including the ones I would be living with, and decide what I wanted to do with myself at college really didn't enlighten me much at all."

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