College Transition Initiative

Welcome to the blog of the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding’s (CPYU) College Transition Initiative (CTI). This site contains commentary on transitional issues, exploring research, trends and college student culture. For more information visit: www.cpyu.org.

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Location: Elizabethtown, PA, United States

The transition from high school to college is a difficult one, and yet, it is a transition that is often overlooked. This site is to help college bound students, parents, and youth workers stay up to date on the latest research and trends in regards to college transition. Your comments are greatly appreciated. Join the conversation!

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Hooking Up, Sexual Harassment, College First Year, and Ghosts

I have so much helpful stuff to pass along, I’m not sure where to start. I guess I’ll simply list them in the order in which they appear in the pile next to my desk (that pile that seems to grow and grow during the week… do you have one of those piles?).

The Ithacan, Ithaca College’s student newspaper, ran an article last Thursday (January 26) entitled, “Hooking up: An ambiguous intimate act that is changing the way today’s college students view sexuality.” The article is revealing and an important read if you are looking to get a handle on the sexual culture and climate of today’s college campuses. The article includes helpful statistics (78% of college students participate in “hooking up”) and offers student quotes as they look closer at the hooking up culture. The article opens with the following vignette:

“It starts with a casual conversation. Ben, who asked that his real name be withheld, may drop a hint, or receive one, as long as the connection is made. This could be a friend or new acquaintance, at a party or in the library. If all goes well, the rest is sexual history.

Naturally, he needs to be attracted to the person in question, but moreover, they both need to understand what a hook up entails.

“I kind of make sure they share my views on sex to some extent, that they know there is no emotional attachment in what we’re doing physically,” Ben said.

Ironically enough, on Wednesday of last week (January 25), The New York Times had an article with the title: “One in Four College Students Cite Unwanted Sexual Contact in Survey.” The article was relaying the findings of new research recently conducted by the American Association of University Women (AAUW). You can read The New York Times piece here (but you may need to be registered to view it) or you can read the results of the survey at AAUW’s website here. (You can read a related article from msnbc.com here.)

I must have gotten five emails last week about USA Today’s feature “In college, first year is by far the riskiest” (January 24). Would you believe that that was the only day last week that USA Today didn’t come to Walt’s house? Strange. But, of course, you can read it online here. It’s not any easy read, mind you. It deals with the reality that college freshman are vulnerable to “deaths on campus due to alcohol abuse and other causes.”

Did you know that “higher education fuels stronger belief in ghosts?” Don’t believe me? Read this.

May this quick overview of reading add to your own pile! Mine just got a little bit smaller!

2 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

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5:12 AM  
Blogger Eugene said...

I think that's a normal practice in colleges, so don't worry about that, I'm sure that on the second year you'll do similar things. Webdesign London

5:07 AM  

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