Considering the Wellesley girl's relative isolation and dependence on female society, the Radcliffe girl has an incredible degree of freedom. Being in a city, she does not feel separated from the outside world. The concentrated female element of a girl's college is softened by the daily infiltration of Harvard students. For those wanting company, it is always available, but not omnipresent.

The Radcliffe girl can be, if she wants to, quite independent. She is treated as a mature adult from the moment she enters college to the day she leaves. Her first possession is a key to her dormitory, and she is on her honor to sign in the correct time whenever she returns after 10 p.m. She is allowed considerably more one o'clocks, too, than her Wellesley counterpart. If she happens not to like girls, even though living in a dormitory, she can return there only to sleep.

The Radcliffe girl does not have to go far away to pursue her interests. Everything she can possibly want is within easy reach. "Men aren't just things we date," one girl explained. "They aren't a special weekend treat, over and above temporary vacations from classes." Because of this omnipresence of the male, most Radclie girls regard blind dates with a certain degree of apprension and the more popular consider them distasteful. When confronted with an inescapable one, the Cliffedweller will usually suggest a first meeting over a cup of coffee on some weekday night, after she course is decided upon, the girl will probably play bridge in the dormitory smoker until 10, speculating with her friends as to whether the gentleman in question has two heads (Radcliffe is pessimistic, generally). Leaving with a parting word as "see you in an hour," she will whisk her blind date out of the dorm, taking him to some obscure restaurant like the Midget.

Exclusive Tastes

Annex girls, as a rule, rarely go to another college for a weekend. For the most part, they are content to stay at Harvard and cheer for the College football team, unless they are in a particularly foul humor or madly in love with some Yale student. Anyway, as one girl said, the average Cliffdweller is basically much too lazy to pack up and take off for a whole weekend. The so-called unfeminine aspects of Radcliffe girls--green book bags and Knee socks, for instance--are actually a defense mechanism against the strain of looking beautiful all the time for the Harvardman. Since both the Cambridge citizenry and the 'Cliffe administration frown on Bermuda shorts in class, girls achieve the same effect by neglecting to comb their haid or to put on lipstick. Actually this attitude has its benefits. A Harvard junior reported how shocked he was at first to have girls in his classes. Having graduated from Exeter, he used to rush to his Humanities 2 lectures in Sanders Theater for box seat, so that he could "survey the crop of girls from every angle." "For the first three weeks he learned little about the Odyssey. But after a while he sighed, the objects of his attention "found being beautiful a bore" and he started to listen to the lectures.

As much as Wellesley and Radcliffe girls differ in attire and attitude, they agree on the need for being alone at times with a date. At Wellesley there is no problem. This is one of the advantages of a rural campus. Among the favorite spots are the so-called "spoonholders." These are defined by the yellow booklet as "pavilions along the lake, so named because they hold 'sh--secret!) spooners."

The Radcliffe girl, however, is at a distinct disadvantage along these lines. Luckily, she can carry her independence to amazing extremes. As one girl commented, "we can be alone by extension, merely by mentally concentrating on whatever we are doing." This fact caused the following warning to be printed in the Radcliffe Red-book:

"Come Spring, Radcliffe moves out-doors. Those apple blossoms are lovely, the grass is great, but Radcliffe is not Coney Island. Either relaxing with with your date or studying out of doors, remember that other people might like to admire the view. And for your own sake, save amorous activities, etc., for a more secluded spot. You may want the world to know you're in love--but there must be a better way. Take it from there!"

Harvard Angle

With all their differences, it is no wonder these Colleges have strange opinions of each other.

One Wellesley girl typed Radcliffe students as "one-sided geniuses," while another put it more kindly, claiming they are "extreme individualists." In either case, it seems clear that although Wellesley girls might consider Harvard as the hypotenuse and Radcliffe as the other side of the triangle, they do not think that Annex girls are like them. The feeling is mutual. Such epithets as "glorified girl scouts" and typical all-around girls--"healthy, outdoorsy, and clean," have been applied by Radcliffe to Wellesley.

Both institutions feel they have a certain hold on Harvard. And they do, too. But the Harvardman has not yet lost the last vestiges of his independence. He can still decide for himself whether he prefers the urbanized sophistication of Radcliffe or the simple, rural charms of Wellesley. A decision should not be based on the convenience of the Annex, either. As one Wellesley girl pointed out, "We're used to riding the trolleys with Harvardmen.