Yet, some departments claim to have moved with the times more than others. Back at Littauer, accross the lobby from Government, students agree that traditions have changed.
The Economics Department, which one history student says throws the best parties, has beer and wine mixers in September, a dance at Christmas, happy hours every two weeks, and tea-times every day.
Such a hopping social calender seems to build character--not to mention tolerance--says one Ec grad student.
"Graduate students are all very disciplined people, a few bottles of beer won't bring them down," says fifth-year grad Yijiang Wang.
And this skill improves with years, Wang says, adding, "the professors are better controlled than the graduate students."
But despite their restraint and cultivated sense of decorum, they go all out at Christmas, when Wang says the the economics lounge "looked like a discotheque."
Some Things Remain
Although the drinks may have changed, many grad students say the pressures are still there. For many, meeting professors and top scholars can be a tense experience.
Asked if he felt the pressure, Wang said, "sometimes, yes. When we are talking [to faculty members], something will be about economics and they can understand how well I understand the subject."
Indeed, if even the more casual socials set graduate students to worrying, some of the more traditional departments really scare the faint of heart.
As a second-year philosophy student, Bill F. Bristow says he feels a little anxious when the department's annual year-opener rolls around.
"I think it's pretty nerve-wracking," he says. "Meeting the profs is fairly angst-ridden. And you think it matters--it probably doesn't--just people think it does."
Unlike the grad students, Bristow says some professors seem right at home. "Once in a while a professor will sit down at the piano and sing," he says.
According to this second-year grad, Professor Warren D. Goldfarb takes this opportunity to try out his song-writing talents. He likes to compose and sing his own ballads about the department.
"They're modelled on Gilbert and Sullivan songs," Bristow says.