*"The use of the Connecticut River for aquatic sports is prohibited at all times.

"Operating within the framework of the rules," one girl summarized, "the college leaves you no room to use your own discretion," The whole atmosphere of Mount Holyoke is a protective one which tries to mold each girl into The Image. Many girls cited instances of the college's big brother watchfulness. One told of an occasion when her boyfriend dropped into her dorm to visit her. Because he had been in his shirtsleeves, the head resident later took the girl aside and asked her whether her parents knew just what type of boy she was dating.

In many ways, Mount Holyoke's protectiveness has backfired. When a college has so many trivial regulations which can be broken without any qualms, it undercuts the significance of major rules. A teacher told a story which illustrates this point: "After a ten o'clock class, a girl came up to me and said she had just come from a martini party. Now, I have nothing against martinis-I think they're wonderful thing-but not at ten in the morning. It was just an obvious effort to break a rule for the sake of breaking a rule."

Another teacher asserted that the same attitude characterizes the administration's relations with the faculty. Mount Holyoke, he said, puts an exceedingly great stress on "good academic citizenship," and imposes a burden of trivial rules on the faculty.

Is it possible to cope with this atmosphere? Most girls say "yes," and appreciating the good aspects of Mount Holyoke, learn either to accept or to ignore its bad points. This teacher said no-"That's why I'm leaving at the end of the year."

The real misfortune of Mount Holyoke is not simply that many people at some time want to leave, but the caliber of people who do leave. Mount Holyoke is alienating the sophisticated, independent, and decisive students and faculty members, the very people who make an academic community exciting.