Orientation Camps

I have never participated in any orientation camp. And having heard enough horror stories about them, I am glad to have done so.

Passing food from mouth to mouth. Pole dance. Whipped cream forfeit. And the stupidest and lamest of all, push-ups over gals. Plain lewd, to quote the Forum. How can such games be fun, especially for the most conservative students.

I read that in the past, freshies were subject to humiliating treatment by their seniors such as "having their heads dunked in a toilet bowl" (?!). The trend has since shifted to a more sexual one. Why the humiliation? Why the intimate physical contact? Aren't orientation camps supposed to welcome freshmen into their school community?

I am like half a Taiwanese, so I can safely attest to the fact that even in liberal Taiwan, I seldom see such activities or events being organized in the universities. Exchange students are invited to tour different parts of Taiwan, eat and drink with their volunteer helpers, and attend bashes and parties at lounge bars and pubs. Little, if any, sexual implication in such a context. And yes, I have nothing against holding bashes and D&Ds, even though I don't go for them as well. Prom nights and social dinners would be nice too.

Final verdict: Orientation camps are childish and tasteless. Ragging ought to go to the rags.