By BROCK AKERS

Freshmen ‑ now there's a colorful word. One which throws both fear and contempt into the hearts of upperclassmen in PAR, Commons, or whatever term is being used this week. Freshmen now occupy PAR every period, and their presence has been felt, hard.

Reports from various sources who wish to remain anonymous indicate that underclassmen, particularly at the freshman level, jump, hop, run, yell, and generally partake in childishly obnoxious activities never before seen or expected in a high school such as Maine West with a traditionally mature population.

The problem has been in the making since last September when the new study hail procedure was inaugurated. The new procedure gives freshmen and sophomores the opportunity to spend their free periods in PAR providing they have spent one full period in a study. But since its initiation, the procedure has not lived up to its expectations.

The word "PAR" derived from the term "Privileges Accentuate Responsibility." That axiom held true in the past when upperclassmen were singled out for those privileges; but with the masses occupying the commons, it no longer holds up.

The Class of '76 has more cuts, drops, and failures than any other class and more than any other freshman class in the past. The sophomore honor roll has lost better than a fourth of their members of the previous year.

One must look for an answer which would account for this sudden change in events. That answer could very well be that the freshmen and sophomores are no longer sitting in study halls staring at the walls but are in murmur study halls and PAR climbing the walls. Obviously privileges do not always accentuate responsibility.

Seniors were once the "cream of the crop," the revered and respected entity who expected to be called "sir" and who dented a few heads if they didn't get it.

But that age has passed. The freshman of today is dumber, more arrogant, and a bigger rabble‑rouser than his counterpart of yesteryear. He has proven himself unfit for not only PAR, but for murmur study halls, another new policy, and one which will be discarded by next year.

Student Council, working on open campus last year, was instrumental in the institution of the present study hall procedure. It seems almost ironic that the organization which worked so hard to secure the underclassmen PAR privileges is now recommending that they be taken away.

The time has come for a realistic approach to student rights and responsibilities, and that is what Student Council has done.