What, Geeks at M.I.T.? Not With This Class

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What, Geeks at M.I.T.? Not With This Class

February 6, 2001 By KENNETH CHANG

AMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 4 — In the men's room on the third floor of the M.I.T. student center on Friday, Dr. Travis Merritt, a professor of literature at M.I.T. and former dean of undergraduate academic affairs, was teaching 20 students how to clear their throats.

"There's a term for that," he said, demonstrating a spirited throat-clearing noise to his audience, three-quarters of them women. "Catarrh. Not guitar. C-A-T-A-R-R-H. That's something I learned to do from my father. He used to do it all the time. What do you do after you've cleared your throat and you don't have a Kleenex?"

"Eww," said one student.

"Run to the bathroom," suggested another.

Dr. Merritt's talk quizzed the students about their views on hangnails, toilet seats, earwax, spitting and other topics.

"Deans are very frank about hygiene," Nadjia Yousif, a freshman, said afterward. "We thought they were a little more reserved than that."

The bathroom tutorial was the oddest offering of the M.I.T. annual charm school, a one-day event that takes the institute's high-powered students out of their conventional academic pursuits for a few lessons on life away from the classroom.

Dr. Merritt, who started the charm school eight years ago, admits that the program's name plays off the stereotype of M.I.T. students as awkward geeks in need of social graces. And looking around, he did see room for improvement.

"The one thing that got me started on it was watching the M.I.T. students walk up and down the infinite corridor," he said, referring to long indoor hallway that connects most of M.I.T.'s buildings. Most of them were shuffling their feet without looking at the floor. "It's what I call the institute scuttle," he said.

Then, at a meeting of administrators, "Someone said, `Hey, why do M.I.T. students have to be so style deprived?' " recalled Dr. Merritt, then still dean. The result was charm school.

Dr. Merritt noted that there were plenty of students at other universities who were socially awkward. And some university administrators, including M.I.T.'s president, Charles M. Vest, worried that the charm school would reinforce the negative stereotype. Dr. Merritt's response was: "Chuck, give me a break. We've got to have some fun." He added, "The main thing about charm school, it has worked because we've managed to keep it silly."

Last fall, charm school was even mentioned in the university's official bulletin that describes programs and requirements. How it got there is a mystery.

"The bulletin was hacked this year by still unknown sources," said Katie O'Dair, assistant dean for student life programs and organizer of this year's program. "When it came out, we were doubled over with laughter. It is so M.I.T. to have such a program, and it is so M.I.T. for members of the community to hack an official publication to promote it."

(The added page on the "Charm `Requirement' " includes this note: "Transfer credits are not available in this program. While many come to M.I.T. having already learned these skills at home, everyone, regardless of age, has something to learn.")

The mini-classes each lasted between 15 minutes to half an hour. In one room at the M.I.T. student center, students learned to waltz and cha cha. In another, they obtained dating pointers in "Flirting 101." In the lounge area, on two tables jammed full with silverware, plates and goblets, they learned to eat soup by moving their spoons away from them.

Marjan Bolouri, a freshman, was one of the students awkwardly practicing the soup-eating motion. She was bewildered by the array of dining implements — two goblets, a plate, a saucer, soup bowl, three forks (including the shrimp fork), two spoons and two knives — in front of her. "Anything that's not pizza I don't know how to eat, really," she said.

Jordan Adler, a senior, sat in on "How to Tell Someone Something They'd Rather Not Hear."

"I went to the same class last year," he said. "I asked how to break up with my girlfriend. That was a useful one to have." This year he did not have any bad news to break to anyone, but he wanted a refresher.

At day's end, students picked up diplomas for a bachelor's, master's or Ph.D. in charm, depending on the number of courses attended.

About 1,000 students participated, and many appeared to enjoy the day. "I thought, wow a fun event at M.I.T, imagine that!" said Selam Daniel, a junior who handled the publicity this year. "Are you sure there's no math or science involved?"

Jenny Shu, a sophomore, said: "I think this is something everyone in Boston could use. Charm isn't only for nerds."

But not everyone was enchanted. "I don't think you can teach stuff like that," said Jon Jackson, a sophomore who was grabbing a pizza at the student center food court. "I don't think you need to go to school to behave properly. I think it's funny, personally."

Dr. Merritt said etiquette and manners have improved at M.I.T. in recent years, perhaps in part because the university, once heavily male, is approaching a equal mix of men and women.

But the charm school may have helped, too. "Now, thanks to charm school," he said, "it's all fixed."

-- Uncle Bob (unclb0b@aol.com), February 06, 2001

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The first thing we do, let's kill all the pocket-protecters.

-- (nemesis@awol.com), February 06, 2001.

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