OLD GOLD AND BLACK REPORTER
In much of the current debate about the intellectual and social atmosphere at the university, some students have complained that they haven't been consulted. The results of a Student Union survey hope to change that.
Most students who bought books from the campus bookstore Aug. 28 and 29 were asked by members of Student Union to complete a student activities survey as they waited in line. The results of the survey are in.
Senior Eric Williams, the public relations chair for Student Union, said that the idea for the survey has been in the works for two years. "I thought of this sophomore year, when I first joined Student Union," he said.
Williams said that he was working with four different SU committees at that time, which meant that he attended most of the SU activities that took place on campus. He said that he noticed that turnout at events varied.
So, he started asking his friends why they hadn't been interested in attending events. "I was curious about what students were interested in," Williams said.
"One of my friends said that students just want to be entertained at the end of a day. They don't want to have to think," he said.
Student Union put together a survey to find out what students wanted. The rationale for conducting it in the bookstore was that, since students would wait in line to pay for their books anyway, they might as well answer a few questions as they waited.
The survey, referred to by Williams as the "Will E. Report," received 1,571 responses, including 626 freshmen, 389 sophomores, 264 juniors, 251 seniors and 41 graduate students.
Williams said that the freshmen survey results tended to be indicative of how the other undergraduates responded.
"It looks like we're recruiting typical Wake Foresters from day one," he said.
For example, 69 percent of freshmen surveyed indicated that watching a movie would be their most likely extracurricular activity for a weekday night, while 73 percent of the other undergraduate students responded the same way.
Also, when asked what activities could prevent freshmen from attending an extracurricular event, 79 percent said that studying might get in the way; 83 percent of the other undergraduate students surveyed said that studying came before extracurricular activities.
Of freshmen surveyed, 40 percent said that 8 p.m. was the most likely time for them to participate, while 44 percent of other undergraduates agreed.
Undergraduate students share the same taste in music and movies, according to the survey.
For each class, alternative music is the most appealing.
Of students surveyed, it is the favorite of 64 percent of freshmen, 65 percent of sophomores, 68 percent of juniors, and 76 percent of seniors. Soft rock and pop was the next most popular category for each class, while metal was the least favorite type of music for everyone surveyed.
Comedies and action and adventure movies are the most popular movie choices of all undergraduate students surveyed, with comedies in the lead. Documentaries are the least popular among all four classes.
Williams pointed out that the similar responses of students to these surveys may indicate that the student body is not very diverse.
The most popular type of extracurricular activity on campus, according to the survey, is anything which is entertainment-related, as opposed to activities dealing with current events; novelty acts; or political, historical, educational, student or "artsy" issues.
Williams offered an explanation for these results.
"After mornings and afternoons full of lectures, studying, homework and writing papers, the last thing students want to do is attend a lecture," he said.
Williams suggested that professors who hold extracurricular activities in academic buildings should change the location because students don't want to spend free time in a place associated with schoolwork.
Other results from the survey indicate that the best way to publicize events on campus is to distribute flyers and mailings, and to hang posters, especially in the Pit.
Results of the survey will be presented to the Student Organizations and Activities Task Force today and to the Board of Visitors on Friday.