NEWS FOR WOMEN Campus Life In Small U.S. University Town

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28128, 17 November 1956, Page 2

NEWS FOR WOMEN Campus Life In Small U.S. University Town

Life in a small American university town was very pleasant, although the main topic of conversation was the progress of the football or baseball team and many families spent hours huddled around their television sets, said Mrs Michael Nelson, daughter of Mr Ernest Adams and Mrs Adams, of 33 New Brighton road, yesterdav. Mrs Nelson, formerly Miss Jean Adams, has returned with her husband. Dr. Nelson, after nearly two years in Corvallis, Oregon, where he has been on a Fulbright scholarship at Oregon State University Mrs Nelson has been studying geography and is now working on her thesis for her Mester of Arts degree.

There was considerable rivalry between Oregon State University, the agricultural and engineering college, and the University of Oregon, the liberal arts college, about 20 miles away, she said.

When she wanted to take geography she had to enrol in a ‘natural resources” course—although the .curricula was exactly the same as the geography course at the University of Oregon.

Corvallis was a small town rather like Hastings, her husbands home town, said Mrs Nelson. All the streets were lined with trees and the university campus had the most beautiful lawns and trees.

The progress of the university sports teams is the usual topic of conversation,” she said yesterday. “Sports are very different over there. The university usually has only one team for football, one for baseball and basketball team, and so on. “They are almost semi-professional. They should be amateur, but most colleges get around this one way or another to attract the players they

want The attendances at sports meetings are huge, and seats are expensive.” The climate of Oregon was a surprise to Mrs Nelson. It rained all winter, steadily day after day. Then the summer was fair and dry. “There are some lovely beaches on the coast. We thought the Americans were soft, and went in for a swim one day when the temperature was 106 degrees in the shade—we didn’t get past our ankles. There is a cold northerly current along the coast and the water is really chilly,” she said. Salmon fishing in the rivers, a visit to the Pendleton round-up—a rodeo, with Indians in full dress—and a trip to Yellowstone National Park were among the highlights of their stay in the United States, said Mrs Nelson. “On our way to Yellowstone we went through Reno and ...” “ You took your husband to Reno?” “Yes, but we didn’t stay six weeks, only over night,” she laughed. “Reno is better known over there for its gambling than easy divorce, although Las Vegas is beginning to put it in the shade. “Through Nevada we drove all day seeing virtually nothing but sage brush—little better than matagauri and about as appetising,” said Mrs Nelson. They did some climbing and ski-ing on that trip, but found the Rockies much less of a challenge than the Southern Alps. “You can ride a horse up most of their big peaks—even Mount Whitney (14,898 ft she said. Dr. Nelson and Mrs Nelson will spend about three or four months in New Zealand before they return to the United States, where Dr. Nelson will take up an appointment with the Stanford Research Institute at Palo Alto, San Francisco.