Who needs orientation programs?

Didik, a new student at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), is relieved to find a well-run student orientation program (Ospek) at the institute, in which there is no violence or humiliation by senior students as he had initially feared.

"The rector has threatened to expel (senior students) if they commit harmful deeds," the student of ITB's Urban Planning Department said.

The only instance where Didik and other new students felt "humiliated" was when they were ordered to wear their high school uniforms, with hats, and march orderly before entering classrooms to listen to speeches by senior students and lecturers on being a successful student at the institute.

A similar program conducted at the private Trisakti University in Jakarta also got under way smoothly.

Sephia, a new industrial engineering student, was obliged to wear a black and white uniform and a big name tag pinned to her dress for the session, during which she and other students gathered to listen to an introduction about studying at the campus.

"No violence or humiliation. Female students were just asked to braid their hair into five strands. A bit funny, but that's OK," Sephia said.

In the past, ITB, Trisakti and many other institutes and universities had harsh hazing sessions. New students often fainted, some even died, after being abused by senior students. New students were made to stand in the searing sun for hours, and were often kicked and slapped.

Fights among students during orientation programs often erupted. A few years ago, a clash broke out between hundreds of students from Surabaya's 10 November Institute of Technology (ITS). Dozens of students were injured and windows were broken in the brawl, and the police were called in to break it up.

Some senior students have been suspended and punished for excessive violence during hazing.

Year after year, hazing always sparked controversy, with many demanding that an end be brought to it, saying hazing was counterproductive and turned into a forum where seniors illustrated their power over new students. Hazing here is thought to have been inherited from the Dutch.

One case that highlighted the extreme violence of local orientation programs was the death two years ago of a student at the Institute of Public Administration (STPDN) in Jatinangor, Sumedang, West Java, which sparked a national uproar.

The case was revealed after a videotape of junior STPDN students being beaten up by seniors was aired on TV one year after the incident. The videotape showed freshmen being kicked and punched by older students on the STPDN campus.

One freshmen, Wahyu Hidayat, died after being treated for days for severe injuries. Ten students were jailed and the state-run school was temporarily closed.

Despite rampant violence during orientation programs, many aspects of the program are considered beneficial to introducing new students to university life.

Which is one reason why universities maintain the program. And most of them now try to prevent violence from occurring.

Both Didik and Sephia agreed that they obtained useful information about their campuses from their orientation programs. It also gave them a chance to get to know senior students and lecturers.

However, Anisa, a new bachelor-degree student at Prasetya Mulya Business School, considers orientation programs useless.

"It's often used by senior students to take advantage of junior students," Anisa said.

She said that her school arranged an outward bound trip for new students instead of making them attend an orientation program.

For Anisa's school, which just introduced its bachelor program, an outbound program may be preferable for students to prepare them for their years of study.

"I'm in the first class. So we have no senior students. It would be impossible for our S2 (graduate) students to conduct an orientation program," she said.

Who really needs an orientation program, anyway?

A. Junaidi