FIRST ENCOUNTERS OF THE BUREAUCRATIC KIND - EARLY FRESHMAN EXPERIENCES WITH A CAMPUS BUREAUCRACY

This research draws on observation and interview data to examine tradi tional-age freshmen's early encounters with a campus bureaucracy, focu sing on their definitions and coping strategies. Though frustrated by lines, impersonal treatment, and ''runarounds,'' most freshmen accepte d the bureaucracy with superficial equanimity. This research helps exp lain how bureaucracies continue to function despite inherent strains a nd differences in client and staff perspectives and goals.