Frosh tend to assume unless it's demonstrated otherwise that upperclassmen look down on them and don't really want to socialize with them...leftovers from stupid high school class battles, I guess. If you want them to interact with you, I'd suggest making the first moves yourself.
Yeah -- I just wish I'd figured that out in September instead of July. :P

The impression I get is that (in spite of our geographical weirdness) the sort of gently fractured thing we've got going on down here is more the exception than the rule for the hall; just a weird year or something. And again I imagine I'm coming off much harsher than I mean to, it's not really some stupid "us-versus-them" game, I really do adore 4e and am definitely looking forwards to spending three more years here. :)