BOOZE, POT ARE NOT THE BEST WAY TO A HIGHER DEGREE

Do you remember your first day of college?

You were given your books, and your parents left believing you were on the
right path; that is, until they left. It seemed as soon as your parents had
left, the weekend had come. The first weekend of college was here and you
were excited!

Well, this basically means for students at UCSB that the astronomy book in
one hand was replaced by a gigantic cup of beer, and the history book in
the other hand was replaced by a joint.

As I was walking happily down the second floor of my Santa Rosa dorm on a
Friday afternoon, I heard an intriguing conversion between two girls.

What I heard made me quite sad. One of the girls said to another girl, "I
can't believe you didn't get drunk yesterday; tonight we are gonna get
fucking wasted." And on that same day, I heard two guys discussing their
plans for that afternoon.

One guy was talking about getting high and going surfing.

I was surprised by these two conversations that I had heard.

Why is it the main objective of many college students to get wasted or
stoned every weekend?

It seems that by getting drunk or stoned, college kids are achieving their
ultimate goal. Being drunk or high at this school is being held in such
high esteem.

What's more fun talking about with your friends, telling them you got an A
on a midterm, or telling them that you got so drunk that you passed out for
two hours on some stranger's couch?

Talking with your friends about the drunkenness at this school is one
thing, but talking with your parents is quite a different story.

My mom was asking me about all the things that tend to go on here, and when
I told her, she had no idea that this was happening.

Many parents seem to claim ignorance, or try to deny that these events
occur here.

I actually look forward to Mondays. I look forward to getting back to my
schoolwork, and hanging out with friends without large amounts of alcohol
involved. Many people have told me that you simply can't have fun if
alcohol or drugs aren't involved.

I know that alcohol and drugs can create a friendlier atmosphere and help
people have fun, and I bet there's nothing more thrilling than the pure
excitement you get from overdosing on drugs or alcohol and having to be
sent to the hospital.

I was taught never to assume.

But when I saw an ambulance pull up to my dorm, I assumed they were there
because someone had overdosed on drugs or had alcohol poisoning.

And then again that same day, another ambulance pulled up to San Miguel
dorm. Something is obviously wrong when I see two people going to the
hospital in the period of an hour or so. Something must be done to change
the attitude of college students.

We are not bettering ourselves through this endless process of drinking and
using drugs, but are merely repeating what the students before us have
done. I persuade you to at least try to have some fun without the use of
alcohol or drugs for one weekend and see how it goes. It will be quite an
experience to actually know what's going on when you're in I.V.

Now, I'm not telling people not to give up beer. I'm just saying not to
make getting hammered seem like it's this enormous achievement. But, to
appease those of you who do drink more then they should and constantly talk
about it, I commend you for your tremendous accomplishment. Furthermore,
I'd just like to add that since this is in the Nexus, my opinion is
probably going to be next to an article about how to make your own
margarita, so I don't think anyone will actually read this.