2008 Woodie Awards
Decisions made stay with you forever
Zachary Groves
Issue date: 10/18/07 Section: Opinion
Freshman year of college is either the most memorable year or most forgettable, depending on your point of view.
For me, it was my most memorable one. Financial problems aside, I started to grow individually and learned to take care of myself for a change.
However, several people on my wing in Woodland Hall developed a criminal record instead. Between alcohol busts and mini marijuana plantations, the other freshmen learned that just because they were away from their parents does not mean they will not get in trouble for doing something completely stupid.
In last Thursday's Alestle, Holly Meyer reported that SIUE Police arrested 110 people in 2006 for illegal alcohol usage alone, nearly double the 2005 arrests. Last Wednesday, two students were allegedly caught walking around campus with BB guns.
Way to go, guys. Were you living under a rock when the Virginia Tech shootings happened? Or better yet, when a fellow student was arrested during the summer for possession of weapons and other gun-related charges?
If other people are getting fines and jail time for carrying guns and partying "like a Rock Star," then you should not expect to get away with the same thing.
I have watched classmates with high honors drop out of school or end up in the police records because they fell into not-so-honorable situations. Ideally, if they are smart kids they will make better decisions, right?
I guess not.
SIUE may not be University of Illinois magnitude, but the professors are just as tough and authorities will not cut people any slack, no matter who you are or who your daddy is.
There is nothing wrong with a fun time, but boundaries are needed. A get-together with friends with moderate noise is OK. Events like drinking a six-pack, banging on doors and harassing other residents while drunk, however, are about as dumb as Lindsay Lohan news coverage.
No, wait a minute. Maybe she can teach our students that doing stupid things will not only leave a black mark on your criminal record, but your reputation as well.
The choice is yours. You can spend your final years with ambitious friends and get your degree, or with your dropout friends, who now work in their hometown department stores and wish they never let Jack Daniels influence their decisions.
For me, it was my most memorable one. Financial problems aside, I started to grow individually and learned to take care of myself for a change.
However, several people on my wing in Woodland Hall developed a criminal record instead. Between alcohol busts and mini marijuana plantations, the other freshmen learned that just because they were away from their parents does not mean they will not get in trouble for doing something completely stupid.
In last Thursday's Alestle, Holly Meyer reported that SIUE Police arrested 110 people in 2006 for illegal alcohol usage alone, nearly double the 2005 arrests. Last Wednesday, two students were allegedly caught walking around campus with BB guns.
Way to go, guys. Were you living under a rock when the Virginia Tech shootings happened? Or better yet, when a fellow student was arrested during the summer for possession of weapons and other gun-related charges?
If other people are getting fines and jail time for carrying guns and partying "like a Rock Star," then you should not expect to get away with the same thing.
I have watched classmates with high honors drop out of school or end up in the police records because they fell into not-so-honorable situations. Ideally, if they are smart kids they will make better decisions, right?
I guess not.
SIUE may not be University of Illinois magnitude, but the professors are just as tough and authorities will not cut people any slack, no matter who you are or who your daddy is.
There is nothing wrong with a fun time, but boundaries are needed. A get-together with friends with moderate noise is OK. Events like drinking a six-pack, banging on doors and harassing other residents while drunk, however, are about as dumb as Lindsay Lohan news coverage.
No, wait a minute. Maybe she can teach our students that doing stupid things will not only leave a black mark on your criminal record, but your reputation as well.
The choice is yours. You can spend your final years with ambitious friends and get your degree, or with your dropout friends, who now work in their hometown department stores and wish they never let Jack Daniels influence their decisions.
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