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.

Justin Levy is a freshman history major.

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