On serious denial about drugs

After reading the article “A way of life: when smoking marijuana is a lifestyle” (March 6, p. 9), I have but few words to say to the two people featured in the article: quite frankly, you are both delusional. To believe you do not have a drug problem is ridiculous and to think that you will simply be able to quit because you graduate is even more ridiculous. Looking at the list of drugs that each has tried; DMT, coke, LSD, acid and meth (some of the biggest cancers that plague society); all I can conclude is that these two people are in serious denial.

And to those who think that marijuana is not a serious drug, come out for a ride-along with any police department. I have been an officer for only six months and I have already seen more people impacted by marijuana use than I ever would have cared to.

I am not speaking about kids who now have criminal records because they got busted with a little pot. I am talking about the countless number of people who hotbox and drive, or who smoke at a party and then drive. I have already seen three families lose children in accidents due to their children being high or the other driver being high.

I never considered pot a problem when I was sheltered by the controlled environment of GW life, but seeing the impact it has in the real world has opened my eyes enough to realize that high times are not good times.

-Officer Richard T. Gendreau, Garden Grove (Calif.) Police Department class of 2003

Confessions of a Gelman hypocrite

OK … I talk.

But I also glare at other people for talking. Now don’t get me wrong, when I come to Gelman I have every intention of studying … until I see a friend. You know, the one you wouldn’t necessarily call or Facebook message or even IM but feel obliged to say hi to in public. I say hi to them. So shoot me.

But I’m also part of a growing breed of Gelman sixth-floor studiers. I’m a huge hypocrite. If someone is talking to their friends, I glare at them. If someone boots up their computer and it plays that god-awful Microsofty noise, I glare even longer. If someone’s cell phone is on vibrate but continues to rumble in their backpack while they’re off in the computer lab, I groan and look to other students for support. I think I can speak for most Gelman hypocrites when I say, “I’m sorry I am an inconsiderate prick, but so are you. So let’s just look down at our books and pretend this never happened.”

-Stephen Blum, freshman

Senior Day? Not for the seniors

Having been at GW since 2002, I’ve followed the men’s basketball team well before its prime. I can remember the disappointment at the buzzer loss to Xavier, and when I started being a fan, ESPN didn’t know GW existed. This year’s freshmen are experiencing a completely different basketball experience, which is great for them and the program. However, one cannot help but be disappointed when for Senior Day last Saturday against Charlotte the stands were filled with underclassmen.

The administration, in my eyes, made some crucial mistakes in the last home game of the year.

First of all, the e-mail informing students about the administrative change for getting into the game was sent out a mere 22 hours before the actual game; not only that, but it failed to mention the time that tickets would start being distributed. Most importantly the administration failed to take any measures to give senior students an opportunity to procure tickets for Senior Day ahead of other students. Though that may seem unfair for the underclassmen, this was Senior Day and this was the last home game that we as seniors would have been able to attend.

As my friends and I watched the game on TV, we couldn’t help but feel anger at the administration and the school as the senior basketball players, whom we have known and tracked since freshman year, received awards. With Carl Elliott’s shot definitively ending the game on a positive note, as students rushed the court the experience for us was bittersweet. We were thrilled that GW won yet frustrated that for the last home win of the year, we couldn’t experience it in true senior fashion. Though this administrative blunder will always be a negative memory that is associated with the last GW home game of my four years here, I truly do hope that something can be learned from this so that students in the years to come don’t graduate with similar disappointments.

-Irina Feldman, senior