Society's Drinking Game

Jack Howard

It’s a Saturday night on any college campus. Everyone is ready to blow off some steam from the past week and relax. What will college kids do? The 21 and older students will all drink with other 21 and older students. And the underage kids will hang out by themselves without any alcohol. That’s what you might here a naïve person say But in reality, there will be a large number of underage students drinking. Even though the drinking age is 21, most students still drink. And because the law is for 21 year-olds, underage drinking is done behind closed doors away from the public view. This behavior is highly dangerous and is the basis of (what I call) Society’s Drinking Game.

Many people believe that the drinking age being 21 on a college campus is a very bad idea. Most college students under the age of 21 drink anyway. When the legal drinking age is 21, it forces these younger people to drink behind closed doors and away from the public view. It pushes these students to binge drink the few times they can, which in turn creates dangerous drinking habits and can lead to problems later in life. I’ve personally been witness to many instances of scary binge drinking habits, and how they can erode a student and cause them to fail many classes.

I think the drinking age should be lowered to 18 on college campuses. It would allow all social events to be wet social events. Police and campus administrators could focus their time and efforts on making sure students are drinking in a safe manner, instead of trying to prevent students from drinking underage. Students would be more inclined to seek help if someone was drinking too much because there would be less worry about legal ramifications. I think lowering the drinking age would be a logical choice to combat a constant problem in American colleges today.

Taking advantage of Higher Education

Gabriel Garza

Lucas’ introduction opens your mind and thoughts toward the reality of Higher Education. He’s unique form of opening a discussion about a reality, not criticizing, makes you stop and reflect about a topic that should be in the interest of everybody.
Just by reading the introduction, you can agree on certain critics that he points out. Definitely, these things happen, and haven’t been addressed completely. There are many pros and cons about Higher Education, like John Whittet mentions in his article. The intention of this blog is not to analyze this topic with that perspective; the intention is to look at the positive things that a Higher Education can offer, despite all the criticisms and defects.
The individual attitude and perception of a single student, is worth more that the general facts about Higher Education. It is up to each individual, to appreciate the opportunities that he has, and to take advantage of them. It doesn’t matter if statistics show that 50% of college students don’t graduate, or to what schools were you accepted, or how much do you pay, what do you study etc. If you can, and decide to attend college, you should only worry about your personal goals, and if what you’re doing makes you happy.
Universities offer a variety of things. First, the primary thing is obviously the education. Although some stats say that the education that college students receive is worthless, students should see it as a way of enriching their knowledge and learning new things. The education received in college can be really precious, it only depends on the student to take advantage of that or not.
Also, as Whittet says in his article, college is also used to: “revolve around life skills and the transition between being beholden to one's parents and completely autonomous.” College prepares you for life, and it is up to you to make it a successful one or not.

College Computers: There's More Than One Choice

Tyler Powell

These days colleges like Georgia Tech require the students to have a laptop computer for access to websites like T-Square or Oscar so they can keep up with their assignments and records. Sometimes those computers crash and the students are left out in the cold with no one to help. There isn't anyone to fix these problems on the college payroll, so it is the smart thing to buy a computer thats reliable instead of one you are used too. I am of course speaking of an Apple Macintosh. While I cannot hide the fact that Macs do have problems every once in a while, just like any other computer, their problems are not nearly as serious, like the “blue screen of death” that has so famously irritated Windows users around the world. Where Windows computers have both software and hardware issues, Macs, nine times out of ten, only have hardware issues, which is the fault of the companies that produce the hardware, like Kensington, Motorola, Intel, etcetera. It has only been the first two weeks of our freshman year and already Windows has claimed a victim, where as Mac users have the new operating system Snow Leopard that nearly doubles the speed of all operations.

Students complain of the compatibility issue when switching over to Macs, but this is completely unfounded because Macs can run Windows parallel so that the students can access virtually any application, and the new Snow Leopard operating system has Microsoft Exchange, a program that allows users to exchange information like contacts and calendars between a Mac and a Windows PC, a useful tool for students to share information. Many students believe Macs cost more with less power and usability, but according to a survey conducted by Glenn Derene, when comparing an Asus M51SR with a MacBook, both priced at $1,299, the MacBook won out in both usability and performance.

While I must agree that schools that require computers should have specialist who can fix various problems, I believe students can bypass most of these problems by buying reliable computers so that they are not so dependent on others to fix their computers.

The fiends of college computing: The Blue Screen of Death

Bud Whitley
The collegiate world has grown incredibly dependant on computers and the use of Information Technologies. “Typically, computers make life much easier. For example, a college student can take class notes complete assignments, write papers, and manage to-do-lists in organized files which are a breeze to access,” says Connor R. Sullivan in a blog post online. It is mandatory at Georgia Tech to have a laptop computer because many classes are entirely dependent on them and web sources for passing out handouts, notes, and turning work in. English 1101 with Dr. Lake is a prime example of such a class and the ease of access and work turn it is a great facilitation of time.
However, problems occur when computers begin to have major problems.

This notorious image, know to windows users as the dreaded “Blue Screen of Death,” spells doom and destruction to all work data on the machine. Last Wednesday I had a Blue Screen of Death that crippled my computer. When I arrived at the Office of Information Technologies, I was promptly taken back, had my computer looked at, and was told by a member of the Georgia Institute of TECHNOLOGY “Oh… You have a very unique problem and we cannot help you, contact your hardware provider’s website.” My computer company told me to use diagnostic software to check my systems. I’m sure this method works great… when the computer doesn’t Blue Screen half way through. At this point, I did what I should have done first: I went up to first floor and yelled “Who can fix a Blue Screen of Death?” I got a few responses, and within 10 minutes it was found that my operating system was toast and I needed to factory reset my computer. I had lost most of a day due to a nasty bug on a necessary piece of equipment.
Computers in college are a wonderful and necessary tool as long as they don’t break. My computer broke and I lost valuable time that the computer was introduced to save. This issue, all though relatively small, can cause a great deal of problems and really foul you up. More steps need to be taken in order to help students immediately and not turn them away when their problem is “unique.”

The Truth about Higher Education

Whether staying in-state or heading out-of-state for college, new college students find themselves thrown into a new environment where they meet new people and make new friends. The pressure to fit in has become a prevalent concern for most college students and may cause students to give into peer pressure. From drugs and alcohol to promiscuity, a new college student may find themselves doing almost anything to fit in with the overall student body. According to USA today, “Nearly half of America's 5.4 million full-time college students abuse drugs or drink alcohol on binges at least once a month.”

Unfortunately, “almost anything” can come at a cost to the student. When I first entered school at Georgia Tech, I was given three choices of which I could only pick two: earning good grades, getting sleep, and having a social life. For the majority of students and myself included, sleep is a necessary part of life, and the choice was automatically narrowed down to two. With the pressures of finding a “clique” or group of friends, having a social life tends to outweigh the idea of earning good grades. The act of putting your education, which you are paying good money for, on the back burner to ensure that you had a group a friends to drink and party with every weekend seems stupid; sadly, it is a choice made by new college students each year.

Now being in my last semester at Georgia Tech, I know that the option of earning good grades and getting sleep are far more important than having an active social life, and that it is possible to maintain a good balance between grades and friends. Incoming students should always remember that life is about balance and too much of one thing, including work and a social life, can be quite detrimental.

"I still have time... I can do this later...."By Michael Kang

4:45 pm on a Saturday Evening, I looked at the clock. OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS! MY ENGLISH BLOG IS DUE IN 15 MINUTES!!!! I CAN'T POSSIBLY HAVE ENOUGH TIME! Rushing through the blog, I finished just as the clock turned 5:00 pm. Whew. Made it just in the nick of time. I then said to myself, "hm.... I wonder what made me wait this late to finish my blog that Dr. Lake has so graciously given me so much time to work on." If I had started earlier, I would have most likely finished earlier and could have had more time to even proof read a few times.

Unfortunately, there are others who are having difficulty with procrastination habits. According to Bruce Tuckman's procrastination article written on August 2, 2002, "worst procrastinators received significantly lower grades in a college course with many deadlines than did low or moderate-level procrastinators." The worst procrastinators were said to also have "rationalizations" for their having procrastinated. But the burden on a procrastinator's shoulders has room to multiply. According to Tuckman, not only does procrastinating cause "higher stress" but it also lowers the procrastinators "own level of achievement" and possibly "average GPA."

I, myself, am also guilty of the charges laid before me. I am guilty of having procrastinated in the past and, truthfully, still am. Below, I have done an interview of two current Georgia Tech students, one a freshman and the other a senior, to create a link between the guild of procrastinators. As a fellow procrastinator, I know how difficult removing old habits can be. Like you, I am also looking for an answer about "how I could change my habits." Ohio State's Tuckman gave us the answer in his August 22 article stating that the "key to overcoming procrastination may be to recognize the inaccuracies of the common "wishful thinking" rationalizations." As his last remark Tuckman advises us, procrastinators, to "attempt starting and accomplishing assignments ahead of time." I don't know about you but I would not mind sleeping earlier and getting a good nights rest along with excellent grades and no white hairs.

Below is the interview of senior Anthony Minarik and freshman Ryan Thamm. In compilation with the interviews, username FuquaSchOfBusiness's "I'll Stop Procrasting... Tomorrow" will be immediately played.

NOTE: the interview conducted were two "men of Glenn." Because Glenn is not a Co-Ed building, female opinions could not be obtained. Information displayed is just the men's side of view, which may or may not coincide with the female point of view.