care? leave a note

Ichabod!

2002-03-21 2:46 p.m.

is alcohol a problem at notre dame? yes is alcohol a problem on every college campus? yes are the changes to the alcohol policy proposed by the administration going to ameliorate the problem? no does notre dame have a very unique atmosphere in its residence halls? yes will the new alcohol policy hurt this uniqueness? probably so will a cheering/jeering/emotional mob convince the administration of this? no will burning du lac change anything? no of course not. thats nearly the stupidest thing ive seen all year.

i disagree with the changes proposed by fr. poorman, and i also disapprove of the student body reaction to the policy changes. in my two years here, ive seen two major student protests (outside of pax christi): parietals and alcohol policy. i hate to think how this makes nd students look to other universities. this causes you, me, we, us to appear like the pampered white brats that we are. selfish.

in the same breath let me praise the number of students we send to underpriveleged areas across the us and all over the world to do direct service to the poor. thats an awful lot for one breath.

i think im continually amazed by the students at notre dame. there are the horrible things (can you believe someone here actually described the new starbucks in lafortune as "unique"? it only looks exactly like every other starbucks in the entire nation!) like alcohol, and sheep-ness, and abercrombie and fitch (starbucks said we are name brand concious. no kidding.)and being a rape prone campus, general disconcern for the environment, and a measure of close minded conservativeness. then there are beautiful things like dorm liturgies on sunday night, and rich tradition, the feeling of family, and dedication to social service, academics and catholic concern for education. and the above mentioned unique res hall system.

i guess looking at all these pros and cons i can see more and more how the university administration is very much like a parent. they provide us with a lot of good things and are constantly looking out for our well being, but at the same time, they institute things that are sposed to look out for our well being but without consulting us first, or how we feel about it.

i think that could stand to change. yes, im grateful for the good things they do for us, but we arent children. just young.

its so confusing to be young. im sposed to be able to discuss modern poetry and life with a professor who has at least 30 years experience over me in the dept of life? but being young i am able to change my mind at the drop of a hat. to explore different intellectual positions as much as i want with no need to adopt one and stick to it forever. i can be an imagist a futurist a dadaist a self expressionist. god, thats so great. absolutely awesome.