2008 Woodie Awards
Commentary
Brains and Brawls
Rachael Burbank
Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: A&E
A Boston Globe headline saying, "Spate of violence rattles UMass-Amherst campus," caught my attention. It focused on five athletes from University of Massachusetts at Amherst that engaged in a drunken brawl with baseball bats, lacrosse sticks, and bottles. A student also faced murder charges in a stabbing and another student charged for attempted rape.
I felt relieved to be at Pacific, for once in over three years.
Our cobblestone, three block campus is a safe environment compared to state universities that stretch miles around the university center.
UMass-Amherst is a city itself. Dorms were taller than buildings in Portland and had multiple elevators that weren't used only by the janitorial staff. Clark Hall, infamous for its rowdy inhibitors, wouldn't be invited to the debauchery in UMass dorm parties.
With 25,000 students, I've realized I wouldn't be comfortable at UMass, or any state school. Too many strangers. A friend said that if he saw a hot chick walk by through the Amherst campus, he approaches them, hung over or not, because he may not see her again within four years.
We know everyone at Pacific. We know, if not by name, then by face. We recognize reputations before recognitions. Our small campus has a taste of a high school bubble with its stereotypical roles. We all chose to come here for a reason though, maybe because some of us weren't ready to face an entire new city.
Although OSU and University of Oregon are state schools, we don't hear about their bad behavior, unless it is close to Civil War.
Maybe it's just the Bostonian pride of the UMass-Amherst students, but there were more than 1,000 students overturning cars and throwing bottles at cops after the Red Sox won a playoff game. Riots were insane during the World Series. Mtob mentality is only enraged more with alcohol.
Not only does Pacific's party scene seem to be "invite only," but it generally doesn't have more than 50 people at them before cops distribute MIPs and DUIs.
No riots will take place in Forest Grove, but we can't stay oblivious. We are in a contained environment. It could be healthy for us; allowing more focus on education. State universities are generally cheaper, allowing students to feel less guilty about drinking away their brain cells and skipping lectures; but they also become numbers to their professors when ours know our names.
But I find it interesting that the amount of people arrested last weekend at UMass Amherst could compare to amount of people who attended last weekend's final basketball games.
I felt relieved to be at Pacific, for once in over three years.
Our cobblestone, three block campus is a safe environment compared to state universities that stretch miles around the university center.
UMass-Amherst is a city itself. Dorms were taller than buildings in Portland and had multiple elevators that weren't used only by the janitorial staff. Clark Hall, infamous for its rowdy inhibitors, wouldn't be invited to the debauchery in UMass dorm parties.
With 25,000 students, I've realized I wouldn't be comfortable at UMass, or any state school. Too many strangers. A friend said that if he saw a hot chick walk by through the Amherst campus, he approaches them, hung over or not, because he may not see her again within four years.
We know everyone at Pacific. We know, if not by name, then by face. We recognize reputations before recognitions. Our small campus has a taste of a high school bubble with its stereotypical roles. We all chose to come here for a reason though, maybe because some of us weren't ready to face an entire new city.
Although OSU and University of Oregon are state schools, we don't hear about their bad behavior, unless it is close to Civil War.
Maybe it's just the Bostonian pride of the UMass-Amherst students, but there were more than 1,000 students overturning cars and throwing bottles at cops after the Red Sox won a playoff game. Riots were insane during the World Series. Mtob mentality is only enraged more with alcohol.
Not only does Pacific's party scene seem to be "invite only," but it generally doesn't have more than 50 people at them before cops distribute MIPs and DUIs.
No riots will take place in Forest Grove, but we can't stay oblivious. We are in a contained environment. It could be healthy for us; allowing more focus on education. State universities are generally cheaper, allowing students to feel less guilty about drinking away their brain cells and skipping lectures; but they also become numbers to their professors when ours know our names.
But I find it interesting that the amount of people arrested last weekend at UMass Amherst could compare to amount of people who attended last weekend's final basketball games.
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