Affirmative action bake sale illustrates hypocrisy
The College Republicans’ affirmative-action bake sale, although somewhat humorous, illustrated a very good point. With the pricing system based on race, minorities were able to purchase items at a lower cost than white people. It demonstrated the hypocrisy of the affirmative action system that gives preference to minorities solely based on race. It is wrong to fight discrimination with discrimination.
Alex Hoogasian political science senior
Communism at the cafeteria?
The Student Union’s food couldn’t possibly get worse … or could it? Look no further than the humble bagel, one of our hardest-to-screw-up foods. The holes in the bagels at On Deck Deli II: Fast Pitch are about as big as Kim Jong Il’s ego. The bagels themselves are hard, like life under Stalin. The cream cheese is tasteless like Castro’s handling of the Elian Gonzalez fiasco, and spread out less evenly than China’s GDP. Do we need any more proof of the Union’s socialist underpinnings? Keep your politics out of my bagel!
Michael P. Hathaway geography senior, anti-SUMC activist
Students using Adderall to ‘cram’
The time of year is approaching across college campuses nationwide when finals are prevalent and Adderall sales go through the roof for local drug dealers. It isn’t at all surprising that Adderall use is on the increase amongst students between 18 and 21.
It is quite the miracle drug that allows one to exhaust most physical bodily functions in order to surpass our perceived mental ability – studying for hours on end with the ability to absorb multitudes of information. An ideal miracle cram drug. Use of Adderall is apparent not just at Ivy Leagues, but at state and community colleges, simply due to its low cost and extremely effective usage.
Personally, though, the long-term effects for non-prescription use have not been studied enough to draw conclusive evidence on the health effects for recreational users (an umbrella term which I do not intend to use to classify Adderall users with that associated negative stigma; rather, to classify those who use Adderall without the advice of a medical provider).
Adderall is pretty unique indeed; many who use it for studying are eager to split the $2-$6 capsules in half, grind and snort the contents (of course there are some who still orally ingest the drug, though that method increases the amount of time before effects are felt) and within 15-30 minutes you are able to study furiously and your appetite is nearly eliminated (saving you a few dollars for that day).
What’s even more unique is the length of time the effects take hold: hours. It seems the only downside is the eventual crash that finds users sleeping for hours once the drug wears off and possible tummy-aches. I do not know the specific percentage of students who have taken Adderall to stimulate studying behavior or who regularly do. Such data would be hard to find anyway since it’s not something people would openly admit for research purposes, so I cannot generalize any particular pieces of information.
The most fascinating thing about Adderall to me though would be the classes people use the drug to study for. I would love to find out how many first- and second-year undergraduate students utilize the drug to get through lower-level lecture courses compared to third- and fourth-year undergrads who usually have smaller size classes in their decisive major, or even the number of Adderall users in law, medical and graduate school.
Though again I do not have the data to regress, I have an inkling it would be highest amongst first- and second-year undergraduate students. This, if true, would be interesting only because such a “”miracle drug”” would probably be of much more prevalence and “”benefit”” in post-undergraduate studies, one would assume.
Returning to the issue of health effects: Since recreational use (again that umbrella term) has never been studied in the long term, the health effects of Adderall use without doctor supervision will be interesting to examine in the next few years. Adderall XR was finally approved for long-term use in adults with ADHD in 2004 after years of extensive research.
Since use amongst college students cannot necessarily be supervised (students are able to get a variety of pills – regular, extended release, etc., with varying milligrams), it would be hard to generalize any health concerns, but what will be fascinating would be to see the health risks associated with Adderall use recreationally over the next decade.
Undergraduate use was brought to the media light around 2002, so hopefully by 2012 someone will have examined the consequences of recreational use, if any. In the end though, an A is an A.
No professor can penalize students for Adderall use as of yet (although such an occurrence would be intriguing as well); if you don’t use Adderall you may feel at a disadvantage, and if you do use Adderall you may not see any problems with using it to study. Good luck preparing for finals in the coming month of course, whether you start studying early or cram at the last moment.
Ashley C. Emerole sophomore majoring in political science and regional development
