“There’s a much
more sober attitude on
campus,” says Richard
Berthold, associate pro
fessor of history at the
U. of New Mexico and
a product of the '60s
college years.
There’s an aware
ness now that even
with a college degree,
you’re still going to be
standing in line at
McDonald’s for a job.
It’s not like the ’60s
and 70s, when you
could skip class for a
love-in and not worry
about the test you’re
missing or the impact
it may have on your
hard-earned GPA.
“The ’60s were fat,”
Berthold says. “Students
had the luxury of
indulging in protests
and silly academic enter
prises. You could smoke
and protest away your
four years of college and
still find work.”
But today, a .01
difference in your GPA
or one extra extracur
ricular activity might
mean the difference
between Burger Time
and the big rime.
Paul Besing, a
To study, or not to study?
net. Most schools, like Metropolitan State College
of Denver, require students to sign an “appropriate
use” agreement before giving them access to an e
mail account or Internet resources.
In June, a Metropolitan student was forced to
remove pictures from his Web page because they
contained graphic nudity — a man and a woman
having sex.
Last spring, the U. of Oklahoma blocked more
than 100 newsgroups from student access because
they contained obscene material. And at Brigham
Young U., 10 students were expelled for repeatedly
accessing unauthorized newsgroups.
“A lot of students seek to liberate themselves
with online activities,” says Steve Zeller, a grad stu
dent at the U. of Iowa and a member of the Elec
tronic Frontier Foundation — one of the 57 plain
tiffs in a lawsuit against the CDA. Plaintiffs in the
case argued that the act violated users’ First Amend
ment rights.
But the limitations are getting out of control,
Zeller says.
“ These restrictions are a knee-jerk reaction to
liability concerns, and they’re overcompensating for
those concerns by infringing on personal liberties.”
Hey, Paul. Hey, Paula
So what happened? Who shut down the parry?
What happened to “the best four, five or six years of
your life”? Are today’s students actually buckling
down lor a straightforward, classroom education?
1 hese days, it seems everything is at stake —
your money, your career, your future — and mak
ing prudent, dare we say responsible, choices during
college is crucial. And students know it. College just
isn’t the free-for-all, expand-your-mind-and-worry
about-the-future-later kind of place that it used to
he. Students are on career tracks now — why dilly
dally for several years when you could be out in
three and raking in the cash?
junior at Arizona State
U., runs a freelance
photography outfit with his roommate, programs
several local Web sites, attends classes full-time and
worked a stint at the student newspaper as a pho
tographer — all in the name of his future.
All the work started out as a way to support
myself and start a career,” he says. “Fortunately, it’s
gotten almost to the professional level. It panned
out really well for me.”
And it’s not just the future that students are
worried about — it’s the present. With part-time
jobs, student loans, internships and school work,
students have places to be, things to do and debts to
pay off. It’s no wonder the social scene is changing.
“I partied my ass off at first, but I don’t get a
chance to do that anymore because I’m in school
and working so much,” Besing says.
Hey, teacher,
leave them kids alone
And although the administrators who run col
leges and universities would like to think that it’s
these supposedly serious, career-minded students
who are the source of the funned-down campus,
they have to take at least partial credit. Universities
have assumed the role of the concerned parent on
many campuses, so the opportunity to screw up,
screw around or just plain screw isn’t even an
option.
"In loco parentis is dead as a legal concept, but
the idea is still there,” says Richard McKaig, dean of
students at Indiana U. and executive director of the
Center for the Study of the College Fraternity.
“Universities are at least partially responsible for
parenting students after they leave home.”
Whatever happened to the 18-year-old adult?
“[Administrators] just sorta forget that we’re
adults,” Hamilton’s Gammill says. “If your parents
arc confident enough to send you away to school,
the school should trust you enough to treat you like
an adult.”
Students want learning experiences, not curfews.
I pay them to give me the opportunity to gain
an education — not bahy-sit me," says Matthew
Joffe, a senior at Michigan State U.
But universities aren t just looking after your best
interests — they’re covering their own hides. The
fear of lawsuits in this liability-obsessed time has
administrators running scared. From Internet access
to alcohol, schools are taking extreme measures to
ensure that a student is safe from any perceived evil,
whether it’s out of a bottle or on a monitor.
“Schools have a tightrope to walk when it comes
to following the law and governing students,”
Berthold says.
When the going gets tough
So what’s left for the spirit-swilling, dirty joke
telling, good time-having, prank-pulling, sexually
experimenting cyberstudent?
Despite all the rules and regulations, students
still manage to have a good time. It’s just a different
kind of fun, says Karen Pasternack, a U. of Pennsyl
vania junior.
“Who says that college fun means no worries, no
thinking and lots of beer guzzling?” she asks.
Michael Niehoff, a grad student at the U. of Ore
gon, says the changing social scene fits the student of
today. “ The challenges and pressures that today’s col
lege student faces may be greater than they used to
be, but college is still the best lifestyle there is.”
So yesterday’s Brother Bluto is today’s Chief
Executive Officer Blutowski III Enquire in the mak
ing. What’s the big deal? You can still hammer back
beers, have a food fight and limbo in a suit. It’s just
not as easy to get the stains out.
Colleen Rush s idea of fun is
singing Aretha Franklin tunes into
a shampoo bottle in the shower.
Guest
Expert:
Jackie
Chan
On whether
college is
still fun:
“Surely It’s
up to you to
make the
campus funl”
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1 SIDs |
Party now — pay later?