Rider has had one too many...

Another day, another news story about Rider University and its rowdy student body. This time the fireworks took place at an off campus party hosted by former members of the now defunct fraternity Zeta Beta Tau. But does it even matter? Do the details even matter? This time the police responded to an off campus event, the time before it was on campus, the time before that the same. Does it matter that a student was rushed to the hospital with a broken jaw, broken teeth and bleeding in the brain? When is enough, well, enough? As a current Rider student I wonder about this daily.

Does the school care there were around 150 students there, many of them drinking underage? Does the school care that over the last year and a half two students have died from drug and alcohol related incidents? I would hope yes, but in reality I have to say no. Sure the school made “changes.” They hired people to handle alcohol and drug related incidents. A “good Samaritan” policy was instituted to protect students when they seek medical attention for a friend who has had one too many. There is now more “university presence” in the Greek houses. They may advertise their anti-alcohol policies a little more, but nothing has really changed. I’m sorry if I sound caustic, bitter, or jaded, but the actions of these students and the subsequent responses from the University are a reflection of what I feel my Rider University degree will mean come this May, and what a degree from this so called institution of higher learning will mean for all students past and present.

Let me give you a perfect example. What do I hear when I walk into class on an average day? I hear fellow students talking about “how wasted they got the night before” or how “wicked” a party was. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the goal of higher education is not to master funneling beer or doing the most shots, it is to give you a well rounded education, concentrated on a core area. Students should be rewarded for working hard on and off campus. It should mean something to the University when students land prestigious internships or careers with Fortune 500 companies. The University should strive to foster an educational arena that isn’t competing with “Greek life” bacchanals. After all, Rider is an institution of higher learning.The campus mentality should not be “D for Degree.” Academics should be Rider University’s core focus. I have worked hard for the past three and half years to maintain a pretty respectable GPA. I have worked hard to become politically active and build a well-rounded rolodex. Not only that, but I have had a job during my entire Rider career to pay for my education. And what reward do I and my like-minded colleagues who strived to make themselves and Rider a better place get: news stories about drunken fights at house parties, blurbs in the Rider news about intoxicated guests becoming personas non grata, stories about drunken students driving across campus walkways, and repeated property damage which affects all students.

I strongly urge the administration at Rider to rethink current policy and to reprioritize and refocus the core mission of the University to make it more responsive to academic needs. Serious thought needs to be given to eliminating Greek life altogether. It may sound harsh, but there is a strong connection between the negative events that have transpired over the past year and a half and their activities on and off campus. Serious thought should be given to zero tolerance policies for violating existing alcohol and drug policies on campus.

Rider needs to do a lot to restore its academic integrity and I know that as a community, we can meet this challenge; however I do not want my degree from Rider to amount to a beer-soaked flyer announcing yet another keg party. I am sure the administration does not want such a reputation for the school. It is time school officials deal with this problem openly and firmly, that the university be known for the books and not the beer its student body consumes.

New Drug in Schools

This is a new drug known as 'strawberry quick '.

There is a very scary thing going on in the schools right now that we all need to be aware of.

There is a type of crystal meth going around that looks like strawberry pop rocks (the candy that sizzles and 'pops' in your mouth). It also smells like strawberry and it is being handed out to kids in school yards. They are calling it strawberry meth or strawberry quick.

Kids are ingesting this thinking that it is candy and being rushed off to the hospital in dire condition. It also comes in chocolate, peanut butter, cola, cherry, grape and orange.

Please instruct your children not to accept candy from strangers and even not to accept candy that looks like this from a friend (who may have been given it and believed it is candy) and to take any that they may have to a teacher, principal, etc. immediately.

Pass this information on to as many people as you can (even if they don't have kids) so that we can raise awareness and hopefully prevent any tragedies from occurring.

More information at the Juvenile Justice Commission