Let's be Safe

Help - I’m scared!

I usually don’t pay attention to the emails that I get from FAU and on most occasions, they’re just one click away from the “Trash” icon in my email account. But just a couple of weeks ago, I received an email with an alarming subject from FAU that read: “University Timely Warning,” which of course…I just had to read.

The email said that there was another rape reported on campus.

I don’t live on campus, but when I read this email, not only was I scared for my own safety on campus, but for all of my friends and fellow freshman who live in the dorms.

In high school, nothing like this ever happened. Probably the “scariest” situations were the daily fights that erupted between students during our lunch hour. They usually lasted about five minutes and were more of a show than anything else - nothing too serious.

This is not the first time that FAU has gone through something like this. There were three other reports of sexual assault last year and one already this year according to an article by WPTV News Channel 5

“In the beginning of the year, I didn’t really pay attention to those stories because I was so caught up on living-on-my-own kind of thing,” says communications major Nadia Ismael. “But now, I’m actually scared for my safety and I’ve become obsessed with locking the doors in the dorms - I’m considering moving back home because of this situation.”

Unfortunately, Ismael is not the only one considering moving back with her parents because of the situation. There are other freshmen who want to move out of the dorms because of safety issues.

But whenever a rape is reported at a college campus, students get flooded with vague and useless advice. On the same WPTV News Channel 5 article FAU's Police Deputy Chief Keith Totten advises that “the most important thing that we always have to stress is, don’t put yourself in a compromising position and always have a friend close by who know what’s going on.”

Thanks, that really helps!

Police might as well be telling us to put on T-shirts that say "Don't rape me" because of how pointless their advice is.

So, forget about the "don't put yourself in a compromising position," advice and take a look at these pointers to feel safer on campus.

Night Owls: They are a service at FAU that offers to accompany you to any location on campus whenever you are alone or don’t feel safe. I've personally used them before and they have even waited until I get inside of my car to leave - plus it doesn't hurt that they also have direct communication with the Police Services Department in case of an emergency. Night Owls can be reached at (561) 297 - 6695

Code Blue Phones: You might have a cell phone, but what if it happens to die just when you need it. The Code Blue phones are located at various points throughout campus and there’s absolutely no way you can miss them. Use them in case of an emergency or when in need of information. They are direct lines to FAU Police Services dispatch.

Rape Aggression Defense: This program offered by the FAU Police Services Department and is designed to help women improve their self-defense skills and improve their chances for avoiding or survive assault encounters. For more information call (561) 297 - 3500

And in case these services are still not enough, I also have some tips for commuter students as well as resident students on how to be safe on campus and avoid dangerous situations:

Never Walk Alone: If you have a late night class and parked on the fifth floor of the Parking Garage, ask one of your friends to walk you or offer them a ride to their car. It’s harder to take down two people than just one person walking alone in the dark.

Have your keys in hand: It might not be cool to have your keys in hand 45 minutes before you actually even get to the elevator, but hey it might save your life. Some students like to take their time looking for their keys when they finally get to their car. Avoid dangerous situations by having your keys in hand and ready to open the door of your car. Don’t waste so much time looking for them.

Lock Your Doors: Seems like a “no brainer,” but as soon as you get in your car, lock your doors immediately, and try to not take a long time to get out of the parking lot or parking garage. Always have your phone on and in hand and make sure you check your surroundings.

Take a different route: Take different paths to get to your car or class. This will prevent offenders from following you and getting used to knowing where you're going to be at all different times.

Bombarded With Break Bonanza

Spring Break - defined as the one-week long recess from classes by the dictionary - is one of the most highly anticipated holidays for a freshman during the spring term. It is the time when we finally get to relax and shake off some of that stress from school and it is also the time to find out what a real college spring break is like.

Michelle Hetherington, a sophomore at FAU explains that her first college spring break experience wasn’t a boring one.

"My first spring break in college was a crazy one," says Hetherington. "It was the first time I could do what I wanted and I chose to go to Key West for the week and have fun with some friends - I don’t think I slept for five days straight."

If you recall your high school days, spring break may have been a little different. It probably involved lots of sleeping, visiting some distant relatives with your family, and going to the nearest beach with some friends and getting a tan on a sunny day - nothing too crazy.

But in college there are many more options than just visiting long distance relatives. The choices range from going to music festivals to volunteering your spring break away. Here are my top ten things to do on spring break.

1. Langerado Music Festival: If you are looking for a cool alternative to your spring break, then Langerado might just be it. This four day festival, held at Big Cypress Indian Reservation in the Everglades on March 6-9, will be featuring acts from the Beastie Boys, R.E.M, Matisyahu, and more. Not only do you get to listen to great music and sing along with your favorite artists but you’ll still get a tan and socialize with all kinds of people at the event.



2. Hike to Save the Environment: Get your camping gear ready because this is for you. The American Hiking Society, an organization that focuses on protecting hiking trails, is planning a trip during spring break to the Big Cypress National Preserve to perform trail maintenance in the hard-to-reach areas of the swamp. Only six to twelve volunteers are needed, so if you want to get involved sign up quickly.



3. Caribbean Partying: Sun Splash Tours, a website that will help you plan out the perfect spring break trip, is offering several great deals on tours and group deals to quick getaways in Cancun, Barbados, Jamaica, etc. They’re inexpensive if you go with a group, but still affordable if it’s just you and some of your friends. All you need is a bathing suit, some sunblock and you’re set for your college spring break.



4. Learn how to surf: I know it seems like a crazy idea because Florida is so flat and we don't really have big waves to surf on, but you can still learn. Florida Surf Lessons is a great little surfing school in South Florida that focuses on teaching people of all ages how to surf. It’s fun, it’s a new experience, and you can finally brag about knowing how to surf.



5. Check out some art: There’s an Antique and Collectibles Show running from Feb. 29th - March 2nd at the Americraft Expo Center at the South Florida Fair Grounds. The show will feature some of the best antique pieces for you to look at and you can have fun with friends and family.



6. Make a Kid Smile: There will be a Walk Now for Autism fundraiser on Sunday, March 2nd in West Palm Beach. It’s free, it’s fun, and it’s for a good cause.



7. Go Medieval with theFlorida Renaissance Festival: The yearly festival will be in South Florida until March 9th. Go back in time and dress up in your favorite medieval garb and enjoy the jousting knights.



8. Watch a movie in your car: Drive-ins still exist and if you just don’t want to get out of your car to watch a movie, then make sure you go to the Swap Shop Drive In in Sunrise. It might be a bit of a drive, but it’s completely worth it and you won’t have to deal with people talking in the back.



9. Plan a Road Trip: You don’t need lots of money to get out of the state of Florida for a week. Go along the East Coast if you can and see what you can find. There are a lot of cool places you can visit along the way and it’s a great way of bonding with your friends.



10. Go Camping: Just because you’re not 10 years old anymore doesn’t mean you can’t go camping. Florida Camping offers help in finding the perfect camping site for your needs. So grab a tent, cook some s'mores, and enjoy nature.
    

Remember, we’re in college now and part of our role in college is to start making our own decisions. Whether you want to camp out at a music festival for four days or party it up like many other students during spring break, it is still your choice to decide what you want to do. Don’t get caught up in what you think you should do for the class free week.

Virgin Nation

It happened every Monday morning in class. There were always little notes and whispers going around the room recording the many “hook up” stories that happened during the weekend.

In high school, most students took the liberty of bragging about how many people they had gotten "to know better" over the weekend. The reality is that it was all about a social status and whether you were "cool" or not - and bragging about sex was definitely the cool thing to do back in the day.

In college, most students would be considered non-virgins. We assume that everybody’s experienced. But many of those so-called "sexually experienced" seniors in high school are college freshman virgins and actually remain virgins throughout their freshman year in college.

So in hopes of trying to find out a small average on how many freshman virgins are at FAU, I took the liberty of conducting a survey of my own.

I went around the Breezeway on the Boca campus and asked 12 freshmen one of the most embarrassing questions you can ask in public: Are you a virgin?

To my surprise, nine of the freshmen openly admitted to being virgins and to not having encountered any sexual behavior whatsoever. In fact, three of them even went as far as to say they wanted to remain virgins until marriage... Whaaaatttt????

What I also found interesting about the survey was that four of the students were pre-med majors and two of them were engineering majors. I guess those long hours studying take away from their sex lives... good thing I'm a communications major.

But the bigger question is, why remain a virgin? I thought that was all college students thought about...

Rony Barzily, a freshman that was part of the survey, admits that she's waiting for the right opportunity to come up.

"It's not like I'm planning on waiting until marriage," Barzily says. "It's just that I haven't been in a serious relationship and I'm waiting for the right guy to lose my virginity to."

Hey, on the bright side, at least FAU is one of the safest places to lose your virginity in because according to a study done by Trojan condoms in October,
FAU is number one for being the most educated University in sexual health.

Thanks to our friends at Trojan and the FAU Today and Beyond Wellness Department - our local sexual health center - located above the Breezeway in room 222, who focus on teaching students about sexual health and of ways of being safe when it comes to sex.

"I'm not worried about being a virgin," says Clarissa Lowmark, another freshman part of my survey. "The time will come and I feel like I've learned a lot about sex while being in college anyway."

Fake ID consideration

Throughout your life, there are three important birthday parties you ought to have:

1. Your sweet sixteen

2. The day you finally turn 18

3. The day you are legal to drink : 21

When I got out of high school, I thought 18 was pretty much phenomenal. I could get into some clubs and still manage to not break the law. But now that I’m in college, I’ve learned that it’s not so wonderful to be 18 anymore.

I'm still considered a baby among upperclassmen, I still can’t go to certain bars or clubs, I can’t buy alcohol - much less legally drink it - and I still have to wait three more years until the glorious day of my 21st birthday comes around.

And now, I am considering getting my first fake ID.

Apparently, I’m not the only one trying to get a fake ID, either. According to a 2007 survey done by College Humor - a Web site that specializes in poking fun at everything college-related - 19 percent of freshman girls obtained a fake ID along with 26 percent of guys.

Even some of my very own friends are joining the club of fake ID ownership. On a recent vacation during winter break, they paid some guy $100 each for fake IDs. Their licenses now read that they’re 22 years old and that they’re from Texas (both originally from Florida). But hey, they look real and that’s all that matters.

“We can get in anywhere,” said one of the students. “We can buy liquor, go to clubs and bars, and nobody knows that we’re only 18 - it feels like we’re 21 already and it’s great.”

Even some of my upperclassmen friends have asked me on numerous times if I have a fake ID and they always seem so shocked and disappointed when I gently reply with a simple “no.”

It also turns out that you don’t even have to pay people to get you a fake ID. I can do it on my own, because according to this Web site, all I need is a scanner, a computer, laminator, tweezers, a razor and I’m set to start my new life as a fake 21-year-old.

There’s also a downside to having a fake ID, though. It’s not all glory and bar hopping on Friday nights. Keep in mind that getting a fake ID is considered to be a misdemeanor offense and in some states - like Florida - it’s even a felony.

According to Florida law, if you're caught with a fake ID, you can be fined $10,000, sentenced to serve up to 15 years in prison, and can be convicted of a felony. Which means that job you have been studying for in college would be practically gone with a record like that.

If you want to get a fake ID like I do, just be careful with the consequences you might face. Even I have to realize that this could get me in serious trouble and as much as I would like one, I will have to seriously think about it before I actually get one.

Paying for College

The planning for a college education.

Tuition: $3,000
Meal plans: $1,598
Books: $500

Initial reaction to your bank account statement...priceless

It was difficult to get into college, but it’s harder to stay in college. Reason being? Books.

There are a lot of things that you have to pay before you come to school: tuition, room and board, meal plans, etc. But the one thing that I’ve found to be extremely expensive in college are textbooks.

They are one of the most important things that a student needs (besides caffeine, of course) and they seem to be one of the most difficult things to obtain simply because of their costs.

The first time that I signed up for classes, I registered for 16 credits. I ordered all of my books online and specifically asked for used books. To my surprise when I was ready to pay, the bill added up to $500.

Something that I found quite surprising since in high school, the books were given to us to borrow for the entire year...for free. I don’t think I ever bought a book while in high school and if I ever did, I definitely never spent $500 on them.

So why are college books so expensive?

Well, according to MakeTextbooksAffordable, a Web site that focuses on campaigning to reduce the costs of books, textbook prices are increasing because of the inflation rates in all the finished goods.

Not only that, but the cost of all of those shiny, new edition books we are required to have actually cost 45 percent more than the previously used editions.

So what are we poor college students supposed to do if we don’t want to be broke for the rest of our college careers, work three jobs, and still not have enough money for books or a life?

Well, here are some pointers on where to get books for cheap and how not to be broke because of them.

1. Don’t buy your books before the first day of classes. This is a classic mistake most freshmen make. Because we want to be prepared for the first day of school, we like to buy things ahead of time but sometimes the books are not even required or of much use in the class, so make sure you get to class first and see what the professor says before you go out and spend all of your savings.

2. Bribe your friends for their old textbooks. If you don’t have nice enough friends that will just give you their old textbooks for no cost at all, then usually a nice meal, a 12-pack of beer, and a pack of cigarettes will do. Trust me, that’s still a lot cheaper than buying all of your books on your own.

3. Borrow books for service hours. This is something that not a lot of freshmen know, but you can actually borrow some of your books in exchange for service hours. You can do this by going to the Multicultural Affairs office, located above the Breezeway on the Boca Raton campus.

4. If all else fails and you must buy the book, then seek out the used and oldest version of the book that you can get away with. It will be cheaper and even though it might be a little different from the newest version, usually the difference is minimal and you can still pretty much figure out the context of what you’re reading.

5.If that’s still too expensive and goes over your budget, then you can always go online to Web sites like Amazon or even eBay, sometimes they’re a lot cheaper than buying them at the bookstore and they are delivered to you, so you don’t even have to move a finger...well, except to click on it.

I Want to Sleep

If you saw me on a daily basis, you would know that as soon as you asked me how I am I would reply with: I’m tired, I’m sleepy, and I want to go home.

The thing is that on most days, even if I go home, I don’t sleep. I get distracted on Facebook, watch E! News and completely disregard time and end up going to bed at around 2 or 3 am.

And no, pulling all nighters are not an excuse this early in the semester.

In fact, according to a 2001 Brown University Study, only 11 percent of college students get their beauty sleep. Unfortunately, I think I’m part of that other 89 percent that doesn’t.

In high school, I used to sleep a lot. I went to school at around 7 am, got home at 3 pm, took a nap and went to bed at around 10 pm. I always had energy in class, kept up with my homework, and I actually enjoyed the time that I spent in school.

But in college, things are a little different.

7:00 a.m.: Go to school

6:00 p.m.: Get home

1:00 a.m.: Homework

3:00 a.m.: Sleep

This shows that on average, I’m probably sleeping somewhere around four hours a night... not good.

Not only do I look like crap the next day, but it’s not a healthy thing to do. I’m not 100 percent alert in class, I can’t pay attention for long periods of time, I’m tired and grumpy, and I’m not enjoying my time in school as much as I should.

So in response to my lack of sleep, I thought I’d put together a few causes and solutions to get us 89 percent back on track.

• Problem: We’re partying too much. Yep, I know I’ve said this an endless amount of time, but partying is a factor in our lack of sleep. It certainly does wonders for your social life, not to mention the free amounts of alcohol from those new friends you made, but partying seven nights a week is not healthy.


• Solution: Cut back on the partying and leave it for only Fridays and Saturdays. Forget about partying on Sundays. You will be hung over on Monday and won’t pay attention at all in class and you will basically lose the money that you’re paying for your education.
  



• Problem: Spending too much on Facebook or related websites. I know I’m not the only one that spends hours lurking other people’s profiles and reading the little newsfeeds.


• Solution: Unless you really need your computer to do research or write a paper, my suggestion is to turn your baby off. I know it’s hard, but love hurts sometimes. If you keep wasting time online, you’ll never get anything done and leave everything for the last minute.
  



• Problem: Overwhelming amounts of work. Yes, we do have to study after all... that’s what we’re in college for. But we cannot let ourselves lose so much sleep over homework.


• Solution: Two words: time management. Don’t let your homework stack up over the weeks and do it the day before the test. Write yourself a personal schedule in which you make time for afternoon naps, homework, and an early bed time. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it is possible to go to bed before midnight.
  

Hope these tips helped. Please, do yourself a favor and hit up your sheets more often. Trust me, they miss you.

Freshman Rumor Control

Attention!

This is the freshman rumor control—a compilation of all the things that I’ve found to be true (or false) since I’ve been in college.

1. Freshmen are virgins: TRUE

Well I guess American Pie was wrong (whatever happened to getting laid on prom night?) because according to an article on CollegeHumor a Web site that dedicates its time to cover all things college, a whopping 46 percent of college freshmen are virgins. In fact, 38 percent of incoming freshmen lost their virginity on campus – no wonder everyone wanted to have a single room.


2. Freshmen fail College Algebra: TRUE

According to an article on Red Orbit only half of FAU students pass freshman level math courses, which is lower than the state’s passing rate of 62 percent.

The problem that I see with math classes at FAU is that, often times the classes are too big and for some reason the material is more difficult to understand. Not only that but the pace of the class is too fast, making it harder to fully focus on what’s been taught. Slow it down FAU!

3. Freshmen are alcoholics in the making: TRUE

You might be failing college Algebra, but damn you’re good at making that shot in beer pong. Yep, according to ABC news 45 percent of college freshmen are heavy drinkers. Alcohol is easily the most accessible thing to get on campus so it doesn’t surprise me that we’re the next generation of alcoholics in America.

I personally have friends who keep alcohol in their dorms and drink at least a couple of beers before the night is over – and that’s nothing compared to Friday night parties, where there’s no limit as to how much you can drink.

Partying is fun, but we have to start learning how to hold off on the shots…and the beer pong playoffs.

4. Most freshmen live on Campus: FALSE

When I first got accepted to college, the first thing that came to my mind was: “Let me see the dorms, I want to live on campus!” But after seeing the residential life at FAU, I had to think twice about where I wanted to live my first year of school.

It’s not that FAU is ugly, is just that most people don’t live on campus. Most students are commuters and prefer to live in the comfort of their homes, which makes it difficult for FAU to have a traditional “dorm life.” In fact according to FAU’s Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Analysis only nine percent of the student population lives in the dorms, which is not much compared to other big state schools.

Besides the fact that FAU is practically dead after Friday classes are over—leaving students that do live there with nothing to do. I rather live at home.

5. Freshmen gain 15 pounds: FALSE

Apparently, I was the only freshman who gained 15 pounds during the first semester – I really have to stop going to Wendy’s – because according to a report by CBS in 2006 called “Healthwatch” only six percent of freshmen gain 15 pounds. In fact the famously called “Freshman 15” are in reality an average weight gain of about six to seven pounds.


So there you have it, my official rumor control for all freshmen at FAU. Hope I’ve helped clear some doubts.