When I first enrolled at UW I
thought I was in for the time of my life. Little did I know I had signed a four
year contract to hell! If you check the list of the 50 worst colleges, I am sure you would see descriptions that fit Laramie.
I think that UW should implement
more night time activities for college students. I have been going to UW for
nearly four years and I can say that the night life in this town goes through
very noticeable cycles. After the first two weeks of school, you have
essentially seen every night scene that this town has to offer. The problem
that I have found is that there is no variation in the people that you
encounter. This can turn what is supposed to be a rich college experience into
a dull one.
| Laramie Face Syndrome |
As explained earlier, after you
visit the same places week after week, you fall into a particular circle of
people. Once in this circle of people, it is very difficult to meet new friends
or do something different and more exciting unless you leave Laramie. This
unchanging of pace is what causes a person to doubt the quality of their life
and after so much of this doubting a person will exhibit signs of LFS.We can stop this infectious
spreading of LFS!
If the number of social places in Laramie were increased then
the number of people suffering from LFS would decrease. While reading an article in the Boomerang I
found that Hookah bars are illegal in Laramie. Why this is so, I have no idea.
I am from Austin, Texas, a very big college town and there are numerous Hookah
bars near campus. Why are these bars near campus? They are there simply to give
students yet another place to go and socialize.
UW also has possibly the worst Greek
programs I’ve come across. I heard from a friend in one of the houses that they
are under strict rules because of alcohol related issues. Thinking about the
number of underage students that drink, it sounds reasonable. But these people
will still drink illegally and now instead of walking across the street and
being safe, they drive around town looking for a place to socialize. Greek life
is something that college students are supposed to experience and love. I know
people who haven’t been to a UW Greek house once in their college life.
Last but not least I think that UW
needs to work on getting more famous or even upcoming musicians, all genres, to
come and preform on our campus. It will give students something to look forward
to. It gives them a reason to be excited about an upcoming weekend. So when Friday
rolls around there is actually something to do instead of drowning in alcohol
because of boredom.
UW has the potential to be a
wonderful school and environment. This close knit community could work with a
little revision. It is 2012 and I feel as if Laramie is stuck in 1990. There
are new ways to attract students and make them satisfied with their college
experience. Students would rather spend more money and be in Fort Collins
simply because there is more to do. This should be taken as a sign! Laramie has the potential to revert from being a depressing place and turn into one of the best colleges in America. There is a cure for LFS, we don't have to live with it.
I love how you came up for a name for what you're talking about (LFS). I thought that was really clever, funny, and it held my attention throughout the article.
ReplyDeleteI also really liked the pictures that you added. After seeing those, I wished I'd thought to add some pictures to my blog too. Again, they attract attention, which is always a good thing.
Now, on to content:
One paragraph that really stood out was your discussion about how bad the Greek houses are at UW. I'm among those who has never been to a Greek house (they've just never really appealed to me). I am also avidly against alcohol, especially underaged drinking. At first glance, I completely agree with the strict anti-alcohol rules at the Greek houses. However, your discussion about that changed my mind on the subject (something which is very hard to do with me, when it comes to issues of alcohol). You made the point that people are still drinking underaged, but since they can't do it at the Greek houses, they have to go out to do it, which is ultimately more dangerous. Your reasoning made perfect sense to me, and I agree with you on that point.
That being said, I disagree that UW is as bad as you say it is. I can understand your reasons for not liking it (the nightlife in particular), but I think a lot of that might have to do with the fact that you're from Austin, a city much bigger than Laramie (I googled it just to see, and Austin clocks in at close to 800,000, a huge difference from Laramie's 30,000). In fact, Austin, just that city, is a little over 100,000 thousand people bigger than the entire state of Wyoming. That being said, Laramie is the third largest city in the state (http://www.geonames.org/US/WY/largest-cities-in-wyoming.html), meaning that for a lot of students who come from other parts of the state, Laramie is much bigger with a lot more to do than they have in their home towns.
One last note, I thought your blog was very heavily sided toward your side on the subject. It would have been nice to hear something about the other side of the argument, as is a traditional part of editorials. Other than that, I thought your post was great!
After reading other posts, i see the flaws in mine. I may have to write another that isn't so one sided. Thanks for the input!!
ReplyDeleteHey, no worries. :) We're all new to this. I still thought your post was great! Very clever. :)
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ReplyDeleteI agree that we need a good night club. One positive thing about a small town are small classes for University.
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