‘Recipe for a party’ didn’t promote binge drinking at all
Dear editor,
Your Oct. 27 article “Recipe for a party” was not promoting binge drinking. Yes, when broken down on paper (why you would ever waste the time doing this eludes me); some drinking games may seem to promote getting drunk “as fast as possible.” The reality is that’s not their point, nor was it yours, I imagine, when you printed this piece.
To anyone who has actually played drinking games, such as seven, 11 or doubles, they represent a social experience that makes breaking the ice and getting to know people at parties or other social gatherings easier. As for the fact that they also tend to get you drunk – sometimes quickly – my response is: duh. It doesn’t take a graduate student in agricultural and environmental chemistry to understand that in college (seriously, they don’t understand), people like to drink.
Playing one or two rounds of a drinking game and drinking one or two drinks does not constitute “binge drinking.” Thank you for writing an article that is both informative and helpful to those of us living in reality. For all of you who live in “fantasy land” – a.k.a. graduate school – lighten up and have a beer. (I know a great game you can play.)
DANIEL GOODMAN, Political science, history double major
Class offerings must be addressed before fee increases
Dear editor:
My daughter e-mailed me a copy of the letter from President Mark Yudof outlining the UC fee increases being proposed to the Board of Regents for the next two academic years.
Although I understand the need for these increases, and applaud efforts to help offset the financial burden with additional financial aid, as a parent of a UC Davis student, I would like to ask for something in return. The UC system is known for not having classes available that would guarantee graduation in four years. Often, it seems, students need an additional fifth year to graduate because of an inability to get into required classes. I would ask that the Board and UC administrators guarantee the course offerings the students need to graduate in that four-year time period.
My daughter is a very good student. In several quarters, she has been unable to get the prerequisite classes she needs to assure graduation in four years. As fees continue to increase, I hope that students become insistent that the necessary, required classes are readily available. This should become a requirement before any fees are increased. I challenge the Board of Regents to offer the classes necessary to guarantee graduation in four years to those students who fulfill the requirements.
BUTCH COYNE, Father, UC Davis Student
Bliss without geography?
Editor,
I was honored to be invited to give one of the ancillary lectures to this year’s ongoing Campus Community Book project focused on Eric Weiner’s delightfully uplifting work, The Geography of Bliss, which poses links between places in the world and relative happiness. Giving a related lecture was a tailor-made assignment because, for me, geography is bliss.
So you can imagine my dismay upon hearing that, concurrent with the campus book project, UC Davis is recommending elimination of the highly popular and rapidly improving Geography Graduate Group (no, I am not kidding). If, like me, you find it ironic that UC Davis would invite world-class geographers like Jared Diamond (UCLA Geography Department) to speak at the Mondavi Center and celebrate Weiner’s The Geography of Bliss with the entire Davis community while disestablishing geographic education and research at UC Davis, then perhaps you might make your feelings known to the Chancellor, and particularly, to Dean of Graduate Studies Jeffery Gibeling in Mrak Hall.
And, of course, I cordially invite you to attend my own Campus Community Book Project lecture on Nov. 12 at 12:10 p.m. in the Garrison Room at the UC Davis Memorial Union. My talk is entitled: “If you can’t find happiness right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?”
ROBERT L. THAYER
Emeritus professor, UC Davis
Griffin Lounge is the new CoHo
Dear editor,
Renovating the ASUCD Coffee House is so bittersweet. I have been hanging out there since spring quarter of my freshman year. Now I’m a senior and will not be able to reap the benefits of the new CoHo.
I, along with the rest of my sorority, am trying my best to compensate by hanging out outside or in Griffin Lounge. I want it to be known that because of what happened to the CoHo, Griffin Lounge should be considered the new CoHo – a place to talk, gather and eat.
I cannot tell you how many times I have been “shushed” in Griffin Lounge and I’m tired of it. I think we all need to realize that Griffin has become a social atmosphere, and if you want quiet study time, you need to go upstairs to Art or King Lounge. With the cold weather approaching, Griffin will probably be louder than ever, and we all need to come to terms with that.
TINA PORCELLI,Senior, sociology major
