Davidson College - Quips and Cranks Yearbook (Davidson, NC)

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Freshman Howie Moyes will thlnl twice befor hitting the ski slopes again. A gathering of the wounded swapa war itoflet on the

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College: to your health? i , vs Amidst all the confusion of learning my way around campus during freshman orien- tation, the one building that I remember en- tering for the first time is the college infir- mary. My naive hopes of never having to cross that street again were all in vain, as I soon found out that college can be very hazardous to one ' s health. Doesn ' t it seem that, at one time, there are more people maneuvering around cam- pus on crutches and complaining of flu symptoms at Davidson than there are on General Hospital? We all agree that the incredible amount of analyzing, figuring, translating, reporting, and organizing that we do and the lack of pure vegetation that we indulge in can lead to ail sorts of mental and emotional disor- ders, problems, complexes, and malfunc- tions, but the amount of physical illness that is suffered here is astounding to any- one. (And people wonder why we have so many pre-meds!) Tendonitis and sprained ankles are no fun to have, granted, but why do they occur with our students on an almost daily basis? We aren ' t climbing the Adirondacks — and not even very many stairs! And what about the phenomenal number of colds that we and our peers suffer through, consum- ing truckloads of Robitussin AC (the good kind with codeine) and entire for- ests worth of Kleenex? This is North Caroli- na, not the North Pole, for you non-English majors. Perhaps we Davidson students are just exceptionally clumsy or maybe we just think so hard at times that we forget to pay attention to where we are going or what we are doing and just happen to walk off a curb abruptly or accidentally miss one or two steps . . . The fact remains that no matter how hard one tries, almost everyone eventually pays a visit to the nostalgic Preyer Infirma- ry during the course of his Davidson career. Gpon sight of the medicine cabinets and equipment, reminiscent of the 1940 ' s, one is instantly swept back through time. But rest assured — with all of the experience the nurses have accumulated from caring for young patients, they are sure to get you back on your feet and back in class as soon as possible — unless, of course, you suffer from one of those incurable diseases such as Sophomore Slump or Senioritis . . . — Patricia Lennon 26 STUDENT LIFE

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Safe Roads Act affects social atmosphere The signs have changed. Those brightly colored, sometimes elaborate, sometimes cryptic signs put up around campus to an- nounce band parties and discos simply read SAE — After the game — 5 i egs or After disco — kegs — be there ; they now read Party before you come and bring l.D. Other signs aren ' t plastered all over cam- pus, but they are there. The Fiji ' s bought a party bus to transport partiers back and forth from campus to their house. Eighteen- year-olds don ' t buy liquid refreshment at Food Lion and 7-Eleven anymore. Perhaps the change most noticed by the majority is the absence of pitchers in the 900 Room, designed to control who ' s drinking what. They ' re all signs — signs of the new Safe Roads Act of 1983 and the effect it has had on Davidson ' s already limited social scene. The Safe Roads Act, passed by the Morth Carolina legislature in May of 1983 and tak- ing effect October 1, was designed to re- duce the number of alcohol-related driving accidents by raising the legal drinking age for beer and wine from eighteen to nineteen and strengthening the laws already on the books. Penalties for driving under the influ- ence of alcohol are now stiffer, the sale or purchase of alcohol to or by a minor results in the loss of driver ' s license and or fines, and a recent national law makes a bartend- er responsible for serving an already intoxi- cated person. Most affected by the laws are, of course, freshmen who are still under nineteen. But the law is viewed by most Davidson stu- dents as an irritation, rather than a deter- rent. Students must have an ID to get into the parties or into the 900 Room, and those whose IDs were so rudely stamped in scar- let Under 19 must go to the trouble of obtaining and consuming their alcohol be- fore going to the party, changing the age-old dilemma of making it home after the revel- ry to one of making it there at all. A major protest raged on campus for sev- eral weeks after the decision to ban pitch- ers from the 900 Room, led by those who thought they were out of reach, the 19-year- olds and older. Most protests against the law have been subtle, but the criticisms are present. Some people are incensed by the age change, claiming an 18-year-old who can vote or go to war and die like an adult can also make an adult decision about drinking. Others are offended by the obvious blame for the ma- jority of drinking related accidents being placed on the 18-year-old age group Some have even suggested that college students should be exempt from the laws since we don ' t drive anywhere anyway! The criticisms usually stop at the age change. Most students agree with the rest of the world that alcoholism and related accidents must be curbed and that the laws were not strong enough. Then there is still the shady connection between the new drinking laws and the Hon- or Code (or is it the Code Of Responsibility ... as mentioned above, it ' s still shady . . . ). So, the signs are different now. But . . . the parties are there, the beer trucks are there, and the open bars are there . . . and more often than not, the freshmen are there. — Christi Hayes May I see your l.D.? Senior Jeff Tilbury greets par- ty-goers at the door of the FIJI house. Patterson court houses have begun checking I.D. ' s and stamping hands in an effort to curtail underage consumption of alcohol. 28 STaDENT LIFE