Officially uninvolved

So tomorrow is "Unofficial." This drinkfest has several entries on the Urban Dictionary website, including such statements:

"The holiday began when students realized St. Patrick's Day was falling during Spring Break and they would not be able to celebrate it...has been said that more drinking occurs on Unofficial at UofI than occurs at many other schools during the entire year...begins at 8am...campus police guard the large lecture halls...created by local bar owners to make money...hundreds of citations and arrests..." and so on.

Some accuse advertising firms (hired by bar owners) of posing as students on Facebook, where over 23,000 people have RSVP'ed "yes" to the yearly event. Since 1996, it's exploded sorta like the green goo on "You Can't Do That on Television" - landing on Campustown and the heads of our community.

Most students - from here and from schools all over the midwest who are coming to OUR town for this monstrous party - seem to echo the sentiments of Ina Abraham (Senior, Business), quoted on the Daily Illini's Facebook page:

"I think it's a uniting factor. Everyone's super excited, it's such a happy day, everyone knows about it, professors don't assign as much homework...it's definitely a day when everyone is in a lighter mood. Especially for seniors, since it's our last one too, so it's like, go big or go home."

But junior John Moreland feels differently:

"I think it's the epitome of irresponsibility. It's unfortunate that students put on a really bad rap here because of that. I know that people outside of the University don't look at it as something that's good, and I'm disappointed that a lot of students participate in this activity and put on a bad example of students at the U of I."

I'm not going to be righteous. I went to Southern and actually experienced Halloween when it was legit and absolutely unreal. I've done plenty of drinking and I'm far from a teetotaler now. But I take issue with the biggest box store in town SELLING T-SHIRTS for tomorrow!! It's a dash of business genius with a whole lotta reprehensible greed (no surprise there).

The whole thing is reckless and dangerous - something I didn't fully realize or frankly care about when I was an undergrad standing outside Gatbsy's in Carbondale. That's pretty typical of a college partier. None of it surprises me, but now that I'm years (YEARS) older than the big banged co-ed I used to be, I worry. I worry about the kids (many underage) who will drink outrageous amounts of alcohol from dawn til pass out...who'll do some really stupid things...who could get hurt or worse.

It's doubtful that a college student is reading this, but if by some chance you ARE young and you ARE going to make a sloppy mess of yourself tomorrow, PLEASE try to be careful. Click HERE to read the official Unofficial rules and do your best to avoid tickets or citations. When your head and stomach tell you to stop, STOP. Drink lots of water and a Gatorade Saturday morning, and be thankful that you made it safely through the adventure.