COLUMN: Have fun this weekend, but please be safe
To all of our new students, welcome to Central Michigan University.
To all of our returning students, welcome back.
I am tasked with managing the editorial side of our newsroom and reporting to our editor-in-chief, Jordyn Hermani. I will write articles and columns throughout the year, but the focus is never on me or our other editors or reporters.
The focus is on you – the students.
If you read today’s editorial, you understand that our staff at CM Life values the student body. Our stories reflect you and we do our best to keep up-to-date with the topics that are of importance to you.
This weekend is an exciting time for our student body: Welcome Weekend.
Leadership Safari has now ended and students are pouring into the residence halls, moving in to their apartments or townhomes and prepping for fun activities – headlined by Saturday’s Mainstage.
Then, of course, is the partying.
This will be a great weekend to catch up with old friends and make new ones. Enjoy Welcome Weekend and make memories. I am not saying don’t go out and have fun.
But please, please, please be safe this weekend. Don’t do anything stupid.
After speaking with local police agencies in the past week, I have learned of the citations and arrests officers have issued in recent years. The majority of these are because of people making stupid decisions and not following the law.
While drinking can be fun and enjoyable, please know your limit. Our student newspaper does not want to report on a student going to the hospital due to alcohol poisoning, or an even worse fate.
I advise you to know the rules, follow the laws, obey the police and look out for one another. If someone has been drinking and plans to drive, please don’t let them. Call a cab. We have Uber now.
Keep each other safe, please. Nighttime in Mount Pleasant can be scary. Bring your friends and look out for each other. Please limit fighting and screaming to none. You have neighbors, you know.
If you are bringing visitors, make sure they follow the rules and laws.
I know this sounds like a rant, but I mean it with all my heart. As a senior on this campus, I know the dangers Welcome Weekend can pose. With hundreds of people coming to Mount Pleasant with the goal of partying, it can sometimes get out of control.
As you celebrate this weekend, have fun and keep each other safe.
Chippewas look out for one another.
