<p>FYI, I just copy some parts of a very long xanga entry describing Bear Day last week:</p>
<p>"SO we went to the frat house. which i didn't even realize was a jewish frat. HAHA we were herded into the room because the guy was like "i'm not having the police catch me with a bunch of underage regents here!" i actually thought the place smelled kind of nice, for a frat house. i THINK i may have just been smelling alcohol or something though, because when people started drinking i realized that the smell i was smelling got stronger. WELL i did not do anything. lucy, christina and i just sat on a couch watching people DO DRUGS and DRINK. whatever happened to our DARE education. HA jk. well i went over to watch them play beer pong, which is like throwing a ping pong ball into cups and the opposing team has to drink a cup of alcohol for each cup that a ball is thrown into. which actually looks fun. if it were done with soda. HAHA see how innocent i am. i am a prude. call me mel PRUFROCK~"</p>
<p>"we brought him back to our unit and talked. and we were just walking down the hall and then someone opened the room next to our host's and said something like COME IN and then our host was like "these are the kids who are deciding whether or not to go to cal" and the person was like OH ****. WELL ... come in anyway! it was a tiny dorm filled with loads of people. the people are SO NICE though i <3 once again people were drinking and drugging. i can't believe i was in the room NEXT door and couldn't even hear any of it. but i guess if i were trying to sleep, i'd hear it going on."</p>
<p>As Berkeley student, I do see that there are students at Berkeley who use drugs and do drink. But then again, I also see many of my peers who choose not to drink and choose not to do drugs.</p>
<p>I hosted a student as well. Instead of taking him to a fraternity, I gave him a private tour of campus, showing him the Campanile, the science buildings (LeConte, Pimentel, etc.) and other campus trivia. Also took him up to one of the buildings that was open to see the Bay Area at night (the Golden Gate Bridge, Bay Bridge, and SF) And we stayed up pretty late just answering his questions in my residence hall, without any drinks or drugs. At night, I took him down to Pauley Ballroom where students were having a late night activity hosted by the university (and thus no alcohol or drugs). He had a great time and might be coming to Cal. Some of my other friends did the same.</p>
<p>When my parents moved me in, I told them, before they left: "Trust me. You've been wonderful parents for the past 18 years, and it's not going to stop anytime soon. But, you also need to know that the values that you've instilled in me are still there. You might worry, but know that I'll do the right thing--always." </p>
<p>Each student will choose to do his or her own thing. But Berkeley, far from being a school fo 30,000 drug addicts and alcoholics, has students across the board.</p>
<p>Alcohol Edu is a joke. We had to take the same course as incoming students at Penn, and pretty much the only benefit is that if you get an alcohol violation after having completed the course then the penalty is less severe. While it is good for people to know basic facts about how to calculate the number of drinks that will affect BAC, it is silly to believe that this course will cut down on underage or risky drinking. The issue is the social culture of most colleges, not something that can be addressed by "Alcohol Edu".</p>