While some discuss the ratio of endowment money used for financial aid, recent murders of loved students and security, others explore the quirkier side of campus life. How do cops determine the value of drugs? What dog breed truly represents Texas A&M? Answer that burning question: Can I recite ‘Fahrenheit 451′ by heart? Will a superhero outfit bring about better understanding?
How is the street value of marijuana determined?
The City of Ann Arbor might have some of the most lax pot laws around, but when local police recover the drug, it’s the federal government that determines its value.
The United States Drug Enforcement Agency puts a $1,000 price tag on one pound of marijuana, but according to Michigan state police Lt. Garth Burnside, who heads the Narcotics Enforcement Team in Washtenaw County, this figure doesn’t account for the range of qualities - or prices - in the marijuana market.
To determine an approximate street value of drugs, the DEA keeps a record of drug busts that occur throughout the country. Published in a report known as “Trends in Trafficking,” the DEA takes into account the price, quantity and quality of drugs confiscated in the busts.
Burnside that while it’s difficult to gauge a market with so many factors, the $1,000 figure for a pound of marijuana seemed appropriate.
Full Story from The Michigan Daily
Texas A&M U.’s great mascot debate
Improving diversity has long been championed as Texas A&M University’s vision for the future. With the retirement of the A&M mascot, Reveille VII, and her grand exit at the Corps of Cadets final review on May 10, the debate has been raging about whether diversity will be considered when selecting her replacement.
“I think Reveille VIII should be an American collie because it’s tradition, and isn’t that what A&M’s all about?” freshman general studies major Emily Hudson said.
Many aren’t so sure.
“Reveille should be a mutt. [Collies] are really spastic and hard to train. And mutts, since they have a mixture of all different genes, they tend to be a lot smarter,” junior marketing major Kelley Baxter said.
Full Story from The Battalion
Northwestern senior attempts to recite ‘Fahrenheit 451′ from memory
Sitting on a platform in a small room in Kresge Hall Saturday, Weinberg senior Alex Robins attempted to recite from memory Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451.”
Before the event, on Thursday afternoon, he had said he fully expected the attempt to be “a complete and utter failure.”
“The truth of the matter is, I don’t know it perfectly and there are going to be huge gaps,” Robins said. “But at every turn, I’m interested in this not necessarily as a demonstration of mental acuity but one of a gesture, sort of like an ethical gesture that this is something one should try to do, to try and know as much as possible and that goes even to the level of books.”
And a failure it was - at least as a flawless recitation. Robins’ small and inconstant audience witnessed not a perfect display of memorization so much as his process of memorizing the novel, which features a future totalitarian state in which books are banned.
Full Story from The Daily Northwestern
Super Queer: Bowling Green student portrays superhero to raise gay rights awareness
Ze walks through the Union alone, a black and pink triangle mask hiding the chocolate-brown eyes that dominate hir narrow face.
A rainbow flag trails behind hir as students stare questioningly at the giant pink Q dominating the baggy T-shirt ze wears. Ze smiles in their direction, walks up to their table and asks them how the weather is.
Just another day in the life of Super Queer.
For senior Jennifer Dietsch, or Super Queer as she is known when in costume, living the life of a gay female can often feel like living behind a mask.
“I don’t want any kid out there to cry every night like I did because they think they’re a freak for being attracted to the same gender or sex,” Dietsch said. “If there is someone in the closet out there who sees Super Queer and knows that gays are around on campus, then they might not be so scared when it’s time for them to come out.”
Full Story from The BG News