Birth Control is Out of Control

The number of girls that I have met at SMU who use a form of contraception has continued to astound me. Out of the ten girls in my hall, seven of them take a birth control pill each morning before their classes. Five of these Freshmen girls have already been sexually active at SMU, whereas the other two take the pill because they were sexually active in high school. As for the remaining three, they have chosen the route of abstinence. The aspect of this scenario that makes me cringe is the fact that all seven of these ten girls have not told their parents about their decision to use birth control.

Although I believe it’s smart to take advantage of contraceptive methods if you choose to be sexually active, I’m having trouble pinpointing a time in one’s life when it is appropriate to participate in intercourse. It’s almost as if an overwhelming number of Freshmen girls have distorted college into their sweet escape from parental supervision and have made regrettable decisions as a result.

I can’t even begin to imagine what their mothers would think of their daughters if they knew that they were sexually active. I mean, come on! We are at college to get an education - not to have intercourse on the weekends and weekdays we go out.

Not so Giddy About Giddy-Up

SMU’s nighttime shuttle service, referred to by students as “Giddy-Up,” is a key component to the safety of the SMU campus. While I have used this complimentary service on numerous occasions, I will not hesitate to say that Giddy-Up has really disappointed me.

Giddy-Up is scheduled to begin at seven o’clock P.M. and shut down at three o’clock A.M. every day of the week. Yet last month when I called at 9:00, 9:15, and then at 9:30 P.M. only to receive five rings and a voicemail from Giddyy-Up’s supervisor, I began to grow very frustrated. There was no good reason for Giddy-Up to not answer their phone during peak business hours.

I decided that I would indeed walk alone across the dark and chilly campus to get to the Student Learning Center. I then saw two Giddy-Up drivers parked next to each other on a grassy patch of lawn just laughing with each other as they chatted. I thought to myself: “They’re getting paid for this?” What if I had been calling over and over again for that half hour because I was legitimately endangered?

The fact of the matter is that it wasn’t comforting to witness the one service that I have been told to depend on as a safety precaution leisurely lounge around. They acted as if they had nothing better to do. If this had happened on one occasion I would have thought nothing of it. But because I have experienced the same dilemma several times since the first incident, I’m beginning to think that our campus isn’t as safe as the students perceive it to be.

Is it Time to Rush Rush?

Although the majority of SMU’s Freshman class anxiously awaits Rush Week, there is no doubt that most of us are nervous wrecks regarding the matter. But I mean come on, when we are constantly warned that sorority girls are spying on us, there’s no question that we’re going to get a little nervous.

That’s when I ask myself: “Do I really want to be a part of the Greek System?” Technically speaking, we’re all supposed to just “be ourselves” until we are asked to join a House. But let’s be realistic, that’s not all it takes to be able to join a sorority.

Spur of the moment coffee meet-ups occur at least a couple times a week. Senior, Junior, and Sophomore girls will ask for your number and text you as if they’ve known you their whole life. Oh, and when they invite you to their sorority’s ice cream social or cook-out, you really can’t say no.

It’s as if every day is a phony cycle of smiles and bubbly encounters. No one can truly tell who is being genuine and who is putting on an act just for the purpose of recruitment. Maybe it’s time that SMU designated the Rush process to take place at the beginning on the school year. Until then, expect the spurious social interactions to continue for months on end.