There's an article in Monday's Daily Illini about the George Mason Patriots magical run through the NCAA tournament.

Over the course of time the allure of NBA dollars along with the ever increasing talent pool have resulted in some NCAA parody. Every so often a Missouri Valley team or a Patriot League squad is secretly primed and ready for a tourney run. They are a veteran squad because their kids haven't gotten the publicity to leave early. The "mid-majors" also get overlooked by the high school burger boys at the North Carolina's of the world. The result is George Mason. How can you hate it?

Reread that first sentence. Yes. He said '... resulted in some NCAA parody.' PARODY?!?!?!? Surely he meant 'parity' right? In addition to this article Billy Joe Mills writes an article where he attacks those that choose to drink and sin their way through college. It's a completely uncreative rant where rehashes the 'rebels are all actually just conformists' mindset. Gee, that's real out-of-the-box thinking I've never heard before. I think the hidden assumption here is that people choose one of two paths through college and that simply isn't the case. Yes, I did have my share of Tuesday nights on campus where I went out and got completely tossed. But yes, I also had my share of Saturday nights where I stayed in and did homework till well past midnight. College is a unique place where people don't necessarily live by a set schedule. Kids are exposed to alot of new stimuli and responsibility for the first time in their lives, and being so young, they do occasionally make mistakes in judgement. The vast majority of my friends were known to over-imbibe on particular nights in college, but in the years since, they've moved on with their lives, gotten real jobs, gotten married, etc. And to be honest, as unpopular as what I am about to say might be, I firmly believe it. Drinking has *ALWAYS* been a part of college. Yes, I acknowledge the fact that the binge drinking culture has accelerated in the last 20 years. But I also believe that a college environment is one of the safest places to learn about the effects of alcohol. There is no driving associated with social plans in college, and being on a college campus, you generally know alot more people around you. Anyways, the real point of this whole rant about drinking was to point out this little gem in the Daily Illini article

The culture that I critique is exactly what makes Illinois students unique and more well-rounded than our supposedly superior Ivy League peers. Harvardvarks lack the social skills, easy-going personalities, and friendliness that Illinois cultivates.

Now, I am certainly not sure of how much research went into this statement, but I must argue this point with him. Students at Illinois are generally 18-21 year-olds from big city suburbs that did fairly well in high school and are away from home for the first time in their lives. Students at Ivy League schools are generally 18-21 year-olds from big city suburbs that did really well in high school and are away from home for the first time in their lives. I don't see the major difference. I don't know about the author's experience, but I personally know good friends that have gone to Princeton, Yale, UPenn, Duke, Stanford, etc (before you correct me, yes I am aware that Duke and Stanford are not Ivy League schools). Are students at those schools generally more motivated and naturally gifted that students at Illinois. I would say that is a definite yes. But they also have hobbies, social lives, and on the whole, are not too different from kids at a large state school. The DI has really reached a new low in some of their editorial content. I have always been a supporter of the DI and having read newspapers at other schools, I can unequivocally say that they are far superior too most other paper, but the newspaper has really gone downhill in the last 2-3 years.