# Open letter to my fellow students (long) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 1, 2006, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-my-fellow-students-long/342463 "2006-02-01T03:11:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-my-fellow-students-long/342463/41 "2006-02-02T12:27:31Z")
Damn, these were my exact thoughts in first year. Then I grew the fuck up and stopped fucking caring what other people were doing and wearing. After all, I worked to get here, all I need to worry about is making the most of it. Of course, cheating is bad. This stops me from making the most of my degree, since we’re all in competition. But what’s worse is University endorsed\* cheating. All the college kids (Americans read dorm) have access to many more previous exams than we do. Since they often just re-use questions in the exams, they get a greater advantage. It pisses me off to no avail to come out of an exam that I studied hard for, only to have a college kid in the group who says they didn’t study because they had the answers to the previous exams, when I didn’t even have a _previous_ exam. Not to mention they have all the answers to the mini take-home quizzes. \*Not endorsed so much as they know it’s going on, and they could stop it, but they don’t. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-my-fellow-students-long/342463/42 "2006-02-04T15:30:53Z")
> [@Palooka](#): > > You’ve certainly have an axe to grind against rich folks, eh? I didn’t take it that way. If you read the rant to the end, anyone lucky enough to be able to attend a world renowned institution like Duke is pretty “rich” when compared with the average human being in this world of ours. > [@Palooka](#): > > Anyway, cheating takes balls so don’t call them cowards. That isn’t right. What a complete load of bullshit! Cheating doesn’t “take balls.” Telling your friends that you have to study instead of going drinking takes balls. ---
**Author:** ![Penchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/74df32/32.png) [@Penchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penchan)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-my-fellow-students-long/342463/43 "2006-02-05T10:39:31Z")
> [@Dragonblink](#): > > Oh lordy, the Ugg boots. Those damn things are all over my campus, all year round. The typical undergraduate uniform here is Ugg boots, miniskirt, itty bitty tank top, scarf, gigantic Paris Hilton-style sunglasses, and bad bleach job. > > I swear, one day I was walking upstairs, happened to glance up, and discovered that the girl in front of me had a thong that matched her scarf. Where does one even buy a matching scarf/thong set?? …You’re…you’re so awesome…it’s like you read my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-my-fellow-students-long/342463/44 "2006-02-05T16:03:31Z")
There is nothing in your letter to suggest that you are not the kind of student I most loathe– **If you live off campus, you ought to behave.** I live in a quiet neighborhood a couple miles from campus. Last night the jerks next door had a house party with booming music and lots and lots of drunk people screaming outside until 3 a.m. I am so apartment-weary that I didn’t call the police, merely buried my head in my pillow and died a little inside. Apparently no one else called the police either, though the jerks richly deserved it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-letter-to-my-fellow-students-long/342463.md?page=2)