Dear Me:
How come everybody living on campus leaves on the weekends?
Bored in Lucille Clement HallDear Bored:
There are several reasons that students living on campus leave.
There are 12,111 students enrolled at ETSU this semester according to the admissions office. According to the housing office, there are approximately 1,595 students living in the dorms, 408 students living in Buc Ridge apartments and 112 students in Buc Village married student housing. That is a total of 2,115 students on campus of 12,111.
Which means for you, that even if everyone who lives on campus stayed for the weekend, it would still be dead. So, many people leave because of that very reason.
I asked a variety of on-campus residents why they left every weekend, and they replied that they live extremely close, which many ETSU students do, and because Friday and Saturday nights at clubs and bars are generally not as advertised and pumped up as Thursday nights.
I don’t know about that, because I hear a lot about events going on throughout the weekend.
So I guess the bottom line of my reply is that the on-campus community is extremely small compared to student population.
I guess it’s what you could call a “suitcase” college. Staying on campus, especially on weekends, is not the popular thing to do, so everyone on campus keeps their bags packed.
Look at it on the bright side: parking close is never a problem.

Dear Me:
Why do I see more John Kerry signs on this campus than Bush signs? We are in a Republican part of the country.
Democrat Overload in Evergreen Apartments,

Dear Overload:
I have wondered the same thing in the past months.
I think it is because being a Democrat is somewhat of a trend among young people.
If you are a Bush fan, some people see you as homophobic because of Bush being against same-sex marriages.
Republicans are often seen as bigots by the Democratic party, according to the Democratic web site.
It is way cooler to not state your true viewpoint than to be called an idiot and close-minded because of your stance on stem-cell research or abortion.
I’m not saying that all Democrats view Republicans this way, but some of them do. I feel like Bush supporters feel ashamed at times because many people are against the war in Iraq.
Now, this column is not to discuss who is right or wrong, but I think political pressure discourages some college students from voicing their opinions.
I know that there are more Bush supporters than there are signs.
E-mail “Me” any questions you may have on anything from etiquette to sex to general wonderings you may have. I reserve the right to edit your question for length or profanity. E-mail: askmeetsu@hotmail.com.

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