Andrew
10-01-03, 08:09 PM
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Powerful Stimulants: Steroids of Studying?
By PHIL DUREZA
As the school year's first set of prelims approaches, many Cornellians will be tackling the academic challenge by once again relying on perennial sure-fire foundations of success. The gist of such strategies includes completing all assignments, studying diligently, and, let's not forget, taking a lot of drugs. Yes kids. It's test time at Cornell again, which means that in the ensuing weeks, more Ritalin and Adderal will be consumed than would be in a month-long national reading convention for kids with ADHD.
If you ever wonder why, as exam day draws nearer, some students get more and more hyped and energized -- instead of having the normal reactions like panicking, randomly cursing out loud, and making up tragedies about terminally-ill third cousins to professors -- it's not because of a particular love of learning. That's just unheard of. More than likely, they are probably doped up on powerful stimulants and hence can find even the behavioral spawning of earthworms exciting.
During this intense studying period before exams, Cornell is transformed from a benign educational institution catering to upper middle class, privileged kids, to a drug-flowing wonderland where libraries become drug havens, study groups hook fresh members into Ritalin addiction, and desperate students barter their parents' SUV in exchange for a 'quick fix.'
It's a scene right out of Trainspotting: sleepless, fetid students in an unkempt graduate lounge, wired from Adderal, clutching their textbooks tensely, unable to stop answering Orgochem problems sets. Oh the Horror.
The pervasiveness of stimulant use on campus is so regular that many students assert that acquiring prescription stimulants is relatively simple. One even hinted at a network of drug suppliers and alleged, "You can have an easier time finding Adderal [in Cornell] than you can finding a party." But then again, the chances of striking oil in Cornell are greater than finding a party.
In addition, the prevalence of Ritalin and Adderal consumption at Cornell has been noted by researchers to have caused some ecological changes in the environment. For example, our local squirrels, which have been inadvertently getting coked-up off the fallen pills from students' pockets, have become increasingly more aggressive, turning into a super breed of squirrels that are fearless of humans and have even been known to heckle engineering undergrads on the way to class. If you think I'm joking, try charging at one of these tough little critters and see who backs down.
With the heavy student consumption of prescription stimulants, one might say that Cornell has a serious drug problem in its hands and thus should start sending the University police to patrol Uris Library and arrest those seen blinking too rapidly. However, this particular drug dilemma is really quite unique and unorthodox by nature.
For one, prescription stimulants are not exactly illegal. Individuals with learning disorders such as ADHD can gain regular access to these drugs, which means that, in America's world of over-diagnosing psychiatrists, three year olds who can't sing along verbatim to Sesame Street can be diagnosed with a learning disorder and consequently qualify to have a wheelbarrow full of Dexadrine mailed to their house.
Secondly, prescription stimulants, unlike other drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, alcohol, are rarely consumed as social drugs which enhance a social experience, but, instead are taken to increase one's studying ability. A particular student, for instance, told me how after four hours of work, he was able to study extensively for another four hours because of Adderal. In cases like this, the consumption of prescription stimulants is induced by students' desire to do well academically, bringing this drug issue to a whole new ball field.
Just as some athletes take performance-enhancing drugs to play better, many students who consume prescription stimulants -- barring those who legitimately have learning disorders, of course -- do so to improve their intellectual prowess. Are psychostimulants like Ritalin, Adderal, and Dexadrine then the steroids of higher learning? As one student claimed, "If I had discovered [Adderal] a few years ago I'd be working for NASA right now."
Arguably, psychostimulant users artificially become unfairly juiced-up, all-star students of academia. With their brain-enhancing drugs giving them an extra boost, they soon may dominate the competition, acing all the tests, taking all the cool jobs, getting all the hot girls, and leaving the sober rest of us to be marginalized in society and employed by a weather channel in Siberia. "Temperatures for this week: Freezing."
On the other hand, some students who use prescription stimulants contend that their rampant drug consumption is really not their own fault but instead place the blame on -- what else -- the University's hyper-stressful environment. With Cornell's cut-throat, competitive atmosphere driving otherwise normal individuals to pimp out their siblings for extra credit, those who simply can't do the work use prescription stimulants as a way to level the playing field. As another student stated, "[stimulants] help me keep up with all the nerds around here."
So where to take sides in all of this? Perhaps President Lehman, as the first act following his inauguration, should just ensure that every dining hall serve a healthy dose of Dexadrine in each meal doled out. And after that, we all get to go out in a booze cruise paid for by our academic advisors. Well, maybe in our psychedelic dreams.
Despite their widespread consumption, prescription stimulants are really far from miracle drugs that give users special intellectual advantages. Instead of the steroid analogy, using psychostimulants to study is more comparable to taking aphrodisiacs for sex. Some people need them; some people don't. Anyway, it's all in the head.
Phil Dureza is a senior in the College of Arts of Sciences at Cornell University.
Powerful Stimulants: Steroids of Studying?
By PHIL DUREZA
As the school year's first set of prelims approaches, many Cornellians will be tackling the academic challenge by once again relying on perennial sure-fire foundations of success. The gist of such strategies includes completing all assignments, studying diligently, and, let's not forget, taking a lot of drugs. Yes kids. It's test time at Cornell again, which means that in the ensuing weeks, more Ritalin and Adderal will be consumed than would be in a month-long national reading convention for kids with ADHD.
If you ever wonder why, as exam day draws nearer, some students get more and more hyped and energized -- instead of having the normal reactions like panicking, randomly cursing out loud, and making up tragedies about terminally-ill third cousins to professors -- it's not because of a particular love of learning. That's just unheard of. More than likely, they are probably doped up on powerful stimulants and hence can find even the behavioral spawning of earthworms exciting.
During this intense studying period before exams, Cornell is transformed from a benign educational institution catering to upper middle class, privileged kids, to a drug-flowing wonderland where libraries become drug havens, study groups hook fresh members into Ritalin addiction, and desperate students barter their parents' SUV in exchange for a 'quick fix.'
It's a scene right out of Trainspotting: sleepless, fetid students in an unkempt graduate lounge, wired from Adderal, clutching their textbooks tensely, unable to stop answering Orgochem problems sets. Oh the Horror.
The pervasiveness of stimulant use on campus is so regular that many students assert that acquiring prescription stimulants is relatively simple. One even hinted at a network of drug suppliers and alleged, "You can have an easier time finding Adderal [in Cornell] than you can finding a party." But then again, the chances of striking oil in Cornell are greater than finding a party.
In addition, the prevalence of Ritalin and Adderal consumption at Cornell has been noted by researchers to have caused some ecological changes in the environment. For example, our local squirrels, which have been inadvertently getting coked-up off the fallen pills from students' pockets, have become increasingly more aggressive, turning into a super breed of squirrels that are fearless of humans and have even been known to heckle engineering undergrads on the way to class. If you think I'm joking, try charging at one of these tough little critters and see who backs down.
With the heavy student consumption of prescription stimulants, one might say that Cornell has a serious drug problem in its hands and thus should start sending the University police to patrol Uris Library and arrest those seen blinking too rapidly. However, this particular drug dilemma is really quite unique and unorthodox by nature.
For one, prescription stimulants are not exactly illegal. Individuals with learning disorders such as ADHD can gain regular access to these drugs, which means that, in America's world of over-diagnosing psychiatrists, three year olds who can't sing along verbatim to Sesame Street can be diagnosed with a learning disorder and consequently qualify to have a wheelbarrow full of Dexadrine mailed to their house.
Secondly, prescription stimulants, unlike other drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, alcohol, are rarely consumed as social drugs which enhance a social experience, but, instead are taken to increase one's studying ability. A particular student, for instance, told me how after four hours of work, he was able to study extensively for another four hours because of Adderal. In cases like this, the consumption of prescription stimulants is induced by students' desire to do well academically, bringing this drug issue to a whole new ball field.
Just as some athletes take performance-enhancing drugs to play better, many students who consume prescription stimulants -- barring those who legitimately have learning disorders, of course -- do so to improve their intellectual prowess. Are psychostimulants like Ritalin, Adderal, and Dexadrine then the steroids of higher learning? As one student claimed, "If I had discovered [Adderal] a few years ago I'd be working for NASA right now."
Arguably, psychostimulant users artificially become unfairly juiced-up, all-star students of academia. With their brain-enhancing drugs giving them an extra boost, they soon may dominate the competition, acing all the tests, taking all the cool jobs, getting all the hot girls, and leaving the sober rest of us to be marginalized in society and employed by a weather channel in Siberia. "Temperatures for this week: Freezing."
On the other hand, some students who use prescription stimulants contend that their rampant drug consumption is really not their own fault but instead place the blame on -- what else -- the University's hyper-stressful environment. With Cornell's cut-throat, competitive atmosphere driving otherwise normal individuals to pimp out their siblings for extra credit, those who simply can't do the work use prescription stimulants as a way to level the playing field. As another student stated, "[stimulants] help me keep up with all the nerds around here."
So where to take sides in all of this? Perhaps President Lehman, as the first act following his inauguration, should just ensure that every dining hall serve a healthy dose of Dexadrine in each meal doled out. And after that, we all get to go out in a booze cruise paid for by our academic advisors. Well, maybe in our psychedelic dreams.
Despite their widespread consumption, prescription stimulants are really far from miracle drugs that give users special intellectual advantages. Instead of the steroid analogy, using psychostimulants to study is more comparable to taking aphrodisiacs for sex. Some people need them; some people don't. Anyway, it's all in the head.
Phil Dureza is a senior in the College of Arts of Sciences at Cornell University.