Stupid thing of the Day

fallingdeep:

greenrevolution:

In my haste to find bus tickets, I thought Bolt Bus had a bus going from NY to Boston at 8:30pm and I bought it instantly because I really needed to leave. Then I actually looked at the ticket. Boston to NY. Non-refundable. No buses available after 4pm going from NY to Boston. Fuck.

It was only $15, but wasted money of any amount still makes me cringe/cry on the inside.

I did that once.  Call them and explain the situation, usually they’ll give you a free voucher or something.  I know their policy says “no refunds,” but I’ve found that talking to a real person is usually successful.

I did that once buying tickets for a friend who was coming to visit me from NYC to Boston. I purchased Boston to NYC because I’m used to booking tickets for myself. He called and lied to the agency claiming I was his girlfriend and super excited to see him that I messed up booking the tickets. They thought it was sweet and changed his ticket for free.

jesuismilena:

“You can do semi-legal drugs. Marijuana, for example, is decriminalized in Massachusetts, but if you get caught smoking on campus, you’ll still have to deal with the Ad Board (conversely, you could just transfer to MIT, which has turned a blind eye to dorm room LSD production in the past).”

— Lena Chen

Ugh, I’d written a huge response to this but accidentally deleted it or something. Anyway… The LSD being made in a dorm room thing is probably more of a rumor than anything else. I’ve tried looking up actual information on this event— which, allegedly, ended up in an FBI bust, go figure, that lets you know the extent to which this is probably shit— and nothing came up. The rumor dates back to the 60s-70s, which is too far back for it to be relevant to your article because the fact that it *might have in some alternate universe* happened at some point does not mean the admins right now will let it slide. MIT admins are lenient when it comes to some things, but wouldn’t let drug production on campus slide. Imagine the shitstorm that would be if the media found out about it— and they would, given that they hover around campus all the fucking time. Take it as someone who knows people who do drugs: If people at MIT were able to make it, I’d probably have heard about it. Kids at MIT get their drugs elsewhere, usually sketchy alums.

In short, please inform yourself a bit better before making a statement like that that makes not only MIT admins look like they don’t do their job, but it also makes us MIT students as druggies so hardcore that we DIY. Fuck, I wouldn’t have expected that comment from someone who comes across as intelligent as you.

The LSD production involved only one person*, and during that era, MIT was under a completely different administration. I’d also like to point out if this did indeed happened it occurred in an era where LSD was more socially acceptable and the side-effects not as understood.

On a different note, I’d like to point out the case of Ryan Davis. This was a suicide that has been overlooked in recent years, but MIT asked/pressured/forced him to take a leave when some toxic gases were being admitted from his drug production. They also found other elicit substances on him and actually pressed serious criminal charges. This clearly illustrates that yes, even in recent years, there’s the occasional student who deals with DIY drugs, but if they’re caught, MIT is more than serious about the repercussions. However, while I understand why MIT handled that case the way they did, I’m still disgusted at their ability to turn their backs on students when it isn’t in their public interest to associate with them. While yes, producing drugs is a serious problem, the Institute helped facilitate a position where a student felt like he had no other option but to take his own life. If you want to talk about a gross irresponsibility of the MIT administration, it’s the suicide rate. But, please, only talk about it if you have knowledge of the previous suicides and the facts surrounding them. Do people even remember the names or the stories of the kids who have killed themselves in the recent years? We’re at roughly one suicide a year. That’s a statistic that shouldn’t exist. Also, a lot of times, the administrators could have prevented it.

I don’t believe Lena’s comment was intended to make MIT students appear like druggies that are so hardcore we do-it-ourselves. I think such a deduction from her original statement is misplaced offense. Either way, though, MIT does not turn the blind-eye (if you’re caught) to drug production, drug dealing, or anything that might harm their public image.

*I stand corrected from my old EIC on this being just “folklore.” An excerpt from the old housemaster’s memoir confirms this was indeed a real incident, which only makes you wonder more about how MIT has handled recent cases and how they would’ve handled that case if they had caught the student.