Behavior not Unique to UNH

For the past several weeks, the UNH campus had been buzzing with anticipation for the Avicii concert, which finally took place this past Saturday. As expected, many UNH students and other concert attendees were "hydrated" as Tom Brady might put it, but it is important to note that behavior like this is not unique to the UNH campus.

UNH police announced that 34 arrests were made at the concert. Many of the arrests were related to drugs and alcohol, which should be expected not because this is UNH, but because it was A) a concert and B) it was located at a college campus. It is also important to note that due to New Hampshire's internal possession law, arrest numbers are often higher than at schools located in other states. For example, when SCOPE brought rapper Wiz Khalifa to UNH last year, there were 48 arrests made on campus that night, as opposed to only two at the same show the night before at the University of Rhode Island.

These statistics are misleading. While one may argue that they show UNH has more disruptive and out of control students, the statistics actually reflect more on New Hampshire's strict alcohol consumption laws. An internal possession violation in New Hampshire will result in an arrest, while it would only result in a citation in other states.

This misleading stat is similar to the "study" done by The Daily Beast last year that ranked UNH as the "Druggiest School in the Country." The Daily Beast used the number of arrests related to drugs as their major statistic. High arrest numbers can also be attributed to UNH's zero tolerance policy and New Hampshire's drug laws. For example, possession of certain amounts of marijuana in Massachusetts or Vermont will only result in a citation, while any amount results in an arrest in New Hampshire.

While that means UNH has more arrests for marijuana than other schools, it does not mean that UNH students are using drugs more than others. UNH students simply get in more trouble for it.

If that study were to be done accurately, it would need to include citations issued for drug use along with the arrest numbers. In a way, it is kind of amusing because UNH is only being labeled as a top drug school because our policy is so strict. It is also important to note that the arrest numbers do not separate UNH students from non-students. Many of the biggest party weekends at UNH, including Homecoming, Halloween and Spring Climax, are also the biggest weekends for non-UNH students to come to our campus.

In fact, if you compare the statistics provided by The Daily Beast with statistics from UNH Health Services, UNH students actually use marijuana at a lower rate than the statewide average for 18-25 year olds. The Daily Beast listed New Hampshire's statewide average as 29.21 percent for the month prior to the survey and 41.54 percent for the year prior. Last year, UNH Health Services said that only 27 percent of UNH students admitted to using marijuana on the Housing surveys.

You are probably wondering by now why I am bringing all of this up. I feel that whenever stories break about UNH and illegal activities, it only dampens our school's reputation.

Following the announcement that 34 people were arrested (Update: of which only 14 were UNH students) at the Avicii concert, many local papers, including Foster's Daily Democrat, the New Hampshire Union Leader, the Nashua Telegraph, and even Boston.com ran brief stories. (Then again, has the Union Leader ever written anything positive about UNH?) Many of these write-ups also mentioned the fire at the salt shed as if there is evidence that the two were connected. While this is possible, it seems highly unlikely because the fire was called in at 7:30 p.m., when the concert was already underway.

When large concerts and events come to college campuses you should expect students and non-students to be arrested for drugs and alcohol – those come with the territory. However, we should not allow the few people who went too far, who may or may not even be UNH students, to hurt the reputation of this campus. UNH is already known as a party school, but once you attend it, you realize that it really isn't any different than most schools, especially public state schools for that matter.

Stay classy, not UMassy.

UNH Drug-gate won't go away...

Due to my expertise on UNH nightlife and drugs (or supposed expertise that is) I was interviewed by the Portsmouth Herald on what I am dubbing "UNH Drug-gate." I've already had one of my coined terms (University of Nice Herb) used in the paper, I suspect "Drug-gate" will be used next. (Side note: I don't know if I really came up with U of Nice Herb, but I've never heard it used before.) Anyways, the article talked about a statement released by a UNH spokes person, then featured yours truly for a while and then used some quotes by other students. I'm glad to say my quotes actually made some points, as apposed to saying "derh high people walk around UMass derh." Okay, I added the "derhs," but I think you get the point.

Here is the important part of the article about me. Because that is what really matters... (Am I right?)

A UNH student, who writes the anonymous column "The New Hampshirite" in the school's student-run newspaper, agreed with Mantz.


"I really don't think UNH deserves being labeled a drug campus, let alone the 'druggiest campus,'" the anonymous columnist said, declining to give his name for this story. "As far as how prevalent drugs are, aside from alcohol, marijuana is probably the most used. I remember a UNH Health Services ad from earlier this year that said 73 percent of UNH students don't use marijuana. So, if 27 percent do use marijuana, that is actually lower than what The Daily Beast had as the statewide average for 18- to 25-year-olds."


The New Hampshirite columnist frequently writes about the party and night life atmosphere at UNH. While he admitted marijuana and cocaine may be used on a smaller level at the university, he said drugs like Adderall, which are typically prescribed for hyperactivity and attention disorders, are abused more at UNH.


"I hear about more students taking Adderall to pull all-nighters — especially now that it is finals week — than just about any other drug," he said.


The columnist said he was surprised when he heard about the ranking, and particularly by the use of on-campus arrests in the determination of the final score. According to The New Hampshirite, because of UNH's zero tolerance policy, more arrests are made. The school doesn't give initial warnings or citations for drug use. A zero tolerance policy allows punishment on the first offense.


"Since UNH has a zero tolerance policy, we have more arrests than most colleges," he said. "In a way, we were only ranked No. 1 because of how strict the rules are here."


(You can read the less important part of the article here. Really good piece though, big thanks to the author for using me as a source!)

Thats some damn good quote usage there. First the Union Leader and now the Portsmouth Herald. When is some newspaper finally going to write an investigative feature piece on The New Hampshirite. Think about it. Who is the New Hampshirite? Is it more than one person? Who is the anonymous (and most likely devilishly handsome) person behind the University of Nonsensical Happenings, the student run blog that is taking over Durham (...and the world)? Who is this masked vigilante taking down one university figure head after another? (Too far?)

One final thought on this whole "Drug-gate" thing... As one of my brothers said  "druggiest isn't even a real word... that's like saying The Daily Beast is the worstiest blog."  In all fairness, druggiest doesn't have that red squibble under it, so some internet dictionary must have it, but you get the point. (However, worstiest and squibble both have the red squibble.)

Stay classy, not UMassy

Follow Up Thoughts on UNH's Drug Use

I've been working on a research paper all day and I need a quick break from that type of writing...

So, I would just like to take a few moments to follow up on yesterday's post about UNH's number 1 drug ranking in the country. First of all, there is noway that list is accurate at all and it only takes a little statistical analysis (and common sense) to realize that. UNH has a zero tolerance policy, meaning if you have one tiny little marijuana seed or tidbit of pot on you, you will be arrested. Many other schools, such as Vermont, simply issue you a citation much like a speeding ticket. That means while UNH has more arrests for marijuana than other schools, it does not mean that UNH students are using pot more than others. We simply get in more trouble for it. If that study was to be done accurately it would need to include citations issued for drug use along with the arrest numbers. If that were the case, I would highly doubt UNH would even crack the top 10, if it would even make the list. Now, do a fair amount students here use pot? Yes. But I guarantee it is not any higher (and actually probably less) than most of the other schools on that list.

It a way it is kind of amusing because UNH is only being labeled a top drug school because our policy is so strict. Either way, it is completely ridiculous that this has been made into a big story. I mean it's the "Daily Beast" a glorified internet blog that made a slideshow. There really is no solid evidence to back up their claims. This is just another case of the conservative media trying to make us all look bad... I wouldn't be surprised if Stephenson Billings of Christwire was behind this list...

Stay classy, not UMassy.