The Reporter

thurs !_™AA«_&*_Aa« ^A^iJli^' apr-o6 http://stetson.edu/reportsr 4 ^ ' ■_t*. ■ J1* ;?. & '"V ^%V ^ »*^ t*A, •v feSf*' t*?'" > ^f& , .- *.£ "V^a **' v }V». * ■ i^ . *_i A tf ;•«*• •&>. *•. t "«'A 1 J* . A. -> *- • V. "li. #*: 1 *■ «- > l* » "h * v j-vS- _ <\ '^ * ■«-. r* * 'a "SSVV ----:*. I <-l •*. I .11 \ I \ ■_.«>: -J -i Jr-M Michael Riggs news writer While not officially documented, the sellers of marijuana on campus claim that they traffic between $140,000 and $200,000 worth ofthe drug per academic year. "Each week, I sell anywhere from a quarter pound to one third of a pound of marijuana. I know at least three other guys who are moving the same amount," said an anonymous student. According to an anonymous political science major, "A quarter pound of Marijuana sells for roughly $1250, depending on the quality. I've paid as little as $1000, and have heard of other dealers paying as much as $1400, but the price is dependent on the quality, what people will pay, and how much is already on campus." Students who are recreational smokers of Marijuana purchase the drug in much smaller amounts. The most popular volume is "an eighth," which sells for roughly $50-$55, and is 1/8 of an ounce. "Most people who smoke moderately just buy an eighth, because it'll last them a while," said a student. "But I sell in increments as small as one gram for $20, all the way up to a full ounce, which costs about $300." The price fluctuates based on how well a dealer knows his buyer, and on the quality of the marijuana. "If it's got a.real funky smell and lots of hairs and crystals, I'll charge $55. If I've had it for a while or it's just sorry stuff, I'll charge about $50, and maybe give them a few tenths of a gram for free," said a student. "Some people are willing to pay more because they trust the quality of the product and the discretion of the student from which they're buying," said an anonymous recreational smoker. "I'm personally willing to a pay little more to someone who's willing to keep my identity private. Some dealers will suggest, through innuendo, which stu- ' dents are their clients, but I never buy from people like that." Dealers have a different view of the buyer-seller relationship. "Most of my clients are kind of naive, which is why I prefer to sell to the people I do. Buyers who are upstanding members of the university community are easy to rip off because they're scared of what they're doing, and because they want it to be kept secret," said a political science major. The dealers themselves buy their product from two or three regional dealers in the Deland and Orlando areas. "I knew people from back home who connected me with a guy in Orlando," said the political science major. "It's good to know at least two people in very different areas, because the prices can go through the roof when there's a [drug] bust here in Deland." One anonymous dealer said that although there is a large amount of Mari juana circulating around campus, there are only a handful of student dealers. "To my knowledge, there are only four or five of us pushing a quarter pound per dealer, per week. It's kind of like a trickle down effect—with two main dealers, and then five or so student dealers. But the number of people who are using that product is huge." Despite selling as much as they do in a week, most dealers aren't making a cash profit. "I could be making $100-150 per ounce I sell, but I'd rather smoke the profits," said a student. "Smoking the profits" is when a dealer takes a certain amount of product in return for selling the rest, as opposed to selling all of it and taking a portion of the cash profit. When asked why he wasn't concerned with making a cash profit, one dealer said, "It makes more sense for me to smoke the profits. I'm a recreational user, so I'd be buying anyway. By dealing, I'm cutting out my own middle man." Students who use Marijuana recreationally don't fit a specific profile, other than they all smoke. "I personally sell to first-years through seniors, as well as to people around Deland who are socially connected to the university," said one student. "Most of my clients are students in the middle class, although I've sold to some of the wealthier kids on campus as well" said a political science major. A variety of students use Marijuana recreationally. "I've been smok ing for several years, and am still a relatively successful student," said an anonymous marketing major. "I smoke about five times a day, which ends up being about three bowls for me. I even go to class high, but I still participate." Other students don't fare as well. Said one teacher education major, "I just started smoking within the last 12 months, and I would definitely say it has had a negative effect on my grades." Most smokers, however, say that like alcohol, there's a balance between smoking and other responsibilities. "At first, it made me lazy and unproductive, but then I came to the conclusion that it was simply a matter of timing. I pretty much restricted it to those weekends on which I didn't have a lot of homework. After that, it kind of became an occasional thing," said an anonymous English major. Most of the university's marijuana advocates are waiting for the day when they don't have to be covert about their activities. Such as these thoughts from an English major: "There are a lot of recreational smokers who are successful people, just like there are a lot of recreational drinkers who are successful people. Soon, our generation will be running things, and hopefully the legalization of marijuana will be that much closer." Contact Michael Riggs at [email protected]. SURE Grant recipients pursue research over summer Caitun Reagan news writer Ten university students have been selected to prepare themselves for extensive research funded by the Stetson Undergraduate Research Experience Grant this summer. The program offers free housing, a $2,000 stipend, and recipients can also apply for $500 for research and $500 for travel. The candidates were required to fill out an application along with a research proposal and an extensive outline as well as a plan for how they will use the money and time. Junior music performance major, Josiah Armes, will be studying the music of Maurice Durufle, modern French composer, as well as, "examining the influences on his music." "I will probably be spending most of the summer here in Deland, practicing like all good music majors should, doing independent study on my own, and ...searching for graduate schools. I'm not entirely boring, though, and so I'll probably round up some friends and plan beach trips and other fiin activities to break up the monotony," said Armes. Erin Helgeson, also a music performance major, intends to research standard flute repertoire from a European- perspective. Helgeson, however, not only has the SURE grant on her agenda for this summer but also has plans to tour overseas. 'I have a tour through London and Wales with the Chamber orchestra and then another week in Paris. I am studying pedagogically with several of Europe's leading professors and performers," Helgeson said. Music performance and music technology double major, Jhaysonn Pathak, will pursue his research through a more scientific method. "I am going to write a generative piece of computer music based on the See SURE, 24 dier escalates arguments Jacob Wagner news writer On April 6th, the university's Philosophy Club sponsored the showing of the documentary film "The Winter Soldier" in the Rinker Auditorium, followed by a discussion by Scott Camil, a Vietnam veteran who appeared in the film. Several individuals from the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth showed up before the movie and attempted to have their views heard and also participated in the discussion afterwards. The whole event, movie plus discussion, lasted from 7:00pm to 10:00pm with about one hundred and fifty people attending. With sensitive issues, such as the atrocities that American soldiers took part in, featured in the film and the discussion, it was inevitable that there would be dissent from part of the audience. The movie "Winter Soldier" is a documentary that was filmed by a camera crew of a panel of Vietnam veterans in Detroit, Michigan, as they testified about the atrocities inflicted on the people of Vietnam by US troops, and which were condoned by the military's top and middle officers. The movie has had a limited release in America because it was produced informally and has not been widely distributed since its initial release in 1972. Sims Kline, the Reference and Outreach Services Librarian at the university, said that while the specific comments by the veterans were not surprising, it was a good documentary. "I thought that the film was an excellent example of what happened in this country when some ofthe Vietnam veterans returned," Kline said. Kline also said that the veteran's "comments in the film were very moving because they had not rehearsed much; they had notes but I think they really spoke from the heart." Chantel Wonder, a junior Philosophy major who went to see the movie, thought that "Winter Soldier" was very ' good and something that people need to be aware of. "The movie should be shown before people go into the military. Make them aware so they don't make these kinds of mistakes," said Wonder. Gregory Nolan, a junior Philosophy major who is also the President of the Philosophy Club, believed that everyone who saw the film was more or less overcome with emotion. Professor Ronald Hall, Chair of the Philosophy Department at the university, confirmed this and added that he "had students, tell [him] after the move that they had gone outside and cried, they were so touched, so moved, so horrified [one] might say, by these atrocities." Hall says that he himself, was moved by the testimony that the veterans gave. The protestors were mainly community members who belonged to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth Organization, but there was at least three university students with them. They congregated in the lobby of the Lynn Business Center before the movie started to hand out information and pamphlets then they joined the students in watching the movie and the discussion afterwards. The protestors from the Swift Boat organization did not attempt to interrupt the movie in any way. However, the discussion they participated in got heated enough that an anonymous student, fearful that the situation had the ability to get out of hand, called Public Safety. Public Safety sent two of their of- See SOLDIER, 24 Thursday's Forecasj Mostly Sunny !>< *s High 80 Low 58 CALENDAR CROSSWORD HISTORY HOROSCOPE LIFE METRO REPORT MOVIE LISTINGS 3B 2B 2B 2B IB 2A 3B NEWS NEWSMAKERS OPINIONS RUMINATIONS MOVIE REVIEW 2 A 3A 4A 2B 3B STUDENT GOVERNMENT 3A Extremal! Find out how youth group leaders reached out to local kids through messy games. PAGE 1B iiOTie Review Movie critic Blair Townley writes about "Take the Lead" staring Antonio Bandares. PAGE 3B Baseball Team Wins Michael Hodges reports on steriod use. PAGE 1C