In an attempt to quell the craziness abounding at college campuses, University of Southern California president C. L. Max Nikias wrote a letter to his student body advising them stay safe, be all they can be, and be on the lookout for large groups of people dancing with glow sticks — since they may be part of a sinister shindig known as a rave.
According to Nikias some rave revelers have been downing Ecstasy, a drug that can cause a variety of "adverse reactions" in the hooligans who take it, ranging from disorientation and anxiety to hallucinations and paranoia (which explains why your roomie keeps accusing you of stealing that sweatshirt that's draped on his chair).
Nikias' words of warning, while a few decades late, come from a good place. A recent study shows that only fifty-two percent of college freshman rate their mental health as "above average." While there are many factors that could contribute to forty-eight percent of students suffering some sort of mental distress, from the pressure of college courseloads to hundreds of headlines telling them their job prospects look bleak, taking club drugs can't help.
