Eugene in Full Swing.

David R.

September 25, 2010 - 9:50 AM

With the dorms full of new freshmen, the college atmosphere is back in Eugene. On Thursday during the day I had to drive over to the Erb student union to do some tabling for Oregon athletics. I quickly realized that this is also the day that all of the freshmen move in to the dorms and try to become acquainted with a new lifestyle. There was no wiggle room, no parking spaces, and no shortage of people. The fall term begins in only two days and I think it is safe to say that everyone is back.

Last night the streets were full of people looking to have a good time before classes begin. There were people all over the place and at one point an entire intersection by my house was full of bystanders trying to figure out what to do next. As is usually the case for most new freshman, they probably don't know too many people, and probably don't know their way around Eugene too well, so they leave the dorms and head wherever the night takes them.

Greek life recruitment is in full swing now that rush is about to begin. While the fraternities have a more relaxed and informal recruitment, the sororities have been working all week long to prepare for the madness that is sorority rush. On Tuesday a few friends and I went golfing and were joking about how nice it was to be able to hit the links while all the sororities were practicing.

This next week hundreds of girls will spend their evenings traveling from sorority to sorority trying to make a good impression and figure out which houses they like the best. A football game would make a perfect recruitment event for a fraternity, while sorority rush requires dress clothes and lots of conversation. Rush is always a busy time for everyone but it is well worth it once it is over. Each house has great new members and plenty of potential for years to come.

I feel ready for the school year but I am still missing a key ingredient-my text books. Buying books for the upcoming term is always a pain because everyone else is doing it and it is never cheap. I have always wondered how the book store will sell me a book for $70, buy it back from me for about $5, and then sell it to someone else the next term for another $70. It seems kind of unfair but I guess it is what it is.

The heated race in the Nation League West might could be running away from the Rockies. After a 10-game winning streak the Rockies have managed to drop five games in a row, putting them (in my opinion) only one more loss away from being completely removed from playoff contention. With the number of remaining games being a single digit, it is now or never for the Rox.

The Ducks take on Arizona State tonight in the first game of Pac 10 play. The Ducks shouldn't have a problem, despite ASU's showing in Wisconsin last week. The game of the night is Oregon State at Boise. All signs thus far would point to a win for the Broncos, but the smell of an upset is in the air, and if Boise is going to lose a game this season, tonight is the night.