Here’s a quick little midterm for you: you have $10 in your pocket, but you need to unwind at the end of midterm week.

Do you:

A.) Blow all your cash on one drink at the swankiest club in town.
B.) Scour campus for a party and drink for free
C.) Stock up on cheap, flavored, and surprisingly strong cans of malt liquor.

I’m pretty sure everyone chose the last choice, and even though our little midterm isn’t graded, that answer is decidedly wrong. Four Loko is a popular new canned alcoholic beverage. Essentially an alcohol-fueled energy drink. Each can contains the equivalent of three beers, caffeine, and artificial flavoring, all for under $3. But the benefits of this cheapie drink are eclipsed by the serious threat it poses to students who intend to party hard.

Recently 23 Ramapo College students were hospitalized due to intoxication in just a few weeks – many of these incidents involved Four Loko. Currently, the president of the North Jersey school is banning this and similar beverages, and urging the leaders of other schools to do the same. We’ve all heard the warnings about cocktails like Red Bull and vodkas – the alcohol brings you down while the caffeine heightens your senses, confusing the body and making it difficult to determine just how intoxicated you are.

Read More »

Exam week can be pretty intense. All you want is to pack up your shizz and go home to party for a month, but the word “cumulative” is making you want to throw up in your mouth. Can you slide by, or is exam week going to destroy the grade you earned busting your butt on every paper you wrote this semester? Everyone has their own study tips and ways to deal with stress, but here are some surefire tactics to avoid if you really want to make the grade.

1. OD’ing on Caffeine

If caffeine were illegal, I’d be a certified crack whore. So I know that overdoing the stimulants can only end poorly. There have been times where I drank so much coffee that it had an adverse affect on my body, and I passed out facedown in the books. Or I got so hyper that I alphabetized my DVD collection instead of hitting the books. Overdoing the caffeine can also keep you up for hours after you’ve shut the books, and you’ll be super groggy when the time comes to put number 2 pencil to paper (if you don’t sleep through the entire final!).

Another major caffeine no-no? Taking energy pills such as Stackers. You’ll be more concerned with the heart palpitations you’re having than the exam itself. You don’t want to pull a Jessie Spano in front of the whole lecture, hall do you? Read More »

I can easily pinpoint my caffeine addiction to my first year of college, when I worked part-time as a barista at Starbucks. I distinctly remember going to my Starbucks at 8:00 a.m. and demanding that one of my coworkers serve me espresso after espresso while I crammed for my 10:00 class.

Since then, I’ve gone through phases of white chocolate mochas, skinny vanilla lattes (when I realized how many calories are in a WCM), energy drinks, caffeine pills, and, of course, a good ol’ cup o’ joe (or twenty). My caffeine tolerance is so high that I can finish sugar-free Monster, and be in bed, sleeping, an hour later. I’m pretty sure that’s not healthy.

I’m well aware of the health problems associated with caffeinated products– I’ll probably get tumors from my sugar-free energy drinks, and I’ve already suffered heart palpitations from Stackers energy pills, but that’s a whole different story. And now this; a new issue has for me to worry about. A recent study has suggested that too much coffee can decrease a woman’s chances of getting pregnant, at least for women already diagnosed with fertility problems. Read More »

Who knew Lindsay Lohan could fuel a fashion trend by being photographed destitute in the back of her Mercedes? Girl’s got pull.

Ever since that infamous pre – rehab photo of Lilo was taken, American Apparel’s Flex Fleece Salt ‘n’ Pepper Hoodie has been selling like crazy.

Apparently, trend slaves across the country are unconditionally dedicated to Lindsay and support her style regardless of her emotional/physical state of duress.

But hell, I’ll jump on the wagon for this trend. In fact, I already have. I own that hoodie in like, seventeen colors.

It’s amazing — so comfortable, durable hood, sturdy zipper, and roomy pockets to hold all your pills. I think this is the best look to surface in a while (am I the only one who can’t stand that freaking bubble hem??).

Overdosing and going to rehab may not exactly conjure images of high fashion and fun, but at least you get to wear comfy clothes. Looking strung – out has never looked so good.

A shocking new drug epidemic has emerged in Texas. Since 2005, 21 Dallas – area teens have overdosed on “cheese heroin,” a potent mixture of black tar heroin and Tylenol PM. The highly dangerous combination of downers is highly accessible and frighteningly cheap. In Dallas, where a gram of cheese heroin sells for $10 (a hit can be as little as $2), the drug has become as ubiquitous as pot. The feds are all up in arms about the lure of the cheese spreading to other states.

The underground drug world never ceases to amaze me. What will they come up with next? Milkshake crack? Thank God I’m lactose – intolerant.

To read the whole story, click here.