We've all been there. It's crunch time in the semester. You're staring down two tests, two papers and a presentation, all in a week. You don't know how you possibly will be able to get it all done. So why not pop an Adderall? Stay up all night, keep up your concentration, and get it all done?

Residence Life's plans to implement "residential college houses" next semester are, at best, a mixed bag.

It's no secret that the SUNY and CUNY systems have been chronically underfunded for years. Gov. Eliot Spitzer, during his visit to campus Wednesday, presented his plan to change that.

A new Web site is sweeping across major U.S. campuses: JuicyCampus.com. The mantra emblazoned on the header sums up the founding principles: "Always Anonymous...Always Juicy..."

At no point in the past few years have Geneseo students heard more about the importance of going green. With everything from CAS' switch to biodegradable cups to the energy and water-saving contests to the Live Green Day events yesterday, the message is getting out there. The question is whether or not the entirety of the message is being heard and implemented.

After months of picketing and negotiation, the TV writers' strike has finally come to an end, and we can finally look forward to a new crop of episodes from our favorite network shows.

At the beginning of the spring semester, staff at The Montclarion, the student newspaper at New Jersey's Montclair State University, returned to a big surprise. The Student Government Association had frozen the newspaper's budget after a series of Montclarion articles criticized the SGA for holding closed-door meetings, a possible violation of New Jersey's open-meetings law.

Over the past few years, the movement to increase voter turnout among young people has gained a remarkable amount of traction. Forty-seven percent of 18- to 24-year-olds voted in the 2004 presidential election, an increase of 11 percentage points from 2000.

It's fairly obvious, at this point, that Geneseo may have hit a new low publicity-wise. With the highly-contentious blackface controversy recently the lead story on local TV news stations and in newspapers, as well as the Oct. 1 stabbing and Halloween drug bust that also made local news, it's clear that in the western N.Y. area, and likely beyond, the college has taken a hit.

At Geneseo, the Western Humanities I and II requirement stands as one of the most revered (and for some, hated) elements of the college's general education requirements.

At this point, it is entirely clear that the uproar that has emerged over the Halloween costume incident is among the most divisive and troubling that the Geneseo campus has recently encountered. Heated discussions have emerged in classrooms, residence halls and in a comment war on our Web site, TheLamron.com.

What does Nov. 6 mean to you? If you are one of the 1,312 students that are registered to vote here in Geneseo, it should mean a chance to voice your opinion on whom you want to become the next Geneseo town supervisor.

One of the most remarkable parts of a conversation with any Geneseo alumni is their invariable enthusiasm for their college memories.

This weekend's shocking announcement of the hit-and-run death of junior Kaitlin Charity was among the most tragic relating to a Geneseo student in recent memory. While community-member deaths are thankfully uncommon, the fact that Geneseo is a large congregation of people innately linked by a common purpose makes bearing the loss of one member all the more hard to stomach.

The issue of safety on the Geneseo campus is one that is fairly easy to gloss over. While likely few would profess to be completely unaware of the reality that crime and physical attacks do occur, the inviting, small-town atmosphere provided by this environment makes it relatively simple for students to push far from their minds the idea that they could be potentially be the victims of a crime, violent or otherwise.

Now that myCourses, the Web-based portal that allows for easier interactions between students and professors regarding classroom materials is in place (and has gotten, as far we at The Lamron can tell, a fairly positive reception), it got us to thinking: Isn't it about time the college really took the next step and instituted (cue catchy name) myBooks?

This semester, one of the pervading notions around campus about Geneseo's newest crop of freshmen is just how, well, quiet they are. One piece of evidence that supports this idea is that there were all of (brace yourself) zero disciplinary incidents in the freshmen residence halls the first weekend of school. Hardly what you'd expect from the latest group just released into the big, bad world, right?

The Geneseo community is, at this point, largely aware of the college's overall goal to not only be designated the official SUNY honors college, but to transform itself into the preeminent public liberal arts college in the nation. The goal is frequently touted by the administration and president while praising Geneseo's high academic reputation.

For many people, one of the most attractive aspects of Geneseo is its quaint, small, college-town atmosphere. Undoubtedly, it was the ingrained idea of Geneseo as a largely conflict-free environment that made it such a surprise to many in the community last year when the student group Fighting Against Racial Injustice formed and made the courageous statement that Geneseo is, for many minority students, not the nurturing environment many of us consider it to be. The group proclaimed their message that in fact, minority students, particularly blacks, feel alienated and oppressed on this campus.

With the start of another school year and a fresh crop of incoming freshmen, this is the time that college students are inundated with messages concerning possibilities of how they can potentially spend their time at school. From the Greeks to the gamers, student organizations are trumpeting the opportunity to get involved in extracurricular activities that will supplement the academic material that students learn in the classroom (and yes, The Lamron is as guilty as any).