March Madness

It's that time again. Brackets are filled, deals are made.

You pay so much attention to the perfection of your bracket that you put off studying for finals. Too much is on the line. Your money, or maybe, your parents money, can be lost or doubled.

Round 1 begins. You do pretty good despite some upsets. Now, that final you were supposed to study for is in 3 hours so you start studying and hope for the best.

It's the weekend now, and you're glued to the TV, or laptop, or both.

By the time the Sweet 16 battle for the next 8 spots, you feel confident about your bets.

And now, the team you picked to win it all is in the final, against some low ranked seed that climbed it's way to the top. Then...then...then a number 1 seed falls to some Cinderella team.

Your bracket is fucked. Moreover, you're fucked. You just lost $500.

You check your grades online...and now you're on academic probation.

You begin to panic. You feel your pulse increase rapidly.

How are you going to pay for the bet? How are you going to pay for school now that you've lost the money you were supposed to use on books?

It's a situation that many college students face today and it's a problem that's rarely addressed on college campuses. Gambling addictions are a problem.

On July 25, 2006, ABC News reported, "Student Says He Was Driven to Crime by Gambling Addiction."

According to another ABC News article, approximately "1 in 20 college students have a gambling problem." (link: http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Story?id=1710705&page=1)

With the rise of online gambling, more and more people, particularly students, fall victim to large amounts of debt.

Now, I ask you, what should we do?