"Every school has their intense weekend," said 21-year-old Brett Zika, a Cal Poly senior and member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. "This school, they're trying to condemn it. If anything, condemning it will provoke people."
Like others, Zika called the ads condescending and predicted large gatherings, especially in apartment and condominium complexes near the intersection of Foothill and California boulevards just off the Cal Poly campus.
"We peacefully coexist if we're not put in a position where people put force on us," Zika added.
Chad Corcoran, 20, called the ads "ridiculous." The Sigma Phi Epsilon member added, "They're not going to stop (students). What (the city) needs to do is take Mardi Gras in.
"We're all adults," he said.
But many other students feel differently.
"I've never really been into partying," said Christina Wilson, 19. Was she influenced by the ads? "Yeah," she said, "a little bit."
Business student Katrina Conover, 21, said she had to thread her way between the cars of a stopped train near the California-Foothill intersection in her heels last year because police had blocked off the road leading to her home on Hathway Street. This year, she's driving to Monterey to be with family friends.
"If I stayed in town, I would stay in this house," she said. "There's going to be so many (people). I'm sure anyone who stays in town will be in this area. This was the place to be."
Yeah. Nobody is going to be there this weekend. It'll be too crowded.
San Luis Obispo Tribune | 02/03/2005 | Poly students split on celebration
