Day 64 – At Sea

Busy B day today. Started with Bob’s class, then Digital Storytelling. There, I learned about recent unfair disciplinary actions, as people were getting punished, including expulsion from the ship, without due process. One kid was not allowed to go out one evening after returning from dinner. Why? He had simply been accused by another student of being drunk. The decision was made immediately by one person, and the student was not given a chance to defend himself.

Worse, students were getting kicked off the ship for any form of drug use. Including just using pot, which is pretty much unheard of for a college program. An acquaintance of mine was expelled for taking Adderall, a prescription drug for ADD. People without ADD often take it as a study aid, which is why my acquaintance claims he used it. Doesn’t make it right, but seems harsh to expelled for only that.

The worst example I’ve heard, though keep in mind THIS IS JUST HEARSAY FROM A FELLOW STUDENT, is that one kid one kid was punished after testing positive on a drug test. Apparently the tests simply come up as positive or negative without distinguishing specifically what for, which is why kids were expelled for pot and Adderall. According to the test, it might as well be Heroin. Anyway, in this case the kid tested positive, but had been prescribed codeine on the ship when he had a fever. He offered this as his defense, claiming that was why he tested positive. But, according to a fellow student, the administration said that there was no way to prove why exactly he tested positive, and he may have taken other drugs. So they didn’t expel him, but just gave him dock time. What happened to innocent until proven guilty?

Anyway, I mention this because that day my SeaTV class pledged to help mobilize the student body to defend ourselves. Unfortunately, and again this commentary is from real time, no one seems to have taken the initiative.

After classes I worked on my journal until Cultural Preport, completing my goal of reaching India chronologically. At preport, which was short because we were only visiting Mauritius for two days and it’s a highly touristy area, I received an award from Dr. Mort for using Purell in India. Purell may very-well be Dr. Mort’s favorite thing in the entire world. So when he saw me sharing it with fellow SASers before a meal, he was thrilled. And before Cultural Preport he told me he wanted to give me the award, which of course was a most wonderful honor.

Before bed, Brianna, the girl with whom I booty-danced near the beginning of the voyage, led spiritual dance outside on the 6th deck. It was all Beatles music, which was fun. And I enjoyed being outside. In addition, Brianna seems to be once again giving me signs that she’s interested, which would be cool because she’s cute as a button. As always, I’ll keep you posted, dear readers. Because I know my parents want nothing more than to hear about my love life.