The Collegian

Issue date: 3/14/06 Section: News

Media Credit: Ken Fung Students who gamble on campus, online, at casino nights are picking up on a rapidly growing trend. However, legality is questionable when it comes to gambling on campus and on the server.

For any college student, the prospect of earning money while playing games seems like the ideal event in which to compete. With a strapped budget and constantly empty pockets, the prospect of turning $20 into $50 is a dream for most money-starved students. Enter the world's fastest growing game, seen on ESPN everyday, it's Texas Hold'em.

More than any other leisure activity, Hold'em has swept Saint Mary's campus and the world.

However, there is a small conflict with this phenomenon: inside dorm rooms, it's illegal. Proponents against it have said that it causes financial problems for students who are already strapped for cash. Others, including parents and administrators fear that gambling at a young age may lead to addiction. However, in a recent study done by Harvard, it was concluded that these problems which have been predicted should be taken lightly.

Saint Mary's, like many other colleges, is a bastion for underage gambling. "We definitely have cases of illegal gambling but not quite as many reported than, say, alcohol or drugs. However, I would still say that it is still a problem," said Jim Scuito, associate director of Community Life.

Currently at Saint Mary's the policy on underage gambling says that "engaging in illegal gambling activities, but not limited to, sports as defined by federal, state, or local law, is prohibited." The policy goes on to say that "using College owned or controlled technology equipment for gambling is prohibited." The second part is interesting to many because it limits students who are of legal age from gambling online.

The rule however does not define the severity of the action. "It depends on the situation. If a student playing on an online site and losing $200 a night on his credit card and another student is caught for an open bottle violation, the one who lost the money would be the bigger violation," said Scuito. This is a gray area of speculation to many students.

Continued...

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