If there is one thing my time in Eugene has done, it has been to cement my dislike of university students.

The only people who have threatened me with — or attempted to inflict — violence on me have been these students. When someone threw a full 40 at me and yelled a homophobic slur, it was from a second-story apartment flying a University of Oregon banner by Pegasus Pizza.

The only people who have consistently offered insults and slurs have been university students. Who keeps me from sleeping at night? Certainly not the guy trying to sleep in the alley or in the bushes; it’s the drunk students yelling in the street. The only people who respond with kindness to my greetings or return my smile are those on the margins, indigents, drifters — whatever you want to call them. If someone says “bless you” when I sneeze, it’s likely someone holding a sign, almost never a “fellow” student.

In short, university students, read some Emily Post and try and act like human beings, please.

— Matthew Ribkoff