Responsibility is one of those words everyone feels is necessary to slap on their resume, but nobody wants to actually have.

College life doesn’t get credit for having the same responsibility demands that exist in the real world. This could be caused by our tendency to ignore that irritating little Jiminy Cricket voice trying to stop us when we’re about to have another drink, knowing we’ll miss class the next day or (just as a purely fictional example, of course) rushing the field to tear a certain goal post down after winning some kind of athletic event.

We don’t seem to be concerned with the long-term effect of our behavior. Having student status is like falling under a clause in an imaginary amendment that relieves us from taking responsibility for our actions. Just ask Mr. Bill “I didn’t inhale” Clinton. Even the president tries to chalk up his youth gone wild days under the Student Clause!

Certain expectations, including the ducking of responsibility, seem to follow students around throughout their college life. We are expected to get a little crazy on the weekends — with our pockets empty, but our glasses full. We are expected to cause a big ruckus when the unthinkable happens. And if free pizza is involved, by George, we’re expected to show up.

This Saturday, we experienced a moment in the unthinkable category. After the Cyclone football team claimed a win in front of a Homecoming crowd, students threw caution to the wind (and the cold) and mobbed onto the football field to celebrate our first win in 14 games by escorting one of our goal posts to Lake LaVerne.

While the first few brave troopers got clobbered by the Ames police and company, the rest of the student body pushed on successfully. I doubt too many of them thought about the thousands of dollars it would take to replace it. Why should that stop them? We’re college students!

We’re wacky fans cheering our guts out in the stands! It isn’t our fault the goal posts are so expensive, and the DPS and police should have been more prepared to handle a riotous situation. The excitement caused by the whole thing was worth the price tag for a new goal post!

These arguments almost seem logical under the Student Clause. It’s easy not to accept blame if there are a couple hundred people surrounding you, entering the anonymous factor into the scene.

Perhaps if the DPS could have had the resources to take down the name and phone number of every student whose fingers touched the pole en route to campus or who ran down onto the field, we would feel a bit remorseful. But without responsibility, it’s difficult to muster up any feelings of regret at all!

The situation changes if there are fewer people involved. In the case of the young man who practically drank himself to death and had to go the hospital, it’s pretty hard to deny responsibility. However, this guy must be well-versed in the particulars of using Student Clause to his advantage. His friends ended up getting charged for providing him with the means to inebriate himself.

Talk about avoiding blame! Did they inject it into his system? Did they threaten him, forcing him to drink the alcohol? Is it his personal responsibility to monitor his own drink intake? Well, you would think so, but then irresponsible drinking is included in the Student Clause as well.

Keep in mind, just because a student goes to school doesn’t mean he or she has the brains of a scholar. Having fun is one thing and refusing to take responsibility is also just one thing, but to die from the two combined is a completely different thing.

If you’re going to be irresponsible, now is the time. Climb that goal post, skip that class. Seniors, you don’t have much time left until you will have to start referring to what you did in college in the past tense instead of the present.

Live it up now, while the clause is still in effect. At the same time, be cautious when dealing with responsibilities that involve your personal welfare. Even if you don’t take responsibility for the consequences of your actions, the consequences may take you.

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Joanne Roepke is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Aurora.