I'll bet you read this

One of the overs in my parlay didn't cover the line, so I lost 50 bucks plus 10 percent juice." \nEven if you didn't follow that statement, one of your buddies probably did. Gambling runs more rampant on college campuses than Gonorrhea. It's a much larger problem than most students realize. \nA study by Sports Illustrated found it is "nearly impossible to visit a campus in search of organized gambling and not find either 1) sophisticated on-or-off campus bookmaking operations with a large student clientele or 2) legal casinos within a short distance of the schools, easily accessible to undergraduate students -- or both."\nWhen are universities going to sack it up and make a significant effort to cease this activity? Are they holding out for the day more students choose Gamblers Anonymous over graduate school? "Hello. My name is Joe. I finished college yesterday. And I just can't seem to stop betting on the damn Bengals!"\nOnce an individual succumbs to gambling, it gets pretty ugly. I too, am guilty of this shameful behavior. No joke, earlier today I bet one of my group members that we would not get an "A" on our presentation tomorrow. My group hates me now but I'm confident I'm going to win. When it's my turn to speak, I'm going to do my best Billy Bob Thornton impression from "Sling Blade." The first words out of my mouth will be, "I don't reckon I got no reason to kill nobody mmm hmm."\nMy friends and I have even resorted to turning on ESPN Classic and betting on games that have already taken place (I give this my highest recommendation). If someone doesn't try to put a stop to this now, what will become of us when we are older? Are we going to be putting our wives on the line on poker night? "Honey, could you come over here and stand on the pot for a minute?" \nThe most prevalent form of gaming on college campuses is on sports; even though it's illegal in every state except for Nevada. In 1998, the National Gambling Impact Study Commission reported that annually, sports betting rakes in $2.4 billion legally, and an estimated $380 billion illegally. To put things in perspective, that's more money than the average losses of Kevin Costner flicks. \nWhy are we gambling so much? Is it merely to make the games more interesting? Or is it because we will do anything for money like our name is George Foreman? Don't we understand we can't win in the long run? And while we are asking so many questions, are these Plato's Closet commercials for real? Is someone playing a practical joke on me? \n "But Joe, some guy wants to bet me he can drink an entire bottle of Pepsi Blue without vomiting. It's a lock, I can't lose." Sorry, I'm afraid the only sure thing in this world is that FOX will claim that the next episode of "Boston Public" is "an absolute must see!" Everything else, like the Pepsi Blue bet, is up for grabs.\nIf this problem isn't remedied soon, there is little hope for us being able to pay off our college loans. Students know as much about placing a good bet as Goldcasters' Brad Lawrence knows about women. All over the nation college bookies are cashing in on their customer's inexperience. Sports Illustrated found that college betters usually wager on their favorite teams, and pay little attention to the spreads. Well I'm glad I'm not from Indiana because I would be forced to bet on Reggie Miller all season.