THE 1999 Statistics on Alcohol and Other Drug Use on American campuses concludes that, within the last 30 days, 73.2 percent of students have consumed alcohol. Put less formally, alcohol on a college campus surprises no one. Nonetheless, the statistic may convince many students, especially upcoming first years, into a scary conclusion: They don't have a choice. While it is hard to speak for other universities and colleges across the nation, the University, in all aspects of drinking, does provide a choice, and with that choice, a responsibility.
The first aspect of drinking in which the University provides a choice is the deceptively simple decision that many first years face: To drink or not to drink? While I won't presume myself wise enough to make that decision for others, I can say with comfortable confidence that there are alternatives to drinking. These alternatives, I dare say, are easy to find and often more fun than predictable, monotonous weekends of drinking. They range from the weekend movie at Newcomb Hall to free fly fishing trips, and can all be found through several resources. In my opinion, the best resources include: the Virginia Web site (click on U.Va. students and there will be an activities calendar among other resources), your Resident Advisor (RA) and weekly Connections e-mails (an e-mail that comes once a week with information on different activities around grounds). With over 500 clubs (CIOs) and over 12,000 undergraduates, there is no shortage of activities or similar minded peers.
The numbers show what experience tells: In college, many kids will at least experiment with alcohol. Given this seemingly macro-level inevitability, there arrives a personal responsibility for each individual that decides to consume: How to drink. This responsibility is multi-faceted. First, keep track of your drinks. This simple tip will allow you to stay within a safe limit -- how the drinks per hour affect your Blood Alcohol Content depends on several variables, including your weight. For example, a 120 lb woman will have a BAC of approximately .15 percent if she has four drinks in one hour (almost twice the legal definition of drunk).
Legally, .08 percent is considered drunk; at .4 percent, the drinker will fall into a coma. Understanding these limits coupled with keeping track of your drinks will help prevent injury and embarrassment to yourself and those around you.
There are many other tips for responsible drinking. Don't drink on an empty stomach -- doing so will dump more alcohol into your bloodstream at a faster rate. Allow time between drinks. Otherwise, you will vastly underestimate the effect of alcohol on you and by the time you understand how much you've had, it may be too late. And finally, it never hurts to alternate between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, thus giving your body and mind a break.
Last, but certainly not least, is the more grave issue of alcohol poisoning. The state of Virginia, with at least 10 alcohol-induced deaths on campus in the past five years, knows this issue all too well. The reason the number is not significantly higher is because students take initiative and action when they suspect a friend or fellow partier has alcohol poisoning. According to the Center for Alcohol Abuse, if you suspect someone has alcohol poisoning you should try to wake the person up and place that individual on his or her side so as to prevent the person from choking on vomit. If they don't wake up, or their skin is discolored or they are breathing abnormally (especially if they are breathing less than eight breaths a minute), you should stay with the person and call 911 immediately.
A lot of these facts and suggestions will be repeated to students and it doesn't take too long for them to become fatally boring, but they are facts that every student has a responsibility to know. So as you rightfully swagger into your deserved spot in the University, remember that we are a community. When we decide to drink and how to drink, we make decisions that impact not only ourselves, but the community around us.
Sina Kian is a Cavalier Daily columnist. He can be reached at skian@cavalierdaily.com.
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