OPINION: Advice on alcohol intake is unrealistic
Another article in The Statesman concerning alcohol consumption came out recently, and again, I had to question our university leaders’ and students’ takes on realistic college drinking. The “0-1-2-3” rule Ryan Barfuss offered, while conforming to campus regulations, ensuring safe driving and healthy lives, seems based more on starry-eyed idealism than students actual drinking habits.
The article cited no sources showing benefits for the “0-1-2-3” rule, and no evidence was given showing harmful effects of not following it. One girl was quoted as saying, “I’ve heard your brain super slows down or stops developing if you start drinking seriously under 21.”
I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when I read this. How are we supposed to take advice seriously when it’s supported by a student who may have heard something as unspecific as your brain “super (slowing) down?”
Not only is this student not a health professional, but no concrete proof is given that illustrates any negative aspects of drinking — not just from following the rule. Maybe I’m wrong, but that seems slightly critical considering the topic of the article; if we’re supposed to follow these guidelines, we need to know why.
The article may as well have read, “Don’t drink at all,” as far as college students are concerned, because in reality we’re drinking to get drunk and have fun. Research by the Journal of Alcohol Studies indicates that 31 percent of students in 119 U.S. colleges met criteria for abusing alcohol. Although USU’s drinking rates are probably much lower than the national average, there are heavy drinkers at our school.
I drink fairly frequently and have been around drinkers for many years. I have never once seen someone adhere to the “0-1-2-3” rule, especially college students. The rule is designed to prevent drunkenness, and, at one drink per hour, you probably won’t get buzzed. I don’t know any college students who drink just because they like the taste.
Those of us who drink know its risks. We know it can lower our inhibitions, and we know it’s not exactly green beans for our livers. Call us stupid, but we’re still going to do it. Giving guidelines that are blatantly unrealistic isn’t going to help us be safe.
And I’m not the only student who thinks this way. When the article first came out, I asked a friend if he’d seen it.
His response: “Yes. And the only people I’ve ever seen follow that rule did it because they only had one beer left and no money to buy more.”
I had to second that.
All joking aside, though, this feed of information from the Student Health and Wellness Center is going to go unheeded until campus health providers give us what we really need to know — ways to manage drinking on a level synchronous with college students’ habits. I brainstormed a few things that I would like to see published.
First, a list of alcohol-poisoning symptoms, what alcohol does to the brain, how to resuscitate somebody who may be unconscious from alcohol poisoning, ways to create safe travel, such as finding a designated driver or listing taxi services in the valley.
I’d also be interested to see the weight-height charts giving an idea of how much alcohol you can consume without getting sick and laws that let students know they will be safe if they take a drunken friend to the hospital. I also want to know if drinking beer before liquor really does cause the most sickness.
These kinds of figures are going to be much more useful to students at USU.
When confronted with a friend who may have alcohol poisoning, no student is going to think, “Gee, I really wish we’d followed the 1-2-3 rule.”
They’re going to want to know the most safe and effective response to help them and their friend.
College drinking in Logan seems consistent with Utah’s ongoing issue of, “If we don’t talk about it, it’s not going to happen.”
No way, Jose Cuervo. It’s time for our health center’s directors to confront drinking the way it happens in college. I’ll be the first to admit drinking often goes overboard — all the more reason to give us information regarding safe actions to take while drinking or drunk.
Addressing drinking in a genuine way will make students more inclined to trust the information the health center gives, provide a more open dialogue about drinking and prevent deaths and serious injuries resulting from college students’ actual drinking habits.
— Liz Emery is a senior majoring in English with an emphasis in creative writing. Her column runs every other Wednesday. Comments may be sent to her at liz.emery@yahoo.com. Comments may also be sent to statesmanoffice@aggiemail.usu.edu.