The Dark Side of Drinking

The night Jackie Burns* won ten games of beer pong in a row is a night she will never forget. It is also a night that she will never be able to remember.

After her staggering performance on the table and many beers later, Jackie stumbled her way to bed and fell asleep. At least, that’s as far as she knows.

An hour or two after the games ended and the party cleared out, her roommate came home and found Jackie in an unbelievable state: asleep in the hallway, pants at her ankles, and surrounded by a small pond of urine.

Her resident’s assistant called public safety, and her roommate cleaned her up and changed her clothes. The officer that came to the scene insisted that Jackie be brought to the health center.

If a person’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is .25 or more, Ithaca College's Health Center must send the patient to the hospital (.08 is legally intoxicated in the state of New York). Jackie wasn’t there yet, but she was close.

The nurse and her roommate kept watch on the emotional, uncooperative freshman for hours into the night. She did not want to be there. She did not want to talk to anyone. She wanted to go back to her room.

Eventually, when Jackie’s BAC decreased, the nurses allowed her roommate to take Jackie back to her dormitory.

Incidents like this happen all the time on college campuses. This scene is especially prevalent among underage freshmen and sophomores. More than 10 million underage persons consume alcohol on a regular basis. Forty-two percent of college students binge drink (having four to five drinks at one time in a two-week period).

About 1,700 college students between 18 and 24 years old die every year from alcohol-related injuries. Of course, the statistics could go on. The health risks, the drunk driving figures, or the number of crimes caused by alcohol consumption could all be listed and painted to show that underage drinking is an issue, but that’s not necessary.

The problem has nothing to do with ignorance. By now, people know drinking causes health conditions, assault, car accidents, rape, and many other big social and personal issues.

Most would agree it’s the American culture. Drinking is part of life. It’s part of college, whether you try to avoid it or immerse yourself in it.

Colleges do what they can to prevent underage drinking and other criminal offenses caused by alcohol. Tom Dunn, an investigator at the Ithaca College's Office of Public Safety, says their system is focused more on educating students about alcohol’s negative consequences.

Ithaca’s Public Safety focuses on keeping students safe above all else. Though they will break up parties, target the students who supply alcohol to minors, and judicially refer violators, medical assistance to students like Burns is their top priority.

“We worry about people that binge drink,” he says. “We want to encourage people to call us for medical assistance.”

Meaghan McTammany, a second-year resident’s assistant of an all-girls floor, puts her residents’ health first. When she finds a girl in the bathroom, intoxicated and leaning over the edge of a toilet bowl, she will stay with them and make sure they drink enough water. She keeps an eye on them until the danger has passed.

“People misunderstand the position of being an RA,” McTammany says. “We are here to make sure people are being safe.”

Vulnerable freshmen come to school and their lives change rapidly. Their parents are gone, they are surrounded by strangers, and the environment is new. Maybe their workload is more intense or their sports team demands a lot from them. Maybe they are feeling lonely or rebellious.