A topic that rarely gets addressed in The Herald's opinions columns is the drinking culture here at Brown. After recently learning that Sex Power God saw 12 students EMS'd from the party this year and that this semester's first-year Orientation had a similarly alarming rate of reported drinking incidents ("EMS calls increase during orientation," Sept. 9), I reckoned that it would not hurt to bring the subject up for discussion. I think Health Services does a wonderful job of keeping alcohol safety on our minds. But I suspect that we tend to tune out the repetitive messages from authority figures, so it is important that we students participate in the dialogue about drinking, too.
I will say at the outset that I am no moralizing teetotaler. I do not want to patronize anyone. My goal is just to encourage some collective self-reflection. Let's note at the start that alcohol can be appreciated as a blessing in some ways. It can sometimes help a shy person come out of his shell, and the social lubrication of moderate inebriation often makes communal events more enjoyable. I think most of us would agree that there is nothing wrong with having a couple of drinks with some friends. But in American culture — especially collegiate culture — the more positive aspects of alcohol consumption are often exaggerated and tend to distract us from the harms that drinking can inflict on our bodies and our relationships.
There are three issues in particular that deserve some attention. The first is a comment about the danger of mixing alcohol with other substances. I sometimes notice a misguided sort of reasoning in the attitudes of students: "If I'm already drinking, which is bad for me, then it doesn't change much if I consume something else with it." The fact is that heavy alcohol consumption by itself can be lethal, but combining drinking with the intake of other substances significantly increases intoxication and the risk of bodily harm. Alcohol in combination with caffeine, cocaine, ecstasy or pharmaceutical drugs — especially Adderall, Xanax, sleep aids and pain killers — can cause exponentially more damage to the body than alcohol alone. Many alcohol-related deaths involve an additional substance in the body. The desire to mix alcohol and other drugs is a sign that someone is set on getting wasted rather than just planning to enjoy the night. I suggest that we discourage this type of attitude among our friends, if only for their own safety.
Secondly, we know that alcohol goes hand in hand with sexual assault. Drinking not only makes us hornier, it also makes us less inclined to respect another individual's personal space. The more one drinks, the more one forgets what is socially acceptable and how the situation looks from the outside. There are, no doubt, many cases of sexual misconduct that go unreported because of certain rationalizations: "Well, we were both really drunk," or "He was probably so drunk he doesn't even remember." You get the idea. It is a mistake to excuse inappropriate sexual advances by citing someone's intoxication, and if this occurs as frequently as I suspect, then it is time we reexamined our culture of intoxication. It bothers me, for instance, that Brown's weekend parties often intermingle themes of intoxication and sexuality — Sex Power God, Body Chemistry, Get Sleazy and so on. Some may consider me prudish for saying this, but personally, I believe this precedent creates an undesirable perception that the best time to make your move is when you — and the other person — are drunk.
As a last point, I want to encourage us to assert that competitive drinking is not cool. It's just downright immature to call someone a "lightweight" or a "pussy" — even in jest — because that person does not want to drink more or drink faster. I would wager that this practice, more than anything else, is what puts people in the hospital. As a campus that prides itself on the intelligence and individuality of its student body, it is ridiculous that we should ever experience this sort of peer pressure. The majority of drinking games encourage participants to consume more alcohol than they otherwise would, and we ought to be aware that this may put people in awkward situations. No one should feel ashamed of or uncomfortable with slowing down or abstaining from drinking.
I hope that I have not come across as annoyingly self-righteous here. I drink somewhat regularly myself, and there have been occasions when I have exceeded my limits, so I am no angel. But I hope my concerns are shared by all. We go to a university where students are basically treated as full-fledged adults, so let's conduct ourselves accordingly.
Jared Moffat '13 is a philosophy concentrator from Jackson, Miss. He thinks Four Lokos should be avoided at all costs.
