According to Olin Health Center, “Most MSU students have five or fewer drinks per week.”
Who cares?
As a college student, I am tired of being persecuted for my drinking choices. Posters plastered all over campus, articles on the negative impacts of drinking and forums held to sway students to act more like responsible adults - the message against binge drinking is everywhere.
What percentage of students does “most” represent anyway? Core Institute’s 1999 MSU Alcohol Survey puts the number of people who drink fewer than five drinks a week at 71 percent of MSU students. Are you buying this statistic? Because I’m not.
Fewer than five drinks per week - this at a school that was ranked the No. 3 “party school” in the country in 1999 by the Princeton Review.
I applaud the university’s effort to deter excessive drinking by telling students that not everyone is having fun with alcohol. The truth is that the figure showing 71 percent of students have fewer than five drinks per week was compiled from a survey of 1,023 students who attend a university of nearly 44,000. Let’s see, that amounts to roughly 3 percent of the entire student body.
Let’s look at this argument rationally. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, in my opinion, constitute the biggest drinking nights in the area. Anyone who treks through East Lansing on these nights can attest to this. Lines stretching from the doors of the Riv, Rick’s American Café and The Landshark - among other city bars - are often wrapping around the buildings. And still, this does not account for the thousands of people who partake in off-campus parties. Walk through Cedar Village or down any of the back streets in East Lansing and, guaranteed, there will be any number of parties. I understand that this does not mean everyone is drinking five or more drinks, but during just those three days, I find it hard to believe that 71 percent of the student population is consuming fewer than five drinks.
I’m in college now - I understand the ramifications of my actions. I understand the responsibilities that come with being a student. Still, somewhere, someone feels the need to pound into my mind the idea that my actions are somehow less than worthy.
Consider who this someone is - no doubt a former college student - a former college student who, without question, partook in his or her fair share of binges. This may seem like an unfair judgment, but I’ve seen “Animal House.” I’ve heard enough “When I was young ... ” stories. Believe me, these people are not genuine in their attempts.
Now, don’t misinterpret this as a call to action for students to put down their books and pick up a pint - instead, as an MSU student, I am merely saying, “Who cares?”
Does this mean that I’m a proponent of throwing back 21 shots or drinking until the point of blackout? No. These are reckless decisions that, as college students, we should recognize for their dangerous consequences.
What is binge drinking anyway? The alcohol study states that binge drinking is consuming five or more drinks in one sitting. Five drinks, is that all? Did this study take into account a student’s height and weight? How about the length of time to consume those five drinks? If consuming five drinks in one sitting constitutes binge drinking, then that would make me a habitual offender.
I can hear the critics now, “For shame, for shame. Curse him who dares enjoy alcohol in excess of five drinks.”
Guess what? I’m not alone.
A survey by the Harvard School of Public Health, released in March, found that 23 percent of students are “frequent binge drinkers” - consuming five drinks three or more times in two weeks - up from 20 percent when the first nationwide survey was conducted in 1993. And the number of binge drinkers has remained steady, at 44 percent of undergraduates. Granted, this was a nationwide survey, but I think that these figures more accurately depict the drinking habits of MSU students.
So have fun. These are supposed to be the greatest years of your life.
Tim Mosley, a State News intern, can be reached at mosleyti@msu.edu.
