Being sensible about binge drinking

As I logged onto good ol' NYUHome last week, I saw the usual "New E-mail" button and naturally thought, "Oh, maybe it's the daily Theater Mania newsletter or possibly a friendly reminder about a six-page paper I need to write by midnight." You know, the usual curiosities of an NYU student. I was mistaken as my eyes soon scanned an e-mail from Office of Student Affairs with the subject line, "Substance Use Among Undergraduates," in bold writing. A message from the administration about students binge drinking on campus … this should be interesting.

Apparently in the past month (that's only 30 days), the number of students written up for consuming excessive alcohol and seeking medical attention for alcohol poisoning skyrocketed, causing panic among Student Affairs officials. Excessive alcohol consumption? Alcohol poisoning? Skyrocketing? Those are words reserved specifically for Welcome Week and Arizona State University, not the entire month of September.

For this sudden increase, the e-mail orders students to "stop, to take stock and to think carefully" about certain relationships with Captain Morgan and Mr. Daniel. In essence, the message is more of a guilt trip than an actual public service announcement. According to this piece, alcohol causes people to do the following horrendous acts: "separating friends in a crowd," "making themselves vulnerable to others with bad intentions," pillaging towns in Medieval Europe, dancing like Rick Astley in "Never Gonna Give You Up," etc.

Sarcasm aside, alcohol poisoning is extremely dangerous and should definitely be regarded as a significant health issue. Student Affairs is simply saying that pre-gaming with straight shots of vodka before going to a bar is probably not a smart decision. I know college means freedom, liberty and whatever other noun from the "Declaration of Independence" you want to throw in there, but it is also a place of maturity where students should know how to have fun in a safe way. With that, my message to the undergraduates is basically if you want to drink, just drink in moderation.

While I was on the infamous Weinstein stoop last week, I overheard that a student was taken to the hospital for alcohol poisoning just before I got there. Of course, I worried for a moment about the student's health, but I could not resist thinking: "Wow … Monday night … really?"

This situation worried me for two reasons. One, the fact that the student's poor RA was probably pulling out her hair because she had to write up a long, detailed report due to the student's inconsiderate actions. The second reason is that, honestly, if you cannot wait for the Thursday-through-Saturday circuit, it just might be a sign of future AA meetings.

For these reasons, I am in complete agreement with the e-mail sent by Student Affairs. The senseless activity mentioned above is unfortunate yet easily preventable. On a Friday night, use logic that you learned from class before you start knocking back tequila or SoCo Lime, no matter how much the alcohol may deter your reasoning. This simple step will prove to prevent a never-ending night of hell and an even worse morning.

Students will continue to drink (that's common sense); I am just proposing a more sensible method of drinking. It is my hope that undergraduates will heed the message held by both myself and Student Affairs. By doing so, we can change this surprising statistic as soon as possible.