Think back over the last week: Among the fliers for parties and lectures layered around campus, did you see anything on Alcohol Awareness Month?
No? Neither did we.
In fact, in all the B-Lines and e-mails students at Binghamton University receive every day, there wasn’t a single mention of the fact that April 8 was National Alcohol Awareness Day. This seems wrong, especially when you take into account the fact that alcohol awareness and education is more relevant to student interests than a lot of the events we do hear about.
This isn’t the norm — Harvard University Health Services holds programs throughout the month. A majority of other SUNY campuses offer screenings through CollegeResponse.org that inform students when professional consultation is needed. BU, however, is still only looking at possibilities, even after April 8 is passed.
We’re not asking for anything that requires a huge amount of resources or money. But in an environment where the popular weekend activity involves kegs of beer followed by traveling Downtown, it’s unacceptable that alcohol awareness education stops after freshman year orientation. Alcohol-Wise, formerly AlcoholEdu, is not the best BU can do, especially when the issue in question is so important.
Do you know what to do if a friend falls asleep after drinking too much? What signs mean an emergency room visit is in order, instead of a cup of water? Or whether that “one beer an hour” rule is actually true?
Maybe you vaguely remember from the days of high school Students Against Destructive Decisions, but chances are, you’re not sure. And as a college student, you should be.
April should be a month of presentations, information sessions, resident assistant programs, tabling and pamphlets focusing on alcohol, drunk driving, binge drinking and the like. If these things are available and advertised to students, we will have the choice to attend and learn information we might be missing, or at the very least get a reminder of the realities of the situation. As of now, there’s no choice; they’re almost nonexistent, especially on a University-wide level.
If even one person makes a smarter choice because of the experience, the program would be worth it.