Editor:

An estimated 1,400 college students across the country die each year from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor vehicle crashes.

Another 500,000 students are injured under the influence of alcohol. More than 600,000 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking, and approximately 70,000 students will become the victims of alcohol related sexual assault or date rape this year alone.

High-risk drinking and its related consequences are a serious problem on campuses throughout the country. While the problems at the U have historically been minimal, even one of these consequences could bring a lifetime of pain to a student or their loved ones.

In light of this, we at the Alcohol and Drug Education Center find the attitudes toward high risk drinking expressed in the recurring Calendar Chronicle segment to be appalling and irresponsible.

One recent Calendar segment (Jan. 11’s “Dude, where’s my Calendar?”), joked about a student going on a 17-day alcohol binge so severe that it resulted in an inflamed liver, and called this serious risk to the individual’s health “a remarkable feat of human endurance.”

The article then continued to encourage other students to honor this occasion by going out and having a drink themselves, and that the reader should do this “because there is literally nothing else to do.” The author then lists drink specials at a local bar and makes fun of the idea of drinking responsibly by stating “if you’re the ‘responsible’ type (pssshhh), don’t go have a drink,” as if drinking responsibly is a laughable and ridiculous idea.

This is just one example of many we could highlight of Calendar segments throughout the school year that have scoffed at the idea of drinking responsibly and idealized high-risk drinking behaviors.

Russell Short

Alcohol & Drug Education Center

Room 328 Student Services Building