The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, December 05, 1996, Page 5, Image 5
Binge drinking:
Many USC students cla;
JEANNE GREELEY Staff Writer
0 College weekends begin Thursdays, but the drinking
usually starts long before. Weekends and weekdays blur
together as students find excuses to head down to Five Points.
Monday night football. Tuesday night bands at Elbow
Room. Wednesday 25-cent-draft night, and before you know
it...ifs Thursday again.
Hangovers are remedied with a nice buzz, remaining
faithful to the ancient tale that a stiff drink is the best answer
for a sorry head. The spontaneous swearing
of Til never drink again" is usually drowned ArrnrHinn t
with the next evening's festivities, and ACCOrdlng I
0 realization often doesn't set in until your dflOfiymOUS
father calls wondering "what's a Jungle COfldllCtcd I
So how bad have college students Alcohol i
become? Are USC students no more than Programs, 4
bar mongrels and liquor fiends? Or are JJ5C Studen
students amply infamous "social drinkers? npupr hauo
Would most college students ever go never FiaVc
as far as to label themselves "binge drinking,
drinkers?
All the students asked this question
responded unanimously and adamantly,
a "No." Many students equate binge drinking with binge eating,
^ seeing it as some sort of psychological or social problem.
However, it was obvious most were unclear of the definition
of a binge drinker.
According to Rick Gant, coordinator of Student Life
Programs, binge drinking is Tiaving five or more servings of
alcohol in one sitting."
According to an anonymous survey conducted by the Office
of Alcohol and Drug Programs, 46 percent of USC students
say they never have done binge drinking.
The students interviewed must fall in the other 54 percent
because many students in the survey admitted they qualified
as binge drinkers.
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Are you guilty?
>sified as binge drinkers
Matt, a sophomore, initially said he wouldn't consider
himself a binge drinker, seeing that as "someone who drinks
constantly; who has to be drinking."
Yet after hearing the definition, he said, "I'm definitely a
binge drinker."
"A binge drinker is "someone who drinks and goes overboard.
I'm a social drinker," a junior said. She later said, "Yes, I
would consider myself a binge drinker."
One senior said if a binge drinker was someone who only
had five drinks in one sitting, she is "a psycho-kamikaze
drinker."
p gp Gant reported 10 percent to 12
percent of college students nationwide
SUrVCy abstain from using alcohol. AtUSC, 22
l)y the Office percent of students abstain,
ind Drua Gant groups students who drink into two
^ risk categories.
16 percent of The first category contains long
tS say they term risks, such as physical addiction,
rlnno hinno increased tolerance and impairment of
none Dinge abstract- thinking ability.
The second risk category consists
of alcohol-related impairment problems.
These could range from driving under the
influence convictions to violence to
relationship conflicts.
So what's the solution? There isn't one.
College students have drunk in the past, drink now and
will most likely continue to drink in the future. The only thing
that seems to change is the sophistication with which students
drink. Where once students were forced to stick keys into
beer cans in order to "shotgun," they now have the convenience
of a wide variety of funnels, shot glasses and the "Jungle
Bucket" in Five Points.
After all, much of the attraction of binge drinking is its
link to sociability. This sentiment was voiced most eloquently
by one USC student who said, "The whole point of Five Points
is social, but I drink to get f d up!"
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Ideas for gi
COLLEGE PRESS EXCHANGE
The holiday shopping season is here,
and for most students, that means
opening a pencil-thin wallet to buy
presents for loved ones.
"Anything I can't afford is going on
my credit card," said Maureen Golga,
21, a DePaul University junior. "So 111
just be paying it off the rest of my life,
along with my student loans."
Stop right there!
Presents for family, friends and even
your favorite profs don't have to cost a
fortune. With only a few dollars and
lots of creativity, you can give someone
a fabulous present.
"To make the ultimate cheap gift,
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ifts on a sn
make great gifts for relatives and
extended family members."
If s all good advice for those students
whose generous impulses might leave
them with a depleted bank accbunt
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a hole in them," suggested Adrienne
Harvey, 19, a sophomore at Stetson
University in Florida.
Buy different colored silk cords and
make necklaces.
It'll only put you out $5-$ 10, and
you can make them all different to give
to all of your friends," Harvey said.
Jason Buehler, 19, a Miami
University of Ohio freshman, offers two
words of advice for holiday shopping:
thrift store.
"For the past two years, I've gotten
people things from the thrift store," he
said. "Thrift stores are the absolute best
places to get gifts. Even if it's dumb,
they'll laugh."
Shannon MacLaughlan, 29, a Stetson
junior, said she fills small baskets with
tins of flavored coffee or cocoa.
They are inexpensive to make, and
you can even use stockings instead of
baskets," MacLaughlan said. "They
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cometneiNew lear.
According to a recent Gallup poll,
the average shopper expects to spend
about $800 on presents this holiday
season.
Of course, that forecast conies from
a poll of 1,009 consumers with a mean
income of $32,730. Most college students,
even those with full-time jobs, don't
earn nearly that much.
Maxine Sweet, vice president of
consumer education for Experian, a
credit information services company,
offers tips for students short on cash.
First, to save extra money for holiday
shopping, "consider skipping those costly
snacks from vending machines," she
suggested. "Think about other treats
like video rental and magazines that
you can do without.. .in the spirit of
holiday giving."
Alsp, "an act of kindness is worth
more than any holiday gift money can
buy," she said. "Look at your gift-giving
list. Would an elderly relative rather
have a room painted or a garage cleaned
than a cheese-of-the-world assortment
pack?"
A student might offer free babysitting
services to an older sister or brother
with young children, she said.
And just spending time with your
family can be a great gift. "It doesn't
cost a cent, and it makes the season
truly special," she said.
Golga, of DePaul, said she always
has that idea in mind when she tells
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her parents she'll take them out to
dinner as a gift.
"I take them some place where they
have gift certificates, and so I just buy
the drinks," she said. "But they just like
that I spend time with them because
I'm never home."
For friends, Golga said she will
probably give her old standby: candles.
They're always cheap. I always buy
my friends candles," she said. They're
probably sick of it."
DePaul senior Jason Brown, 23,
ticks off all the people on his shopping
list: "My folks, my brother, my sister
1 -4.1 1 4.1 4. J
m-iaw, my omer Dromer, my nexi-aoor
neighbors. Then I have my girlfriend,
and her folks and her brother."
Brown works full-time at a mountain
outfitter store. "I make decent money,"
he said. "Most of the gifts I buy are from
my store, so I get, like, 70 percent off.
So that's a little easier."
A good gift idea, he said, is a
subscription to a beer-of-the-month club.
"You can pay the first couple of months,
then they can pay if they want to keep
it up," he said.
Melissa Morris, 21, a Miami senior,
said she likes to give gift certificates.
"You can always give gift certificates
to music stores, like a $5 one," she said.
"Then they can go buy a CD, and it will
be real cheap."
Even with a host of inexpensive gift
ideas, holiday shopping is still out of
the question for some college students.
"I don't think I'm going to do any
this year. I have no money," said James
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Community College in Chicago.
"The greatest gift is no gift at all."
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