BC Students Dealing With Alcohol
By Susan Rogers
ThG relflxcd attitude conccrn-
ing alcohol abuse among college-
aged students in this country is
not unique to the Brevard College
campus. The fact that many
students misuse alcohol is direct
ly related to society’s attitude as
a whole toward the problem, ac
cording to Don A. Scarborough,
Brevard’s Dean of Student Af
fairs.
Many of today’s television com
mercials, as well as other media,
promote alcohol as a glamorous
or other wise acceptable
substance. Only within the past
few years have there been any
strong campaigns directed
towards the responsible use of
alcohol and its realistic effects on
those who misuse it. Scar
borough attributes this change to
pressure put on the state and
federal governments by agencies
such as Mothers Against Drunk
Driving (MADD).
Brevard’s Uniform Guidelines
deal with the use of ^Icohol in the
following manner; “Recognizing
that alcohol is one of the most
serious social problems in our na
tion and that the use thereof
causes pain and/or death to
countless numbers each year,
Brevard College does not .sanc
tion the use of alcohol.”
Apparently, misuse of alcohol
by students has lessened in re
cent years. As an example, Scar
borough said that the incidence of
destructive behavior towards
dorm buildings, which he said is
often related to drinking, has
decreased. He added, “Brevard
students are beginning to
recognize that alcohol abuse is a
severe national problem, and
there seems to be an increased
determination on the part of our
students to become a part of the
solution. At Brevard, as on any
college campus, there are a,
number of students who ex
perience problems with alcohol,
but increasingly such students
seem to be recognizing their pro
blems and are seeking help. We
want to help.”
Scarborough thinks that
Brevard’s rules concerning
alcohol are fair and that they are
designed to protect students, both
those who drink and those who do
not.
Most students experiencing
trouble because of alcohol-
related problems seek help on
their own. At Brevard, any stu
dent who wants to request help
can contact his Resident Tutor or
the Office of Student Affairs.
Clarion
« Art -lACkJ
Volume 51
Brevard College, Brevard, N.C.
Tuesday, February 28,1984 Number 7
Ten to Fifteen Percent
Of College Students
Considered Problem Drinkers
. 1 _ _i 1 iU«. Tf tolrcnc «•» . . ___i J
Kathleen Reed with Molly Rawlings with
Patrick Truluck Tracy Stringer
Kathleen Reed Crowned
Valentine’s Queen
On February 11, Kathleen Reed
and Patrick Truluck were named
Valentine’s Queen and King.
Molly Rawlings and Tracy
Stringer were named Princess
and Prince.
Reed, 19, is a sophomore
representing Beam dorm. She
said about the evening, “It was so
sad. I kept thinking that this was
my last semester here!” She is a
graduate of Bethesda Chevy
Chase High School in Bethesda,
Maryland. She is the daughter of
Roark M. Reed of Dallas, Texas,
and Margaret P. Reese of Chevy
Chase, Maryland.
Truluck, 20, is also a
sophomore. He is a represen
tative of Taylor dorm. A
graduate of T.C. Roberson High
School in Asheville, N.C., he is
the son of Dr. and Mrs. M.H.
Truluck of Asheville.
Rawlings, 18, is a freshman
representing Jones dorm. She is
a graduate of Henry Clay High
School in Lexington, Kentucky.
She is the daughter of Edsel and
Nancy Rawlings of Lexington.
Stringer, 18, is also a freshman.
He is a representative of the New
Complex. A graduate of North-
mont High School in Englewood,
Ohio, he is the son of Alex and
Eleanor Stringer of Englewood.
The four were chosen by a stu
dent vote held by the Student
Government Association.
German Honored
Kaye German, resident tutor,
physical educator and women’s
track coach at Brevard, was
recently selected as one of The
Outstanding Young Women In
America for 1983. Kaye is the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Johnathan C. German of Arnold,
Maryland.
The purpose of the award is to
recognize young women who give
their time, talents, and unselfish
service to enrich the quality of
American life.
The misuse of alcohol has
received increased attention in
all forms of the media in recent
years with much of the focus be
ing directed at young people.
Problem drinkers are persons
who experience negative
behavioral consequences
resulting from alcohol use, as
defined by the Campus Alcohol
Information Center at the
University of Florida in
Gainesville. Using this defini
tion, 10 to 15 percent of the
students surveyed by the center
at various universities around the
country were considered to be
problem drinkers. In addition, 30
to 45 percent said that they had
driven after several drinks dur
ing the previous year.
Alcohol affects the body quick
ly. It rapidly enters the
bloodstream (no digestion is
necessary) and circulates to all
parts of the body within a few
minutes. Absorption is slowed by
the presence of food in the
stomach. The main effect is on
the brain, where control centers
cease to function one by one,
resulting in intoxication.
The body burns up pure alcohol
at the rate of about one-half
ounce per hour (This is the
amount of alcohol in a 12-ounCe
beer, a 5-ounce glass of wine, or a
cocktail made with IV2 ounces of
80 proof whiskey.) A 150-lb. per
son can consume one drink in one
hour with no accumulation of
alcohol in the blood. It takes
about IV2 hours to sober up for
each drink consumed.
Today in the United States,
there are' over 100 million
drinkers and 10 million are
chronic abusers of alcohol, accor
ding to the National Institute of
Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
(NIAAA). Many more, however,
are occassional abusers. Some
basic warning signals that in
dicate a person may have a
drinking problem;
— A person who frequently
drinks to a state of intox
ication.
— A person who relies on a
drink to start the day.
— A person who consistently
skips classes due to
hangovers.
— A person who has
blackouts and memory
losses from drinking.
— A person who frequently
drinks alone to escape
from reality, boredom,
and loneliness.
— A person who sustains
bodily injury as a conse
quence of drinking.
— A person who excessively
denies he has an alcohol
problem when approach
ed about his behavior con
cerning alcohol.
— A person who suffers
from chronic hangovers
and wants a drink to
relieve the hangover.
— A person who under the
influence of alcohol does
something he/she would
not do otherwise.
Drinking and driving is an ex
tremely dangerous form of
alcohol abuse. According to the
NIAAA, alcohol is a factor in one-
half of all highway fatalities and
one-third of all highway injuries.
In addition, 23,000 people are kill
ed on U.S. highways each year by
drunken drivers. Even small
amounts of alcohol can reduce
coordination, slow reflexes, and
lead to an over-confident at
titude.
Depressant drugs (such as bar-
bituates and tranquilizers) and
alcohol multiply the effect of
each other. Taking depressant
drugs when drinking can be ex
tremely dangerous and
sometimes results in death.
Young people are especially af
fected by alcohol because their
behavior is less established.
They are more apt to lose control
after drinking, especially with
regard to driving cars and sexual
behavior.
Long term effects of alcohol
abuse include liver damage,
heart disease, ulcers and
gastritis, malnutrition, delirium
tremens (DT’s) resulting from
alcohol withdrawal, cancer of the
mouth, esophaghus, and
stomach, brain damage, and
damage to the developing fetus.
lOur wiin HU
Student Volunteers Needed
Kaye German
The Council on International
Educational Exchange (CIEE),
the largest student travel
organization in the U.S., is offer
ing young people the opportunity
to work overseas this summer as
volunteers on service projects
aimed at helping local com
munities. Free room and board
help to keep participation costs
minimal.
“It met and surpassed all my
expectations,” was the reaction
of one participant in last year’s
program. Although work camps
have been operating in many
parts of the world for more than
30 years, they are still a relative
ly new concept in the United
^States. They attract young people
from all over the world, pro
viding them with the chance to
live and work together on a wide
range of projects.
“We had no plumbing or elec
tricity and slept in a barn, but 1
think that made us better as a
group because we really had to
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