By Justin Peele

 

            ALBANY -- A Saint Rose student walks into Brubacher Hall at 2:00 in the morning.  The smell of alcohol is on her breath, on her skin, and in her clothes. Her cheeks are beet red.  Her steps are unsteady and she uses the wall to help her balance.  She went out to a party that night and has drunk much more than her limit.  She is one of many under aged students who engage in heavy drinking at the College of Saint Rose. 

Four in every five students drinks.  Nearly half of them engage in heavy drinking, said The National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.  This council keeps extensive statistics about excessive student drinking. 

            Saint Rose student drinking is a reality that students, professors and faculty have come to terms with.  Going out and getting drunk can lead to serious consequences.  Heavy alcohol consumption is a health risk and can put a college student’s potentially bright future into jeopardy. 

To deal with this, The College of Saint Rose department of residence life’s rule on alcohol is consistent with state law in that no one under the age of 21 is allowed to possess or consume alcoholic beverages while on campus.

It is clear that students drink in colleges all over the country.  Saint Rose is no different. Students consuming alcohol is inevitable in a college town like Albany, said Mike Clemente, 21, a senior at Saint Rose and a former RA.  It is a part of life in college. 

The location of Saint Rose opens the college up to more possibilities that students are out drinking, said Alan Martell, an Assistant Director of Counseling and Psychological Services at Saint Rose. The city of Albany has a lot of bars which college students can easily get into.  Being a couple of blocks away from a bunch of bars coupled with the fact that it isn’t very difficult for students to get into these bars increases the likelihood of alcohol related issues at Saint Rose, said Martell. 

One RA at Saint Rose said the vast majority of students who she has to report to residence life officials are cited because they are drunk and disruptive.  Going out and drinking is something that students have to experience and learn from for themselves, said Tara Soudant, another Saint Rose RA.  Soudant, 19, is a sophomore at Saint Rose, and said that an estimated 95% of her documentations are the by-product of alcohol. 

When a student is caught with alcohol, documentation always follows. An RA makes the students pour out all of the alcohol, and the students’ parents are called.  When a student is documented, the RA writes out a report, which is given to the Office of Residence Life for deliberation on consequences for the student.  If the student is caught in his or her room with alcohol, everyone in the room gets documented.  Alcohol documentations have carried heavier fines, and longer community service punishments than other documentations said Clemente of his experiences.

When Residence Life officials feel that a student has a problem with alcohol consumption, they are sent to Martell for mandatory counseling sessions.  Martell said that the majority of students who he sees for counseling with alcohol related issues come because of punishment from a documentation. 

He has never had one student come to his office on his or her own and say ‘I have a problem.’  

Clemente remembers working as an RA overseeing freshman as a very strenuous position.  He says that his residents were constantly drinking to the point where they had to be seen by a doctor.  Students would constantly get so drunk that they could not remember what they did that night.  Oftentimes, students would have to be told about what they had done during the wild events of the night before. 

Soudant felt that not being able to remember things after drinking heavily was something that bothered her about her own alcohol consumption before becoming an RA.  In her freshman year, Soudant described going out to house parties and bars as something that she did with friends and hall mates on occasions, and to have a good time. 

She said that becoming an RA showed her the repercussions of excessive drinking more than she had seen as a resident. 

She knows too well how alcohol can turn a good time into a potentially dangerous situation.  One resident in her hall got so sick from consuming too much alcohol that she had seizures.  Her resident was asking for her mother and begging to be comforted. 

“Having your resident seizuring in front of you and not knowing what to do … Just for a good time. That was scary,” said Soudant. 

One sophomore at Saint Rose said that he sees how alcohol is a catalyst for violence.  When he goes out to bars, Marc Thomas, 19, sees people doing stupid things to cause conflict like talking to women with no regard for their boyfriend nearby, or pushing people out of their way to get to the bar.  During 9 to 11 p.m open bar at Pauly’s Hotel, patrons made up of mostly college students can drink as much as they please for $10.  Thomas said that he, like most students drinks more when alcohol costs less. 

Drinking specials like these promote excessive drinking and create overcrowded bars.  When bars are packed with people, alcohol can induce chaos, and violence.  There will almost always be violence with so many drunken people in a small crowded place like a bar, said Thomas. 

The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reported “More than 696,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking.”  Thomas has seen many drunken fights at bars and house parties involving Saint Rose students. 

Women are especially at risk when it comes to getting drunk at party scenes, because alcohol tends to lower inhibitions.  Thomas has witnessed the promiscuity that comes with large amounts of alcohol.  This includes women stripping for wet t-shirt contests, or having sex behind the bar, or in the bathroom, which they would not normally do while sober. 

Excessive alcohol consumption hinders decision making skills, causing students to make bad decisions like having unplanned, unprotected sex, said Martell.  When women become more promiscuous as a result of alcohol, they are put at a higher risk non-consensual sex.  Alcohol makes you feel like you’re in control when you really aren’t, he said. 

More than 100,000 college students report being too drunk to remember whether or not they consented to sex and more than 97,000 college students report having been a victim of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape said the national council on alcohol abuse. 

Heavy student drinking is risky on many levels.  Soudant and Clemente both described the possible consequences of heavy alcohol consumption as scary.  It is a risk to a person’s health and safety, and has the potential to change a college student’s future for the worst.  Clemente said that a friend was arrested for public intoxication, almost costing him his chance to become a teacher because of a night with too much alcohol. 

“That was scary, almost having to change your life plans for one night,” said Clemente. 

Sometimes a bad experience with alcohol can enlighten a student on the serious repercussions that can come with the poor decisions made while drunk.  However, “bad experiences come and go” Martell said.  He said that while a terrible experience may leave a student shocked, most of them do not change their abusive behavior. 

Students abusing alcohol say “‘We’re in college.  We’re supposed to be doing this.  I can stop when I want,’ but those are the ones drinking 15 beers and five shots and don’t think it’s an issue,” said Martell.