We Are Not All As Drunk As You Think We Are!

It's that time of the year again-weekly rotations of downpour-to-sunny mid-60s weather and midterm exams and essays creeping up. With the pressures of school-and, for some of us, of the summer internship hunt-steadily building, we students will undoubtedly be looking to blow off some steam.

The classic go-to relaxation tool of choice? Booze. Drinks. Liquor. Sound cliche? Well, ask yourself what those words brought to mind just now. For many of us, the image probably involved some laughs, dizzy evenings, testing your neighbors' patience-or some good ol' fashioned porcelain-goddess-praying action. In other words, it's not a stretch to say that a lot of us take for granted-i.e. consider normal- the link between alcohol and all the puking, cop visits and other craziness that comes with bingeing on it.

A glance at the facts, though, tells a different story. According to the Fall '06 California Safer Schools Survey, 98 percent of Cal students who responded don't get into drinking- or partying-related trouble with local police, and 62 percent don't drink to the point of vomiting or nausea. Moreover, more than a quarter of Berkeley undergraduates-27.9 percent-don't drink at all.Yet, the surveyed students perceived only a meager 7 percent of their friends to be teetotalers.

The statistics point to a consistent pattern-while only a small percentage of students binge drink, the type of behavior associated with them is perceived to be commonplace-to the point of prevailing norm-among the rest of the student populace. The overestimation then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, as students think less of drinking more than their fill, and non-participants simply pull a pillow over their head instead of alerting authority figures to drunken, obnoxious, or harmful behavior.

So why does bingeing seem so normal to us? I'm not a fan of knee-jerk media-bashing, but in this case, it's difficult to argue against the facts.

Alcohol manufacturers spend around $3 billion a year targeting our age bracket with ads depicting sexy, energized scenes of celebration, or average Joes meeting the girls of their dreams over a few shots. Their commercials have even co-opted sports, holidays and celebrations, suggesting that six-packs and handles are essential components of every occasion from a Cal game to Cinco de Mayo

While there are "drink responsibly" messages sprinkled throughout the campaigns, the precise thresholds are always left vague and undefined. Along with every house-party scene we've seen, from Animal House to Superbad, alcohol adverts promote the psychological myth that hard drinking is essential to the college experience.

On the receiving end, we ourselves complete the cycle that perpetuates a binge-drinking-friendly environment. Just think of how many beer pong posters and "Go Beers"/Kappa-Epsilon-Gamma t-shirts you've seen during your Berkeley years. You'll get an idea of just how much we've ingrained the adoration of heavy drinking-an adoration that borders on worship-into our day-to-day lives.

Before my soapboxing gets too carried away, here are some practical suggestions for rethinking our definition of the "right" or "normal" way to enjoy alcohol. As old as the aforementioned perception may be, the basic rules of safe consumption have been around just as long, and they still apply: Stick to your limits, have some sober friends around, don't serve drinks to the already-drunk, and (of course) drink enough water, just to name a few.

In case you're still wondering, most of us (88 percent, in fact) don't cross the five-drink-per-setting threshold into bingeing. It's normal to enjoy the more fun moments of your college memories without heavy drinking, or any drinking at all. It's not normal, however, to wake up on the bookstore steps at 10 in the morning, and it sure isn't normal to find yourself shirtless on your friend's couch, stumbling over to the bathroom, only to find your favorite tee covered with dry vomit alongside the mysteriously broken towel rack.

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