Some people in the Penn State community have been reluctant to accept the results of a recent study suggesting the opposite of what was held to be a medical truth -- that heavy drinking is detrimental to health.

The study, conducted by Harvard Medical School, found drinking half a drink a day to reduce the risk of heart attack. This new revelation might give cause to believe students would flock to the nearest bar with the approval of medical science. However, not everyone in the alcohol-serving community has interpreted the study this way.

"I don't think that too many college students will be going to a bar because of this study. They're probably not as concerned with the risk of a heart attack as older people are," Emily Weirich, a bartender at The Deli, 113 Hiester St., said.

Local eateries and bars that serve alcohol could potentially see a spike in business due to the findings of this study. However, some local bar staffers do not predict such a boom in business.

Though the main crowd at the bar scene consists of college students, older people will be more likely to come in for a drink now because of the study, said Kevin Franklin, manager of The Gingerbread Man, 130 Hiester St.

"Usually older people drink a little more responsibly than college students, maybe a student will have two to four drinks where an older person might have one to two drinks," Franklin said.

The study found the frequency of drinking can have positive effects regardless of the amount of alcohol consumed. However, not all authorities are convinced of the findings' acuracy.

"The liver can handle only one drink an hour; if more than that is ingested, the liver will not be able to process it," said Linda LaSalle, a community health educator for University Health Services.

One drink is considered to be 1.5 ounces of hard alcohol, 12 ounces of beer or five ounces of wine. The findings of this new study could be regarded as a short-lived justification for college-age students to drink more, LaSalle said.

"It may provide them with some sort of reassurance," she said.

However, one student did not think the study provided an invitation to drink.

"Students really shouldn't take this study to heart," said Alicia Assetto (senior-hotel, restaurant and institutional management).

The effects of this study have implications concerning the law. The No. 1 crime-related problem encountered in State College deals with alcohol abuse, said Sgt. John Wilson of the State College Police Department. There is no correlation between the information found in these studies and alcohol abuse problems, Wilson said.

"We deal with people that are highly intoxicated, and these studies deal more with [drinking in] moderation," he said.

Some students do not seem to think this study will result in a mob scene at the local bar or alcohol store either.

"I really don't think [the study] will change their perspectives on drinking," Chris Kinder (senior-real estate and international business) said. "It could be a justification ... they could say that they're preventing a heart attack when really it's an excuse to drink."