On Oct. 26, 2003, a 21-year-old Penn State student lost his life in downtown State College. The details surrounding the death of Salvador Serrano are not yet known, but a life has been lost. He was involved in a scuffle outside the All-American Rathskeller, 108 Pugh St., when he died. He was not in the pub and is assumed to have just been walking down Calder Way. Was he drunk? Were the others around him drunk? Could this have been prevented if he had been around sober people? The police have not indicated that alcohol was involved in the incident. There are lots of questions, but no answer is right enough to bring Serrano back to life.
Sexual assault has been increasing around campus. Every day we read about people being grabbed, thrown and attacked. Rapes have become more common. The line between consensual sex and rape is becoming thinner. What is considered "no" and what signs say "yes" is not easily distinguishable. Is a nod sufficient? Is an invitation for coffee to an empty apartment a subtle way of saying yes? Is mutual flirting an acceptable assumption for sex? Will these questions be easier to answer for sober people? Would the line appear thicker and bolder if we were sober? Would we have a lesser number of sexual assault cases if everyone maintained sobriety?
Why do people drink? What is it in a screwdriver that makes you want to drink another? If you search for drunkenness on the Internet, you will find many definitions. One site gave the definition as "uninhibited confidence combined with lust. One of the best states to be in." Do we really feel more confident in our drunken stupor? Or is it that we just don't care how stupid we look? Is feeling high so important that we have to drink? Does drinking really make you forget and does it transport you to the mystical land of bliss?
There is yet another side to the drinking coin. Can we maintain control over our senses when we drink? How steady can we be when we drink? Do we want to control our thoughts, and if we did, how difficult is it with a couple of drinks saturating our blood stream? The greatest gift we humans have is the power of thought. We don't just act on instinct. We can analyze a situation, weigh the pros and cons and arrive at a logical, intelligent decision. We can rationalize. Can we still do this when we drink? Do we want to lose our superiority as a race for a few nights of feeling high?
I have long been a disbeliever in the magical land of "drinkers' paradise." At first, I disputed the fact that I could get drunk, and even if I did, I thought I would not enjoy it very much. I firmly believed that no matter how drunk I was, I could still control my mind and thus always be aware of the situation and my surroundings. I told myself that it is OK for people to get drunk because it is just another state of mind, and it is always easy to control the mind. Over the last few months, I have been slowly testing these theories. After all, I am
an industrial engineer, and with courses like design of experiments, I should be able to do this systematically. In intervals of two weeks, I slowly increased my "dosage," until last weekend I hit my limit and ended up completely sick.
What did I learn? At first, the few screwdrivers kept me just high enough to watch everyone else drunk and laugh. I didn't really feel a buzz nor have beautiful hallucinations of mermaids and angels. I was merely in a state of happy high. Last weekend, I learned more. I learned never to trust my theories again. I got drunk. I didn't enjoy it very much and I had no idea what I did. I had absolutely no control over my senses. I can picture blurry visions of laughter, queries of concern and dirty sinks. I can remember myself fighting the drunkenness, trying to prove to myself that I could still regain my senses. I ended up with a throbbing headache.
I also learned another valuable lesson. My closest friends were around me. They took care of me, watched my step and were there to prevent me from doing things I would regret. The next morning, I felt miserable. I realized that drinking to lose control over the senses is not worth it. The hours that I lost that night still worry me. I would not have been able to prevent my friend from being beaten to death. I wouldn't have been able to prevent my friends from being attacked. While in the state of drunkenness, you can do a lot of creative things, but you can also do some of the stupidest things. And all it takes is one stupid thing to make you regret all the fun you had and the wonderful ideas you came up with while inebriated.
The life you spoil might not just be your own, and somehow that is most scary. If you must drink, drink responsibly. Drink with friends you can trust and be sober enough to watch over them.
