Bill Mahon is assistant vice president for university relations. His e-mail address is bmahon@psu.edu.
"It's never a waste of time ... when you're wasted all the time," according to Shandygaff.com.
The stabbing death of Michael Donahue is a terrible tragedy for his family and everyone at Penn State.
We didn't need it, but it serves as sad reminder that the alcohol culture in this community has a lot of tragedy tied to it.
Every person is responsible for his or her own actions. Alcohol by itself may not necessarily kill, but bad decisions about alcohol do.
This college town, like every other college town in the country, has an atmosphere that wildly promotes alcohol.
Try an archive search of the Centre Daily Times (CDT) and The Daily Collegian Web sites, a Google search of a couple key words and you get a stunning list of tragedies tied into alcohol and Penn State students.
Many of us are concerned about the long list of negative results related to alcohol. The student deaths, the assaults, the sexual assaults, the accidents and other incidents are not unique to State College, but they have exacted a heavy toll on the student body and other area residents.
Let's keep in mind this is not the first late-night stabbing in or around State College bars in recent years. The challenge to keep students and others in the community safe becomes more difficult because of the incessant promotion of alcohol.
We can't seem to increase the warnings and educational efforts fast enough to keep up with the expanding promotion and availability of alcohol. The insane drink specials promoted by some local bars and aimed specifically at young people contribute directly to the unhealthy atmosphere in State College.
The Collegian and other media, which endlessly promote the "fun" side of alcohol, do not help the atmosphere either. While Michael was dying in Mount Nittany Medical Center, the Collegian printed yet another photo of students playing beer pong in Friday's paper. The alcohol specials continued at bars across town Friday and Saturday night as friends and family kept vigil at the hospital.
A quick, and by no means complete, Internet search gives a hint of the alcohol problem we face:
- April 24, 2005: A Penn State student died in a Beaver Avenue house fire. Authorities say old wiring, disabled smoke detectors and alcohol may have played a role in the tragedy. The June 1, 2005 CDT headline read: "Autopsy shows high BAC in case of PSU student killed in fire."
- Oct. 26, 2003: Penn State student died in an fight involving bouncers from the All-American Rathskeller.
- Sept. 19 2004: Three Penn State students killed on the Maryland-Pennsylvania border when driving home after an evening of drinking in Maryland.
- Jan. 7, 2000: Penn State librarian Kim Fisher was killed by a drunk driver while walking his dog in Lemont.
- Feb. 2, 1997: After drinking at a party, a 20-year-old Penn State junior died after falling from a sixth-floor apartment at Alexander Court Apartments on Beaver Avenue. Her blood-alcohol content was 0.32.
- Feb. 14, 1998: A 21-year-old Penn State student left a downtown bar visibly drunk, according to newspaper reports, and was walking backward when he fell and hit his head on the sidewalk. He died a day later from a brain hemorrhage. His blood-alcohol content was 0.24.
The alcohol problem does not only include tragic deaths of young people. There are other incidents that generate headlines and leave physical or emotional scars for many years. For example:
- Dec. 1, 1999: A Penn State student was seriously injured when she was hit by a drunk driver while crossing Atherton Street. The driver, who did not have his lights turned on that evening, had a BAC of 0.17, according to police.
- Aug. 25, 1999: A Penn State senior celebrating her 21st birthday was admitted to the emergency room with a BAC of 0.682. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported the student almost died after "partying her way through two bars and 21 shots, mostly hard liquor, in two hours." Her BAC, the paper said, was "the kind of number reserved for autopsy reports."
- This school year, a female student had been drinking at a fraternity, according to news reports. During the early morning, the student wandered out of the house and was found screaming in the alley. She suffered multiple injuries, including a shattered pelvis, and has dropped out of school due to the need for on-going medical care.
- Also this past winter newspapers reported a male student who had been playing drinking games with friends decided to walk back to campus. On the way back he passed out and ended up sleeping outside for several hours. As a result he suffered severe frostbite. He has had to endure multiple surgeries. The student dropped out of school due to the need for on-going medical care.
Bars and drink specials are only part of the problem. There's plenty of blame to spread around. Bad decisions about alcohol lead to deaths and injuries.
When bad things happen in this community, more often than not, alcohol is part of the mix. Promoting cheap alcohol and all you can drink specials is a terrible idea when the price is so high.
"Here's to ... staying single, seeing double, sleeping triple and crawling home on all fours," according to the Shandygaff's Web site.
