Statistics released this month revealed that drinking at Penn State is on the rise, or so it seems.

According to the Mount Nittany Medical Center, the hospital received 353 blood-alcohol emergency room visits during the 2005-2006 school year.

Yes, that number is bad. Yes, we as students probably need to be more careful. And yes, we probably need to make better decisions involving alcohol.

However, the more important information is in the number of people who probably should have gone to the emergency room in the past year.

Most students know of a friend, sibling or acquaintance who probably should have been taken to the emergency room for consuming too much alcohol.

They drank too much, stumbled home and slept off the alcohol's effects.

They were probably hung over the next day. They tried to get up, maybe to be productive, but took an aspirin and went back to bed to sleep some more.

However, with Mount Nittany Medical Center not being within walking distance and underage students fearing repercussions for bringing in their sick friends, the numbers are probably a little skewed.

More students are probably drinking more than is reported and they're probably getting sicker than you realize.

In a twisted sort of way, the numbers at Mount Nittany Medical Center probably represent a good thing. It just might mean that students are learning to err on the side of caution when it comes to possible alcohol poisoning.

If students are smart enough to bring in their intoxicated friends, then more lives are being saved in the long run.

As much as the administration and State College Police Department try to crack down on drinking, there is no way to really stop it.

It is part of our culture. Penn State students study hard during the week and party hard during the weekend. We maintain a balance of work and fun that, overall, contributes to our lives.

But we need to be careful, and we do need help at times. If there was easier access to medical treatment in the downtown area, more students could be helped. If underage students didn't fear repercussions for bringing friends to the hospital, more students could be helped.

And the experience of going to the hospital, may in turn cause students to be a little more careful when they are out on weekends.