It’s typically not unusual to see red solo cups in the hands of a stumbling college student every Thursday evening for “Thirsty Thursday.” The norm of on-campus drinking and partying has always been around and it still remains as one of the most popular activities that takes place on campus.
With the holidays coming up, people may go out for Black Friday shopping to get all the latest deals and sales, but just two days before that, on Wednesday, is the biggest drinking night of the year.
When friends and family are finally all together and have the opportunity to go to bars and parties, typically, they jump at the chance to do so. Nearly everyone has off on Thanksgiving. Therefore it makes for the best option to party especially when most college students come home for a break. Most Americans would prefer not to host anyone before a big day and Thanksgiving makes up for a perfect hangover cure.
It is no joke that Cabrini is infamous and is known at other campuses for our parties, but what really goes on when students go to parties? What is the fine line between too much drinking and drinking a responsible amount?
There are actually a smaller amount of students who decide to not drink on campus and according to the New York Times, “about four out of five college students drink alcohol.”
Cabrini students filled out a survey that asked questions about their drinking life and according to the survey, 46 percent said that they just drink on the weekends. Also, 51 percent said their preferred drink is hard liquor, 25 percent prefers beer and 24 percent prefer wine.
Yes, students drink and they also have sex, but what happens when you combine the two?
The New York Times found that, a “survey showed around 40 percent of undergraduates, both men and women, had sex while under the influence of alcohol.”
“More than 690,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking,” according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. “More than 97,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape.”
56 percent of college students do believe that drinking alcohol makes you more inclined to want to have sex, according to the survey that was created for Cabrini students.
So why should it matter? Drinking is typically fun, enjoyable, a great time where you socialize with friends while dancing and partying. It’s memorable, entertaining, legendary and can sometimes end up being a hot mess. But that’s just a part of growing up, for some.
Experiencing the party life while at college is a great way for students to meet friends, but sometimes there are outcomes when there isn’t a certain level of responsibility.
According to the New York Times, “sex with someone under the influence is not automatically rape, [but] the general rule is that sex with someone incapacitated by alcohol or other drugs is rape.”
The Yes Means Yes Law that has been created and implemented in California, aims to inform the public of “the heady mixture of sex and alcohol on college campuses and the ways in which colleges are expanding the concept of sexual assault to change its basic meaning,” according to the New York Times.
The Yes Means Yes Law states that there needs to be “affirmative consent,” which makes it mandatory for sexual partners to agree to sex before and during any sexual activity and can be revoked at any time. It also states that this type of consent does not allow drunkenness to be an excuse for being confused about whether or not you received affirmative consent from your partner or partners.
Will Pennsylvania move towards this very same movement to do away with rape? Will it be successful?
Students answered an anonymous survey that was created in order to showcase what exactly drinking culture at Cabrini is like. These answers are at the bottom of every page in this week’s issue.
