Author: Sam Slesinger
Every year approximately 1,700 college students between the ages of 18 – 24 die from alcohol related injuries and motor vehicle accidents. Over 600,000 students are assaulted for the same reason. Last Wednesday night, Oxy student athletes packed into Mosher 1 to digest these facts in a mandatory alcohol awareness presentation put on by the College’s Athletics Department.
Athletics Trainer John Sweet opened the presentation with a brief PowerPoint presentation and introduced the first speaker, Professor of Kinesiology Eric Sternlicht.
Sternlicht talked specifically about how consumption of alcohol affects athletic performance. “With as little as two percent dehydration, you can see a ten percent drop in performance,” he said.
Sternlicht was careful to point out that the by-products of alcohol also impair athletic performance. Ethanol is broken down into acetaldehyde by enzymes in the liver. Acetaldehyde and dehydration are responsible for hangover symptoms.”We are not asking you to stop drinking, just to be more aware of alcohol’s affect on you,” Sternlicht said.
Sternlicht cautioned athletes who like to party after competitions and who perceive it is okay to do so. Alcohol consumption following competition delays the recovery process, he said.
He then presented the audience with some guidelines for responsible use: decide and stick to a limit, set team limits for consumption – with no use 48 hours before competition – and intersperse alcoholic beverages with non-alcoholic ones. Following Sternlicht, Emergency Medicine and Sports Medicine specialist Julia Wang M.D. addressed the audience.
“College students deserve to know the truth about alcohol,” she said.
Wang first delved into the factors that influence blood alcohol concentration (BAC). Among these factors were weight, alcohol potency, prior meals, blood volume and beverage carbonation. Carbonation increases the pressure in your stomach, which allows the alcohol to be quickly absorbed into your bloodstream.
Wang also introduced the “013” rule for responsible drinking. It mandates zero drinks if you are driving, one drink per hour and three drinks per night.
Citing the elevated rate of sexual assault and alcohol-related pregnancies among 18-24 year olds, Wang referenced popular culture to support her point.
“Drinking might get you pregnant. Have you seen Knocked Up?” Wang said.
She also cautioned potential mothers. “Unless you want a deformed baby […] before you drink, do a pregnancy test and then go out,” she said.
Wang then spoke on some long-term consequences of alcohol abuse. She showed images of liver cirrhosis, pancreatic cancer and gastritis among others.
Wang wrapped up the presentation by reminding students that responsible drinking isn’t necessarily a problem.
“You don’t want to make more money for Joe Francis [founder of the Girls Gone Wild franchise],” she said. “It’s okay to try things as long as you’re not stupid about them.”
Statistics provided by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism at http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov.
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