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Drinking games harmful

Excessive drinking is becoming more and more common on college campuses, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach said, and drinking games like beer pong can contribute to the danger.
The director of the Wellness Program said college students don’t always realize the amount of alcohol they are consuming could be dangerous, and there are many dangers from drinking excessively.
“Alcohol is used as a depressant in major amounts,” Sage-Bollenbach said. “It slows down vital organs or could even stop them all together.”
She said another major danger from excessive drinking is making one’s self more susceptible to sexual assault, getting into fights or even destruction of property.
“High risk for men is five or more drinks in a time period of two hours or less,” Sage-Bollenbach said. “For women, high risk means four or less drinks within two hours or less.”
Drinking games such as beer pong can also be dangerous, Sage-Bollenbach said.
“When it comes to beer pong, the competition makes the game so appealing that the people playing the game don’t think about how much alcohol they are really consuming,” she said.
Sage-Bollenbach also said students drink a great deal of alcohol in a very short amount of time while playing beer pong.
Freshman AEP major Rachael Zimmerman said people should know when they need to stop drinking.
“I think that they should feel responsible for their actions,” she said. “They should know when they can’t handle it anymore, and should be strong enough to stop.”
Freshman business major Kelly Cahill also said limits should be set by people if they are going to play.
“If people don’t set limits before they go out then I think they are more likely to get out of control,” she said. “I just think students should always make sure to go out with a group, and look after your friends.”
Bradley is starting to crack down on underage drinking to make sure student safety comes first, Sage-Bollenbach said.
A new policy was included in the Comprehensive Alcohol Action Plan called the Good Samaritan Policy. It states that if a person feels as though a friend is in serious danger from drinking, they can call 911, and the person calling won’t receive any punishment from the university if they themselves had been drinking.
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