Students packed the Michel Student Center ballroom to watch their resident hall representatives compete in Booze-A-Palooza, an alcohol awareness event sponsored by The Association of Residence Halls and Residential Life
Every dorm participated in Booze-A-Palooza with resident advisers and assistant resident advisers serving as contestants.
Senior health science major Jori Zimmerman said Booze-A-Palooza is “a game show to help educate students and residents on alcohol and alcohol awareness.”
This year about 500 students attended Booze-A-Palooza.
Sophomore secondary education major Nick Stocchero said the large turnout is because of the competitive nature of the event, calling for more excitement and engagement from dorm residents.
“The best part of the event is watching everybody act crazy,” sophomore criminal justice major Skyy Calice said.
The food, prizes and knowledge are what freshman AEP major Courtney Yankson said she enjoyed the most.
Junior organizational communication and business major Shantaye Wonzer said Booze-A-Palooza is a fun alternative to lectures and gives students an opportunity to “learn necessary information in a less boring atmosphere.”
“I like this event because usually they make us attend those programs where they lecture us, and this is one where you can have fun, eat pizza and laugh,” Calice said.
Questions asked and statistics provided at Booze-A-Palooza specifically related to Bradley’s campus.
Zimmerman said relevant campus statistics are provided as opposed to general statistics to give students a real and personal idea of the role alcohol plays in their everyday lives.
“Alcohol is a huge problem on many college campuses, so the more we educate our residents hopefully they’ll be responsible,” she said.
Stocchero added that “a lot of residents take away things that they didn’t know before they came here.”
Students said they learned various things from the event.
“The most interesting thing that I’ve learned is that you can get charged for negligence if your friend dies with alcohol poisoning,” Yankson said.
Calice said she found it surprising “how birth control [pills] slow down the alcohol process.”
Overall the goal of Booze-A-Palooza is to encourage healthy lifestyles, as well as, educated responses.
“What [ARH is] trying to do is to get people as educated as possible so they can make the smartest decisions when and if they do choose to drink,” Stocchero said.
President of ARH Dan Short said he believes the Comprehensive Alcohol Action Plan has helped show students there are other things to do on campus besides drink.
Freshman special education Olivia Yates said she agreed.
“As a student, I feel that it’s [the plan] a positive even with its downfalls, but at the end of the day it’s put into place to save people’s lives,” she said. “We [ARH] want to make sure all of our students are safe and do everything they can to keep their friends safe as well.”
Booze-A-Palooza ended with University Hall as the victor and with a general message of drinking responsibly.
