Brian Pennington is finishing his college career at Ball Statewithout ever drinking alcohol.
Pennington, 21, said he made his decision not to drink becausehe fears health problems that alcohol can cause.
Most students, according to John Stachula, counselor with theBall State Counseling Center, believe drinking is the norm oncollege campuses, but this week, during National Collegiate AlcoholAwareness Week, Ball State worked to dispel this myth.
Drew Hunter, convener of the Inter-Association Task Force onAlcohol and Other Substance Abuse Issues, said the week allowscampus organizations to share with students the programs andopportunities they offer.
"This week should get people to stop and think about the dangersassociated with alcohol," Hunter said.
The Counseling and Health Services Substance Abuse Preventionand Outreach team spent the week educating students about the mythsand reality of binge drinking at a booth in the Atrium.
Approximately 150 students came to the outreach team's booth toread information and wear fatal-vision goggles. The goggles allowedstudents to experience a .17 to .20 Blood Alcohol Content level,more than twice the legal limit of .08.
Students who have drank before put the goggles on and tried toadjust their eyes to see clearer, Cockerill said.
"Those who had never drank were shocked by how it looked,"Alison Cockerill, health educator, said.
"People feel like, to experience the college life, they mustdrink, and to be social they must drink," Cockerill said. "This isnot true."
Pennington said he has friends who drink, but he believes hischoice to not drink doesn't hinder his relationship with them.
"My friends who do drink may not always understand my decision,but they do respect it," he said.
Pennington, however, is not alone.
In the most recent survey taken at Ball State, students said in2000 that 60 percent of them had not participated in binge drinkingtwo weeks prior to the survey.
This survey proves that the myth that everyone in college drinksis not true, Stachula said.
According to the same survey, 85 percent of students believemost students drink at least once per week.
Only 36 percent drink once a week, according to the survey.
Binge drinking for a woman consists of four or more drinks in arow, one or more times in a two-week period.
A man binge drinks when he has five or more in a row over atwo-week period, Cockerill said.
Binge drinking has been defined by the amount of drinks studentshave before they start suffering negative consequences, Stachulasaid.
These consequences consist of injuries, fighting and/or unclearthinking.
In the survey, 40 percent of students said they had participatedin binge drinking at least once during the two weeks before thesurvey.
This percentage has led organizations to confront the issue ofalcohol on campuses.
"Alcohol use has been a problem on college campuses since thebeginning of college campuses," Stachula said.
Greeks Advocating the Mature Management of Alcohol holdsactivities for students who do not want to drink.
Earlier in the year, GAMMA held an outside movie after afootball game, Lynda Malugen said.
"The group does not pressure students not to drink," Malugensaid. "They just ask that students be responsible whendrinking."
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