Students were encouraged to have as many virtual alcoholic beverages as they could handle and watch a short film to raise alcohol awareness.
The virtual bar was the final event of Alcohol Awareness Week. Mike Gillilan, director of Student Rights and Community, said the week's purpose is not just about abstaining from alcohol.
"This year, we're not saying to not drink or even to not drink illegally, while we certainly don't condone that," Gillilan said. "We want people to not get hurt."
A point of interest many students don't know about is the Good Samaritan clause that says students who have consumed alcohol and call for help will not be found responsible or punished, Gillilan said. The Good Samaritan clause can be found in the Ball State Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities.
On Tuesday, students could golf cart through the Quad with beer goggles on. Wednesday, Alcohol Tic-Tac-Toe was set up in the Atrium.
Thursday night, the Health Education program had a virtual bar set up. Students could get on a laptop to see how exactly alcohol would affect them.
Gillilan said the virtual bar is a tool not to scare students, but to show them how alcohol realistically affects them.
"It is neat to have students guess and think what they think their BAC will be after a drink," Gillilan said. "It also helps them think, 'OK, I can have two drinks before I hit the legal limit to drive, but if I have three, I will be above .08.'"
After entering gender and weight, students could choose from a variety of drinks. On the sidebar, the computer program keeps track of the time, current blood-alcohol content and how long it will take before the alcohol is digested.
After choosing a drink, students could choose whether they wanted to sip, drink or slam their beverage. The difference with each option all came down to time. A sip was equivalent to 40 minutes, a drink to 20 minutes and a slam for one minute.
Students could quickly see how time is an important variable when it comes to their BAC.
Junior communications major Brenda Gonzalez said her friend quickly went under after she began virtually slamming drinks.
"I kept telling her to slam a drink and she went into a coma after about five or six drinks," she said. "I didn't realize it could really be that dangerous."
Students were also asked to fill out a short survey after finishing their round at the virtual bar. Health Education representatives were there to hand out koozies with signs of alcohol poisoning written on them and to answer questions anyone might have about alcohol awareness.
Students also had the opportunity to watch a short film called "Tell Me Something I Don't Know". The 22-minute film is about Scott Krueger, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology student who died of alcohol poisoning at a fraternity initiation event in 1997. There were multiple showings throughout the night.
The virtual bar and film night ended Alcohol Awareness Week, but students are still encouraged to research ways to be safe.
The activities were sponsored by Health Education, Student Rights and Community Standards, Counseling Center, Housing and Residence Life and Student Government Association.
The virtual bar can be accessed by visiting b4udrink.org.
Found in the Spring 2009 by American College Health Association National College Health Assessment:
80 percent of Ball State students do not drive after drinking any alcohol at all
63 percent of Ball State students stay with the same group the entire time they drink
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