Scott Cawelti

09/25/05 

 UNI’s Homecoming rapidly approaches, so it’s not too early to ponder drunken college students. In fact, it’s never too early, since there are so many of them.

Just kidding, sort of.  I’m thinking about it because of an extended discussion last week about “getting wasted” with seventeen UNI juniors and seniors in one of my classes.  I wanted to demonstrate a group brainstorming technique, so I asked two questions:  Why are college students so attracted to alcohol? What can be done about it?  They jotted all the answers they could individually, then after about ten minutes, shared and discussed.

To be fair, four of the students insisted they were either teetotalers or extreme moderates—pardon the oxymoron—and couldn’t relate to the “alcohol culture,” as one of them put it. Not all college students equate fun with alcohol. 

For those who do, answers came fast.  Within those ten minutes, the class wrote 39 quickly-generated answers to the “why” question.  When pared down for overlaps and similarities, seven reasons for getting wasted emerged:   (1) they escape from stresses with a legal anesthetic that tastes good; (2) they feel peer pressure;  (3) they find that alcohol makes the routine and homely seem exciting and pretty; (4) they seek a relatively cheap “high”;   (5) they need to sow a few wild oats; (6) they feel free to experiment with forbidden adult pleasures and (7) they never learned moderation. 

The other reasons were either minor or subsets of one these seven.             

By the way, these are good-natured, articulate students, who speak with intelligence and humor.  No slackers or serious drunks among them, at least from appearances.

But they all talked at times about “getting wasted,” and how they pound down drinks as if there’s no tomorrow.  Getting stupid with alcohol ranks as their favorite recreational activity.

So what can we do about it?  Actually, two or three weren’t sure anything needed to be done.  College students have always sought refuge in spirits and suds, and always will—so they said.

Even so, students listed a surprising number of solutions ranging from the creative (don’t allow alcohol to be sold anywhere near campus) to the draconian (no tolerance of any underage drinking, with immediate expulsion as a penalty) to the whimsical (make alcohol illegal after they turn 21, so they become sober, hard-working adults).

To my surprise, no one mentioned alcohol counseling or Alcoholics Anonymous, and when I asked, they asserted that they weren’t alcoholics, just binge drinkers. They’re good friends with ol’ Al, but not roommates.  Again, so they said.

The best solution, most of them agreed, comes down to teaching moderation at the earliest possible age.  One of them mentioned that he grew up in a moderate drinking family, so he sipped an occasional beer or wine with meals.  When he came to college, he had no interest in getting drunk. He enjoyed a couple of drinks, and that was it.

He had grown into a rare species: A college student who drinks responsibly.

In fact, this student behaved like German and Swedish students I taught when I lived in Germany and Sweden. They weren’t above an occasional binge, but not often.  Most of the time they drank responsibly and moderately when growing up, and this habit followed them into adulthood.  They also believed that getting drunk was unhealthy and stupid, not funny or rites of passage as those retro boys from last week’s column seem to think.  

After our discussion, the next class day, a student who had turned 21 the previous week proudly talked about how “wasted” she had gotten over the weekend.  So much for the educational power of classroom discussions.

Here’s why we should all find this casual attitude disturbing:  An estimated 1,400 college students are killed every year in alcohol-related accidents, according to a large CNN study back in 2002.  That doesn’t count suicides and homicides, nor does it countfamily members whose lives are irretrievably shattered by the needless death of their promising young.  

Alcohol abuse is no joke, and until we at least teach moderation, we will have to endure more students getting wasted.  Literally.    

4-21-02

Before she died, Erma Bombeck wrote a piece in which she listed all her regrets.  She lamented,  "I would have cried and laughed less while watching TV and more while watching life."   Sad, and so true for so many of us. 

But there's hope.  Tomorrow marks the beginning of the eighth TV-Turnoff Week, and it has plenty of support nationwide. 

Groups such as the AMA, NEA, the American Association of Pediatrics, and seventy other major organizations support yearly effort. Sponsored by  the National TV-Turnoff Network, a nonprofit organization that "encourages children and adults to watch much less television in order to promote healthier lives and communities."

More power to them all.   TV-Turnoff organizers call television a "habit," implying an obsession that people can't shake without Herculean effort.

Addiction to TV viewing seems like drinking alcohol.   Unlike tobacco, which can't be used even in moderation without some damage, a bit of  sauce in moderation seems to promote some health benefits, including heart and circulation, not to mention more interesting conversations. 

So too with TV.  But  how one watch just a little television and not let it control one's life?  It's a challenge, but those who master it know real benefits. 

I'm a fanatic about moderation, and finally have come to terms with my antennaed box.  For years I supported abstinence during TV-Turnoff  Week.  Yet I confess to blatant hypocrisy.   I would tape my favorite programs all week and watch them the next week in a shameful binge, leaving me bleary-eyed and slack-jawed.  A binge viewer. 

Moderation didn't come easily for this tubeaholic, but I finally learned to control my TV cravings.           

Here's what I discovered, and I hope my experience may help other tubeaholics take control. 

First, the primary rule for recovering tubeaholics:  Never watch a program in real time.  Tape them all,  even the news, and watch later without commercials. A half-hour show contains 22 minutes of content.

All the rest is product-pushing.  That's 64 minutes per four-hour evening being sold junk you don't want or need. Fast forwarding gains an hour of real life for every four hours of TV. 

Second, should you have to break this rule, mute all commercials. Commercials make television virtually unwatchable if left to grind on as designed.  I'm mad as hell about them, and I don't take them anymore, thanks to fast forwarding and the mute button. 

Third, pick and choose a few good programs and ignore the rest. How to choose?  I prefer programs that push the envelope, that challenge, that contain an occasional memorable scene or memorable lines. That lets out all reality TV, game and talk shows, and those embarrassing courtroom blabber-fests. News has become mostly phony "in-depth" 90-second sound bites, so I'm giving up on it too.   

I read my news, and feel the better for it. 

 Five shows a week get my attention, and another would if it weren't cancelled:

"Boston Public," "Ally McBeal," "NYPD Blue," "West Wing," and "ER."  Max Bickford was a wonderful show, recently cancelled, and I wasn't surprised.  Too subtle, too challenging, too nuanced. 

Each of the others seems unusual in its own way, and each episode offers surprises and challenges.  "Boston Public" offers a somewhat sensationalized and overwrought view of public school teaching, but still tackles school violence, school prayers, teacher abuse, teacher-student romances, parental rage, even use of racial slurs in a school setting.

 "Ally McBeal" remains quirky and annoying, but still highly engaging for its ongoing struggle with finding meaning in the characters' meaningless worlds.  It's a show that uses surprising special effects (heads shrinking and expanding in other characters' fantasy thoughts) and utterly unpredictable storylines.

"NYPD Blue" has grown a bit formulaic, but still riveting at times with Sipowitz's tough-guy with a heart of gold character, and his struggles with his own demons.  Though he would probably have been bounced from the force years ago for beating up on suspects, he still commands attention. How women find him attractive remains one of the show's unsolved mysteries.  I watch every week to figure this one out.

"West Wing" delivers some of the best writing ever on television, set in the White House with a group of young workaholics who never seem to slow down. This show is so fast-paced that I don't get much of it without rewinding and reviewing multiple scenes.

"ER" seems to be slipping as it loses its most interesting characters, including Drs. Benson and Green. But many episodes stay with viewers for days, and almost no other show has such staying power.

These five shows minus commercials amount to just over three and a half hours a week.  That leave time for friends, work, lots of reading, walks with the dog. 

When viewed in moderation and without commercials, wonder of wonders, television might actually enhance life.