brennan angelThe Cal Poly Alcohol Awareness Symposium was held Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The “iParty Responsibly” event, sponsored by Peer Health Education, attracted nearly 60 people and raffled off free iPod Shuffles.
Keynote speaker Randy Haveson gave a candid speech about his history of addiction. Haveson began drinking at the age of 10. His use of illegal substances escalated to the point of having a heart attack due to a cocaine overdose at the age of 23. He said that he had done three and a half grams of cocaine in one hour.
Haveson began the speech by explaining his views on the popular “Just say no” campaign.
“I do believe that “Just say no’ has its place. Many of you would tell a sixth grader to just say no. You wouldn’t help him do a keg stand,” he said.
Haveson did not tell the audience to “just say no.” Instead, he offered some advice on drinking responsibly and proposed students to follow his plan for drinking.
“Why would I want to just say no to the one thing that makes me get out on the dance floor,” he said.
His “Zero, one, two, three plan” proposes that some nights students should not drink, such as when they are sick, tired, haven’t eaten, their parents are coming or they have a midterm. But, there are other nights, he said, when a student can drink. He suggests to drink only one drink per hour. Lastly, the plan advises to drink no more than two nights a week and never drink more than three drinks per night. These guidelines, he explained, would help students drink more responsibly.
After Haveson finished speaking, Peer Health Education held the first of three raffles for iPod shuffles. Kinesiology freshman Nick Berger won.
“I’m on the tennis team and had to come anyway, but I’m really glad I did,” he said.
James Gentry, a manufacturing engineering senior came out of curiosity.
“I just wanted to hear what (Haveson) had to say. I think that typical college student’s view on alcohol is pretty skewed and I came to see if I could un-skew that,” he said.
There were even students from San Luis Obispo High School.
“I am a member of Friday Night Live, an alcohol awareness club and just came to check out the speaker,” Katie Rehkugrer, a senior said.
Campus Cateering provided a free lunch that was followed by short skits by Peer Health Educators Mary Peracca and Frank Warren and a skit by Vines to Wine. Haveson then held an hour-long lecture called “Training for Leaders.” The day was finished with activity stations, where students could play games like Twister and Ping Pong with Beer Goggles (goggles that blurred their vision).