Drink responsibly
Every year, the university is gracious enough to give students the Thursday and Friday before exam week off of school.
The five-day weekend is designed to give students the chance to unwind before the always-hectic final week of the semester, as well as provide a little extra study time.
But hopefully students don't use the time off as an excuse to practice their binge drinking habits.
April is Alcohol Awareness Month, a yearly reminder that many people in this world, including college students across the nation and at CMU, have an alcohol problem.
We know, we know. You've heard the warnings before.
But just in case you forgot how dangerous binge drinking is, here is some disturbing food for thought, compliments of research done by the Core Institute, an organization out of Southern Illinois University that studies alcohol and drug abuse among college students.
w 300,000 of today's college students eventually will die from alcohol-related causes, such as drunk driving accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, various cancers and heart disease.
w 159,000 of today's first-year college students will drop out of school next year for alcohol- or other drug-related reasons.
w One in 12 college males admits to having committed acts that meet the legal definition of rape or acquaintance rape.
Of course, the list goes on. But hopefully you get the point.
Including tonight, students have four consecutive non-school nights to party, with Saturday pretty much counting as double, considering the annual Rock-N-Reggae takes place all day in Oil City. Some students may even have more days off if their exams don't begin until Tuesday or later.
These next few days may be as tempting a time as ever to get wasted. A lot of time off, coupled with final exam stress, is not a good mix.
All we ask is you be safe. If you choose to drink, have designated drivers on call. Try to set a drinking limit. And for female students, be careful of who you let near your drinks.
Unfortunately, we know the message of this editorial will fall on a lot of deaf ears. And those people have every right to do what they want to do. They're old enough to know they are their own responsibility.
We also hope this editorial inspires some students to do the right thing.
Use this time off to relax and get prepared for your final exams.
But if you do choose to party hard, here's another friendly reminder from the Core Institute.
w 60 percent of college women infected with sexually transmitted infections, including genital herpes and AIDS, report they were under the influence of alcohol at the time they had intercourse with the infected person.
Just food for thought.
