Students gain alcohol awareness By Krista Maier maie0010@algonquincollege.com
A single beer has 150 calories in it. Sexual consent when under the influence is not consent, rape charges can proceed. The birth control pill affects your metabolism meaning you can become drunk quicker. These are some of the answers to the questions asked at the ‘Hooked on a Feeling Jeopardy’ event put on by Health Promotions and Counselling Services at the residence building March 27. The event aspired to reach students and once again reiterate the importance of safe drinking and sexual practices through an interactive Jeopardy game. With prizes to be won, including a gift card to the bookstore on campus and day passes to Fitness Zone, students buzzer-bashed their way to success - and a free pizza lunch. Angie Macdonald, Algonquin’s Health Promotions nurse, compiled the game on her computer which she hooked up to the projector screen. It was a new approach to the previous ‘Walk the Line’ drunk obstacle course. “We want to raise awareness on alcohol consumption and how alcohol can affect you socially, mentally, physically and even financially,” said Macdonald. Although the small turnout of six female students for the event was not quite what Macdonald was hoping for, the event was not unsuccessful. Amila Matthew, enrolled in the photography program at Algonquin, said that she has been to events like this before. She liked that there was popcorn to snack on and enjoyed how interactive the game was on the screen. “I learned about sexual consent. Intoxicated people cannot consent,” she said. Rachel Bontje, a travel and tourism student at Algonquin, also walked away with some new knowledge. Although she recently got her Smart Serve she was unaware of some of the fines when consuming alcohol in public. “I learned the amount of the fine for open alcohol; $130 dollars,” she said. With the intimate number of students in the room Macdonald, had the opportunity to get more personal with the three teams. Her big piece of advice to the girls was to be careful about monitoring open drinks at the bar. At university, Macdonald had a close friend who had first-hand experience with Rohypnol – commonly known as the date rape drug. “The biggest thing I’d have to say is to cover drinks, my friend was easy prey,” she said. Macdonald also stressed how important it is to have coherent consent before sex. She suggests first, that both parties agree that they would like to proceed with intercourse, and secondly she suggests actually waiting for a better time to engage. The game had five categories including law and order, a friend in need, drunken stumbles, wild card, and sex talk. Sex talk was the first category to be off the board. Team number two ended up winning with $2,700 faux-dollars and free gym passes. With the small number of participants, everyone went home with a prize. It was Brittany Duhaime’s first time attending an event like this. “It was good, I won the $15 prize,” she said. Duhaime said she would do it again. And that is what Macdonald hopes for, but on a larger scale. “I’d like to do some stuff on campus and see if I could get more participants.” She hopes that the next event will be in the cafeteria. The activities are in pilot-stage but Macdonald said it’s a good way for her to check the level of interaction and how it is accepted by students. “Health promotions isn’t against drinking. It’s promoting responsible drinking and being safe under the influence,” she says |
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