New Year's Eve, the Fourth of July and St. Patrick's Day have one major thing in common: liquor.
Americans - whether they're Irish or not - take to the bars and pubs on March 17 for massive consumption, supposedly in the Irish spirit. Despite the inaccurate identification of binge drinking as a traditional Irish pastime, the holiday causes a number of safety problems.
And no, being pinched more than a dozen times isn't the worst of them.
With many alcohol distributors around Muncie offering holiday drink specials and the grand opening of Mo's Tavern in the Village, Ball State University students are sure to contribute to the statistics about drinking on St. Patrick's Day. That's fine if the statistics they're helping create are "how many people drank green beers" or "how many times 'Kiss me, I'm Irish' was uttered in a cheesy Irish accent." The problem arises when the statistics students contribute to are about binge drinking, alcohol-related illness and, especially, drunken driving.
According to DCmilitary.com, a majority of the accidents that resulted in traffic fatalities during the early morning hours of March 17, 2004, involved drivers with blood alcohol levels of .08 or higher - in other words, drunken drivers.
With so many bars close to campus - and therefore close to student housing - there is no reason for students to climb into their driver's seats after consuming even a little bit of alcohol. Plus, the walk home might introduce a little sobriety into your St. Patrick's Day observation.
Even if you're drinking farther from where you live, all it takes is a phone call to a sober friend or a designated sober driver for everyone to make it home safe and sound.
It's every student's responsibility to keep this "lucky" holiday unmarred by tragedy.
Also, the simple act of over-drinking on St. Patrick's Day is its own hazard. Drinking past your personal limitations can lead to serious health deficiencies, such as liver damage or alcohol poisoning, but even on the minor-illness scale, you probably don't want to spend Saturday cleaning up your own green puke.
While the not-quite-traditionally-Irish drinking festivities of St. Patrick's Day can be tempting, it's important for students to celebrate in moderation - for their own safety and the safety of those around them.
So if you're going to binge on one substance this holiday, make it corned beef and cabbage.
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