Drinking can kill, we know that. The ugly truth is that it sometimes happens like this — choking to death after a night of heavy partying.
That's what happened Saturday morning at Ball State, say university officials and the county coroner.
An 18-year-old Indiana University student visiting friends died in a Ball State residence hall. He passed out after drinking heavily and using methadone, the coroner said, and apparently choked to death after vomiting. His friends woke up a few hours later, and found him unresponsive.
Another story in today's paper says alcohol kills hundreds of college-age people each year. We're lucky it doesn't happen here more often.
While Ball State has a no-alcohol policy for the campus, we won't sugarcoat the truth and say that drinking never happens.
Think about it. Is there anyone at this campus who hasn't seen someone overindulge and black out? We never anticipate it, but it only takes one night of binge drinking and passing out to result in a student never waking up.
The youth culture of drinking doesn't help either. "Pregaming" is common among college-age people. Advertisements and reality TV sexualize the drinking culture. Bars highlight inexpensive "you-call-its" on specific nights each week.
Experimenting in college is often viewed as part of growing up. Most people don't think about the effects of mixing drugs and alcohol until tragedy strikes.
In a Daily News online poll, most people have said that drinking here isn't different than at any other university.
Shouldn't that be viewed as a problem?
The university has had a few campaigns in the past, most notably the "Police Yourself" drive in 2004, to educate students about the possible punishments they face for drinking in excess, even when off campus.
Those rules are sensible, but they won't stop bad decisions. When that happens, that's when we all need to step up.
At some point it becomes a personal responsibility — know your limits and watch out for your friends.
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