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FACTOIDS
ACCORDING TO Esquire
magazine, smaller, shorter
people live longer than tall
ones. For every inch, you lose
a year of life.
THE NATIONAL Cancer
Institute says that non-herbaI
teas — green, black, oolong —
contain polyphenols, which
have cancer-fighting proper
ties.
SELF MAGAZINE says
that people who exercise in
the morning are three times
more likely to keep exercising
regularly.
THAT SAME magazine
notes a new belt for women
with a hidden lock designed
to protect them from sexual
assault The lock can only be
undone by the wearer.
A STUDY shows that stu
dents who put off assign
ments are more likely to suf
fer stress, and probably
headaches, stomach upsets,
and colds than non-procrasti
nators.
ABOUT 50 percent of all
Americans have an IQ above
100.
FIFTY-EIGHT percent of the
men interviewed in a poll said
they have had sex with a
woman they actively disliked.
60% OF COLLEGE
women diagnosed with a sex
ually transmitted disease
were drunk at the time of
infection.
ONE STUDY suggests that
women whose sexual part
ners smoke seem to be at
above average risk of cervical
cancer.
AMERICAN WOMEN
and men rank among the
three nationalities most
inclined to cry, along with
Turkish ad Chilean women
and Italian and Austrian men,
according to a survey done by
researchers from Tilburg
University in the Netherlands
TO PREVENT dehydration
you need four cups of water,
fruit juice or herbal tea for
every 1,000 calories you eat
And if you work out you need
to drink another cup of these
liquids for every 250 calories
you bum.
BEING DEPRESSED or
suffering extreme sadness for
two solid weeks more than
doubles your risks of heart
attacks over the next 13
years.
Beware of the "rape drug"
How many times have you been
told to not drink from an already
open container? And how many times
have you ignored this advice? Well, now
there is a new drug that may cause you
to reconsider your actions.
It’s called Rohypnol, better known as
Roofies, Roach, R2, and has been called
“the rape drug” due to its involvement
in sexual assaults.
Because Rohypnol is colorless, odor
less, tasteless, and dissolves easily, it is
the ideal drug to slip into someone’s
drink. Its effects begin within
thirty minutes of ingestion.
Rohypnol usually causes
memory loss. Due to
this, sexual assault
occurs easily.
Some of its other
effects include drowsi
ness, visual disturbances,
and dizziness. It is some
times taken along with other drugs to
enhance highs, or is used to offset drug
withdrawals.
The best precautions to take to pro
tect yourself from this drug are the ones
that you always hear.
Do not drink from already open con
tainers. If you put your drink down and
it’s unwatched for a period, get a new
one. And watch out for Rohypnol symp
toms in the people you’re with.
For more information about
Rohypnol and protecting yourself from
sexual assault, visit the Peer Health
Education room in the Health Center, or
call 346-4456.
— Melissa Mabe
Drunks don't have more rights than you do
Alcohol use and abuse has become a perennial concern on
college campuses. It seems for many students it has
become an integral part of college life: even before we are
ready to enter college many students have preconceived
notions about our comportment with alcohol, stemming from
stories from older siblings to John Belushi’s notorious “Animal
House,” filmed on the very turf that we now tread daily. Many
researchers feel, in fact, that drinking is not a behavior learned
in college so much as a perpetuation of patterns ^
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Many consider the heavy drinking that occurs
around college campuses merely a phase in nor
mal social growth and development. College-aged
alcohol abusers often do not think of themselves as
candidates to be “problem drinkers.” In our youth
we feel invincible, we can look at a decent academic
performance as proof that we are not problem
drinkers, and many fellow students seem to drink the same
way with little problem for four years before moving on to
become successful, productive members of their communities.
Alcohol consumption and alcohol-related behavior that would
be considered abusive and dangerous elsewhere is on many
college campuses not merely socially acceptable but is often
considered socially attractive.
BINGE DRINKING
“Binge drinking” is the now common phrase to describe the
pattern of alcohol consumption so common on campuses.
Binge drinking is described as consuming five or more drinks
in one sitting; this pattern is common among students who
may not drink for several days before blowing it all out on the
weekend. Many binge drinkers, while refusing to acknowledge
a potential problem, suffer from the adverse effects of heavy
drinking. A 1994 survey of college drinking across American
campuses found that binge drinkers experienced problems
ranging from missed class, doing something that is later regret
ted or forgotten, to failing to use protection when engaging in
sex or requiring medical treatment for alcohol overdose.
SECONDARY EFFECTS?
Beyond these immediate problems, alcohol abusers and
binge drinkers pose health risks for others in their immediate
environment as well. These problems, known by researchers
as secondary binge effects,” encompass any
problem suffered by an individual as a direct
result of another individual’s drinking. If a
drunk student decides to drive, he or she puts
everyone on the street at risk for suffering a sec
ondary effect. Similarly, suffering humiliation,
assault, or unwanted sexual advances as a result of
the behavior of an intoxicated student is considered
a secondary effect.
WHAT TO DO?
Faced with the reality of the heavy drinking that appears
entrenched in the traditions of college campuses, what can one do?
1) Assess yourself honestly: do you drink deliberately to
reach intoxication?
2) Contact the Health Center or the Counseling Center for
counselling if you feel that you are a problem drinker.
3) Understand that whether or not you recall your behav
ior, you will be held accountable for your actions later.
4) If you are drunk and need to get home safely, utilize the
ASUO designated driver shuttle, which runs from 10:00
pm to 3:00 a.m., Wednesday through Saturday—phone
number 346-0621.
— Coleman Herrod
Fall staff, 1997: Teri Samson, Coleman Herrod, Brooke Narragon, Marika Wolfe, Kate Payne, Katie Clough
WellNow is published each term, except summer, for UO students by the Health Education Department of the Health Center, 13th and Agate Streets, University of Oregon.
_ Photos: Zanne Miller Adviser: John Monahan