Freshers weak: stand and de-liver
Last Saturday saw a string of college bops across Oxford: the first of the year. The majority were stereotypically alcohol-fuelled events and thus an appropriate way to end Freshers' Week; toilets were redecorated, people passed out, and an ambulance was required. Yet, most considered it a remarkable success, and one can't help but agree.
All this is not designed to promote drinking, indeed given today's culture it's hardly necessary, rather to dispel certain myths about it. In order to do so, The Oxford Student asked ten freshers from different colleges to record their alcohol intake over the week.
The average was 134 units during the week; however consumption peaked at 189. Inevitably, people lie about these things, but the Oxford GP on hand to analyse the raw data we gathered said this was definitely not the worst he had heard of.
Without a doubt most Freshers drank considerably more than the recommended 'safe' limits of 21 units of alcohol per week for men, 14 for women. Five times past 'safe' sounds pretty awful and one might wonder whether livers university-wide are dead or dying.
Yet according to our GP: "a lot of people drink heavily over short periods of time and this is not necessarily a problem".
For long-term health issues, such as cirrhosis or cancer of the liver "you'd have to drink heavily for years" and short term dangers such as asphyxiation on one's own vomit "happens very, very rarely".
These facts lead us to the conclusion that the alcohol-oriented nature of Freshers' Week is almost certainly not a major problem, medically speaking.
Yet problems remain; as our GP states: "The main issues are social rather than medical".
By the time students start at Oxford, all of their friends at other universities will already have gone through Freshers' Week and they arrive with every expectation that it will involve a large amount of cheap alcohol consumption and start right away. Thus many of those terrifyingly important first impressions are made ten pints down the line, whereupon 'Vomit' becomes part of your unshakable nickname.
Meanwhile, the other social implications of drinking, such as promiscuity, far from bolster reputations.
Freshers will argue that what they want from the week is to make friends, not to get paralytic, but that a little alcohol goes a long way in dispelling the anxiety inherent in starting out in a new city. However, are you more sociable and more likely to make friends after consuming 30 units of alcohol in a couple of hours?
William Anscombe, a Mathematics fresher at St Peter's ceased being teetotal upon arrival at university, his reasons: "It's not a big deal, you might as well fit in". Deciding to drink alcohol in Freshers' Week was not something Anscombe was forced into doing and certainly hasn't transformed him into a lifelong alcoholic: "I probably won't drink for a long time, it's like 'been there, done that'".
However, it seems unacceptable that alcohol is so central to fitting in, particularly as others may not quite have his freedom of choice.
As Anne Ford, a Peer-Support coordinator, told The Oxford Student: "If people come from cultures where drink is unacceptable, forbidden, or unused, it is hard for them to integrate". The non-drinker can feel left out from all the pub-crawls and boozy bops and there are no well-attended non-drinking nights for the teetotalers to meet the rest of the year in their sober state. This is far from being an ideal introduction to student life in Oxford.
A balance must be struck, but it cannot be. Inevitably, alcohol will continue to play an integral role in Freshers' Week activities, while video nights wallow unattended. Almost in support, a week-long binge will probably not result in permanent health problems, however, it's necessity must be doubted.
While alcohol is certainly an important social lubricant, the question is quantity and the point at which alcohol ceases to compliment and starts to cause problems - not only for those who over-indulge, but also for outcasts of the drinking culture.
14th Oct 2004