Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Sex and Excess: Surviving the Party

On Monday November 10th, I, along with all of the athletes here at Loyola attended a lecture titled “Sex and Excess: Surviving the Party.” This very informative lecture was geared towards warning the athletes of behaviors and situations in which they would not want to be in, and especially since we are a representation of the school, we would not want to bring an undesirable name to the school.  Along with this lecture, the readings for this week of  “B. Traven Is Alive and Well in Cuernavaca” a novel by Rudolfo A. Anaya, a poem “End of April” by Phillis Levin, and an article from the Baltimore Sun “Serving Up Hope” each contribute in their own way to this topic of sex and alcohol.

The lecture starting talking about one of the main things that goes on almost every college campus; alcohol abuse.  The lecturer discussed about how dangerous it is at parties now because people just fill up their cups and they are not sure how much alcohol they are actually taking in.  Without keeping track of how much you have been having, allows for someone to get “wasted instead of buzzed” as she said.  What comes with being wasted is poor decision making along with a chance of receiving alcohol poisoning.  We were warned of the horrible consequences that could come if we ignore the signs of alcohol poisoning in a friends and may leave them to die instead of making them sleep it off.  The though of being responsible for such a thing made the entire crowd silent.  Like in the poem “End of April” the author mentions in reference to the robin’s egg “What had been there/ is gone now/ and lives in my heart.”  This could also be taking in reference to a friend who was with us and now because of alcohol poisoning now only resides in our hearts. This feeling would definitely be a horrid experience for anyone to go through and would be unbearable for most. 

The next topic was about some of the sexual decisions we may make while under and no under the influence of alcohol.  We were explained to how the first part of the brain to be affected by alcohol is the one that controls our judgment.  The decisions we make under the influence of alcohol may not be the ones that we would make if we were sober, like having sex with someone randomly at a party.  Another decision that may be affected is whether a condom is being worn while in the act, which is a much more important decision.  You cannot be sure, for a guy, if the girl you are about to have sex with is on birth control, and for both people, you are not sure if the other person has some sort of sexual transmitted disease.  Either of these, pregnancy or contracting an STD, could be detrimental to some person and affect them for the rest of their lives, with no second chance.  Lucky, in the article “Serving Up Hope”, drug addicts Jennifer Brock and Tyrone Lewis were given a second chance with becoming part of the deli run by the Sampson’s.  With the kindness and willingness of this family, Jennifer and Tyrone were not labeled because of their habit.  Also, from the novel “B. Traven Is Alive and Well in Cuernavaca” Justino was portrayed as someone how make these kinds of decisions because of being described as someone partying with alcohol and always with women at this side.  It is interesting to wonder if the character is aware of all of the possible consequences that could come from mixing alcohol and sex. 

Overall, the lecture was very informative and gave you a good scare to make such decisions if you were ever in a similar situation.  The readings for this week also helped tie some of the ideas mentioned in the lecture together to really allow me to understand the point being made for the “Sex and Excess: Surviving the Party” lecture.  

 

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