Erica Angulo, resident adviser for the Sacramento State dormitories, said she still remembers the night when she had to clean an excess of vomit from the face and arms of one of her resident freshmen.
Angulo said she walked the "drunk and stumbling" girl back to her dorm only to discover another girl passed out on the bed and a 60 ounce bottle of Captain Morgan Rum sitting empty on the dresser.
Angulo said she called the paramedics after both girls began to vomit simultaneously.
Despite the incident, Angulo does not believe "excess partying" is part of the Sac State image.
According to a Student Health Center brochure, the average Sac State student has 0 to 3 drinks per week. Surveys also show 79 percent of students drink once a week or less.
The health center presents this information to new students at freshmen orientation.
"We really try to reach out to the younger crowd," said Sarah Henshaw, a student manager at the health center. " The students coming straight out of high school have a picture in their mind of what college is supposed to be."
Angela Carter, a freshman recreational parks and leisure major, said she and her peers didn't believe the statistics at first.
"The reaction from people, at orientation, was (skepticism)," Carter said.
Carter said her opinion hasn't changed. She said she often overhears fraternity pledges in her classes talking about being "drunk all week."
According to a 2006 survey by the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the Harvard School of Public Health, "two out every five college students are binge drinkers."
Transfer students also attend orientation in the summer and are shown the same facts.
Transfer student and senior history major Allison Fennell said she thinks the statistics make sense. Fennel went to UC Davis last year.
"Partying is a lot less common here (than at Davis)," Fennell said.
Fennell, whose family has a history of alcoholism, said she appreciates the anti-alcohol advertising that the student health center provides.
Sac State is known as a "wet campus," which means the sale of alcohol is allowed on school grounds. Currently, alcohol is sold only at Roundtable Pizza in the University Union and Hula's Bar and Grill in the Riverfront Center.
According to Sac State policy, "the sale of beer and wine must stay in designated areas" and the presence of "hard alcohol is strictly prohibited."
In the dorms, alcohol may only be consumed by those 21 years of age or older and in the privacy of their own room.
According to the Sac State Residence Hall handbook, minors are not allowed into rooms that contain alcohol.
The handbook also lists consequences that range from community service to suspension from the university.
Angulo likes being a resident adviser at a college where she believes drinking is not as common.
"As a resident adviser, you really get to know your residents and build relationships with them," Angulo said. " (When they get drunk) I'm genuinely worried about them. It kind of tugs at your heart strings... that's when you start acting like a friend and not a resident adviser."
On the second floor of Desmond Hall, there is a poster board advertising the Student Health Center's new campaign against alcohol abuse. The poster depicts the stick figure of a vomiting male and wildly dancing female and urges students to not be "that guy" or "that girl."
"I think it's a great campaign because everyone can relate to it, " Henshaw said. "(That guy is) either themselves or somebody that they know."
Henshaw will help the health center display approximately 1,000 of these posters across campus.
Angulo said she likes the "reality" of the campaign. She said she witnessed "that girl" the night she cleaned the vomit off her resident.
Angulo admitted she has been "that girl" before.
"Luckily, I had friends who were educated on drinking," Angulo said. "They made sure not to leave me alone because sometimes people think 'oh we will let So and So sleep it off.' And then So and So doesn't wake up."
Andres Perez can be reached at [email protected]
