Impaired judgement

Part 6 - Chilling out

by Jason Gay

There's a small party going on tonight in a three-bedroom apartment on Beacon Street, where a few Boston University students have gathered for the evening. A pair of students seated on an oversize brown couch flick through a phone-book-size folder of compact discs, loading the stereo tray with selections including Puff Daddy and Neil Diamond. A white-haired dog wanders around the hardwood floor.

Tonight's beverage of choice? Forty-ounce bottles of beer -- "40s" -- mostly Budweiser, with a few Old English 800 malt liquors ("OE800s") slipped in for street cred.

Right now, there are hundreds of small gatherings like this taking place among Boston's college students. They aren't huge. They aren't terribly organized. They aren't out of control. Still, because these students are underage, these parties are against the law.

And to that, these BU students say: Whatever. "Everyone drinks around here," says Ben, a junior with wire-rim glasses and heavily gelled hair.

Over the course of a few hours, the scene here remains mellow. No one gets falling-down, sloppy drunk. The worse offense is a brutally off-key chorus of Billy Joel's "Piano Man," which rousts the dog from his sleeping place on the couch. By 2 a.m., everyone's left or getting ready to go, and though a head or two might be spinning tonight in bed, there won't be any drinking horror stories to be told tomorrow morning.

Of course, it's not so sedate everywhere. Somewhere else in the city, no doubt, there are students who are drinking too much, and getting into trouble. Someone's getting sick. Someone's getting hurt.

But there are also other students out there who didn't drink at all, who have long since fallen asleep. Not everyone parties, studies, or behaves the same way.

The question is how best to reach the students who need help. And panic is not the answer. Rather, teach kids to respect alcohol and take responsibility for their actions.

Because pretty soon, these college students aren't going to be college students any more.

"I'll definitely slow down drinking when I get out of here and get a job," says Lisa, the BC mod resident. "I can't keep this up, right. . . . Right?"

Back to part 5 - Is America in the midst of another temperance movement?

Jason Gay can be reached at jgay[a]phx.com.