Anthony Rust is a biological sciences junior and Mustang Daily's sex columnist. His column appears on Tuesdays.

Sex has given the world of alcohol some of its most memorable drinks: Sex on the Beach, Orgasm, Blowjob, Slippery Nipple, Fuzzy Navel, Dirty White Mother and many more. Although I haven’t had any of those and by had, I mean drank, I have had many  opportunities to observe the complicated relationship between alcohol and sex. Far from the idyllic peanut butter and chocolate, this combo is more like batteries and a campfire: powerful, but dangerous.

The first time I got drunk, I remember being amazed at how simple life became. When an idea came into my head, instead of pondering pros and cons and logically deciding whether it was a good idea, I just did it. Luckily, that night I only talked the ears off my friends, saying pretty much whatever came to mind. But, that same mental state makes it easy to see sexual situations as simple, when they are, in fact, very complicated.

One of the most basic prerequisites for sex is that the people involved want to have sex. This sounds very obvious, but rarely does sex start with the couple intoning “I want to have sex” to each other. This is unnecessary because (usually) a combination of subtle and not-so-subtle clues. These can be quite hard to accurately interpret when you aren’t operating at 100 percent. The “look” in someone’s eye can easily be found, even if it does not actually exist.

Even when both people would have wanted to have sex anyway and were just benefiting from “liquid courage,” sex while drunk is not exactly magical. Although low doses can make one feel sexy and more relaxed, larger doses of alcohol have the potential to sabotage the act of sex, suppressing both erections and feelings of arousal. Even if everything’s working fine, the possibility of throwing up all over the person and not even remembering the sex at all (and the worst sex is sex that you don’t remember) might make you reconsider what the “courage” you gained was worth.

Of course, because of its power to impair judgment and cause blackouts, alcohol is often used when someone doesn’t want to have sex. In fact, around 75 percent of people involved in sexual assault have been drinking, making alcohol the most commonly used date-rape drug. Although it not wise to allow yourself to get drunk enough that sex could happen against your will, rape is never the victim’s fault. Legally, a drunk person can’t consent to sex, so if upon waking up the next morning the drunk person feels that the sex was against their will, they can prosecute.

Alcohol, like sex, permeates our culture, affecting people’s thoughts and actions. Drinking can affect one’s sex life positively or negatively, and the line between the two is extremely fine. The loss of self-control is a powerful thing, especially in a sexual context, and therefore alcohol should be treated with the caution that it deserves.

In response to the comments made about my last article concerning free pregnancy prevention: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov), Fertility Awareness methods are 75 percent to 99 percent effective at preventing pregnancy, which is comparable to the 85 percent to 98 percent effectiveness of male condoms. These methods can be combined for even more protection. Fertility awareness does not prevent the transmission of STIs, so it should only be used when this is not a concern. Fertility awareness should only be used by properly trained individuals.

The beach below Isla Vista will be closed this year as more than 12,000 people attended last year's event and about the same number are expected this year. Photo courtesy of Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department.

Floatopia, the beach float and alcohol free-for-all that first appeared in 2004, attracts thousands of college students, including many from Cal Poly, to the beaches of Isla Vista each year. But the event won’t be happening this time, at least on the beach. Santa Barbara County officials decided to close the beach just below Isla Vista to deter massive crowds from gathering this year.

The decision was made by the Santa Barbara County Parks and Recreation Department, which has the authority to close down the beach for environmental concern, public safety and public nuisance.

County Parks director Dan Hernandez said the county has a process in place by which a group can come forward and submit a legitimate application for a permit for an event. He said the permit covers issues of liability, sanitation and public safety, and no adequate permit was ever submitted for the event this year. Therefore, Hernandez said, the county decided to close the beach to avoid another “disaster.”

“Last year was the worst I’ve ever seen,” Hernandez said. “I’ve been in parks and recreation for more than 20 years, and I’ve never seen more environmentally destructive behavior than what took place last year.”

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department will help enforce the county’s decision. All beach accesses will be barricaded and law enforcement officials will be stationed at each point. There will also be deputies monitoring the water and throughout Isla Vista and the surrounding areas.

Despite the beach closure, there are still some Cal Poly students who are going to make the drive down to Santa Barbara for the weekend.

Cesanne Amiri, a construction management junior, said he was pissed off about the decision and that the county was trying to single-out college students.

“Everything I paid to come to college for, they are taking it and stripping it from me,” Amiri said.

Amiri attended last year’s event and said it was crazy in terms of the amount of people on the beach.

In the future, there is a possibility of the beach being used for the event. Hernandez said he would be happy to have an event like this and work with students on making it happen, if there could be someone to sponsor the event. He said the county does not have the resources to deal with 12,000 people coming into town without someone accountable.

“Without somebody to take responsibility for the event, it’s not going to happen,” Hernandez said.

Lieutenant Brian Olmstead said there is going to be strict enforcement and anyone that enters the beach will be subject to a citation or arrest. He said there will be a zero-tolerance policy with regards to alcohol laws.

“We are really hoping and encouraging people not to attend because they have a risk of being arrested,” Olmstead said.

The Sheriff’s Department issued 78 citations at last year’s event along with 13 arrests. Also, Olmstead said more than 33 people had to be taken to the emergency room, which almost put them at capacity.

“The hospitals weren’t prepared for that many people last year and it affected services to local areas,” Olmstead said.

Floatopia originated at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) in 2004 and has steadily attracted more and more people. The event has been replicated in other areas, including a Floatopia event that is held in San Diego. Hernandez said the event began as a local event attracting around 1,000 people, but escalated last year due to Facebook.

“It turned into this massive, crazy party that just destroyed everything,” Hernandez said. “It’s embarrassing the the type of disregard for the environment that took place.”

There have already been Facebook groups that have sprung up in protest of the beaches closing down. There is one group entitled “Floatopia Isla Vista APRIL 10th” that encourages people to party on Del Playa Drive and in the streets on Saturday. The group has more than 12,000 confirmed guests.

Every day in California, nearly 300 children take up smoking. Of those, 200 go on to become addicted and half of those will die prematurely because they smoked. Most of the 42,000 Californians who die from smoking-related causes started before they were of legal age to purchase tobacco. The younger they start smoking, the greater the addiction, and the likelier it is they’ll die from tobacco-related disease.

While California law has long prohibited the sale of tobacco to minors, compliance checks in the County of San Luis Obispo demonstrate that businesses continue to sell to underage kids. This month the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department Tobacco Control Program along with local law enforcement agencies conducted a series of tobacco sales compliance checks in the cities of Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo and Atascadero.

Sixteen and seventeen-year-old decoys visited retail locations that sell tobacco products in the three cities. Periodic checks of this type are conducted in cities and unincorporated areas throughout the county, in an ongoing effort to reduce youth access to tobacco products. Under Penal Code 308(a), it is illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone under the age of 18. Of 47 tobacco retailers surveyed, 14 sold tobacco to a minor decoy. The overall illegal sales rate was 29.8 percent, higher than the California state rate of 14.6 percent.

Educational programs, media campaigns, clean indoor and outdoor air policies, land use restrictions and tobacco control enforcement have all contributed to a decrease in adult smoking rates in San Luis Obispo County and throughout California. Nevertheless, teens have easy access to tobacco and youth smoking rates remain high.

“The primary goal of our program is to decrease the sale of tobacco products to the youth in our community,” said Amber Alewine, Health Educator for the Tobacco Control Program. “Eliminating youth access to tobacco products is critical because the easier it is for kids to smoke their first cigarette, the more they will try it, become hooked, and ultimately pay for their addiction with their lives.”

Over the past three months, merchant education calls were conducted by the Tobacco Control Program throughout the County and offered to every retail tobacco store. Informational materials and signs were distributed, and managers were educated about training clerks to ask for identification and about their responsibility for posting signs, etc. However, many merchants are still not asking young tobacco customers for identification.

Local law enforcement and the Tobacco Control Program are working to increase funding for enforcement activities. Research shows that the most successful way to combat teen smoking is to reduce youth access to tobacco. Increased tobacco retailer education combined with consistent enforcement of tobacco laws as well as policies that make enforcement simpler – merchants caught repeatedly selling tobacco to minors would face suspension or revocation of a license — will save young lives.

Anyone interested in learning more about how to reduce youth smoking and access to tobacco in their community, or the sale of tobacco products to minors is encouraged to call Amber Alewine or Christina Lefevre at the Tobacco Control Program at (805) 781-5564.

Tobacco retailers cited for sale of tobacco to a minor:

Morro Bay

1. Morro Bay Mobil Mart
2. Albertsons
3. Freshair Fare
4. Lucky 7
5. Morro Bay Chevron

San Luis Obispo

6. Central Coast Shell
7. Sidewalk Market
8. Laguna Smokes
9. Manuel Liquor
10. Santa Rosa Shell

Atascadero

11. Albertsons
12. Vons, 7135 El Camino Real
13. Shores
14. CVS

A key aspect of Herten’s book is that the long-term health effects of excessive drinking often go unpublicized. Photo by Aimee Vasquez- Mustang Daily

Local physician Jeff Herten, M.D., is working to spread national awareness about the grave but often overlooked effects of alcohol consumption. His book, “The Sobering Truth,” outlines the health risks of drinking alcohol from a doctor’s, as well as a former alcoholic’s, perspective.

“I’m a recovering alcoholic,” said Herten. “I feel a calling to try to communicate with young people to steer them away from what are some of the incredible social and health hazards of alcohol consumption.”

Herten, while holding on to his professional life, used to be what he calls a “high-functioning alcoholic.” He said that he managed to hide his growing addiction to alcohol by drinking only at night and in the privacy of his home. Eight years ago, and after several unsuccessful attempts, he overcame his addiction and committed to writing a book about alcohol and its effects.

Herten currently runs a dermatology clinic on Santa Rosa Street, and has lived in San Luis Obispo for over 30 years.

“He’s an esteemed dermatologist from the area,” Dane Howalt, M.D., said.

Howalt is also a local physician and is certified by the American Board of Addiction Medicine. He said that Herten is qualified to write a book on the health effects of alcohol because “Herten’s a board-certified physician, and has taken many years of medical school that have to do with the workings of the human body. Before one becomes a dermatologist, they are trained in the whole field of medicine. He certainly has both the undergrad and graduate training in the biochemistry of how things work.”

A key aspect of Herten’s book is that the long-term health effects of excessive drinking often go unpublicized. These secondary effects include an increased risk for over eight types of cancer, as well as depression, osteoporosis and fetal alcohol syndrome. And, “those effects are usually totally unknown,” he said.

Herten’s goal is to stop alcoholism before it starts by helping young adults make more informed choices. He is putting the information in “The Sobering Truth,” and his currently in-progress documentary, to be implemented in health programs at various universities and high schools across the country.

“Basically, he’s trying to educate youth,” said Jane Broshears, teacher at the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education and editor of “The Sobering Truth.”

Herten is funding the production and distribution of the book, and presented aspects of it to over 30 Cal Poly students Saturday morning. Delta Chi Vice President Matt Slette attended the event.

“My whole impression I guess is I’ve been to a lot of alcohol awareness events,” Slette said. “He wasn’t trying to use scare tactics. He was backing up all his claims with medical facts.”

Some students, however, remained skeptical.

“It seems like when people want to drink, they’re going to anyway. It seems like they don’t take the effects too seriously until something happens to someone they know,” architecture major Erin Osberg said. “They take it with a grain of salt.”

The National Institute of Health states that alcohol problems are highest in the 18-29 age group.

“I thought it was really informative, and it makes you think twice about some of the decisions we as college students make,” senior civil engineer Tanner Bennett said. “We’re in an environment where drinking is perfectly sociably acceptable. It’s the norm. But he’s a doctor, to be able to explain such things in such depth. The guy knew what he was talking about.”

Graphic by Kate McIntyre

Due to recent concerns that this past Week of Welcome (WOW) program was associated with an increase in alcohol consumption, citations and arrests, Vice President of Student Affairs Cornel Morton, who has been at Cal Poly for seven years, said the week before school this year was the worst in terms of alcohol use that he has seen. Morton is part of a committee recently formed to propose changes to WOW and the other orientation programs, some of which include a yearlong message campaign about the effects of alcohol abuse, notifying parents of underage drinking, keeping most returning students from moving on-campus during WOW and shortening WOW to three and a half days.

Morton wants to clarify that WOW is not responsible for the incidents that occurred during the week before school. In fact, WOW educates participants about alcohol abuse, encourages responsible community involvement and promotes drug-free activities, he said.

“WOW is not a bastion for alcohol abuse.”

Director of Student Life & Leadership Ken Barclay agreed, saying that WOW has a community service component, awareness programs and team building that mean a high retention rate of students returning for sophomore year.

“They also provide students with a big support group,” he said. “Many times it lasts throughout their years at Cal Poly.”

He added that they evaluate WOW and the other orientation programs annually, so having to make changes is not new.

Parental notification is another strategy being considered, not only during WOW but for the entire year, Morton said. It is permissible to notify parents when their underage student receives an alcohol violation under the 1998 Higher Education Act. Students will be told that their parents are being mailed a letter. The letter is not a judicial, simply a note of concern, Morton said.

Business junior Greg Hinchman said students should deal with legal consequences of alcohol and drug use on their own.

“Most of these kids are 18, so they (the school) should leave it up to the kid to tell their parent, because they’ll probably have to anyway,” he said.

This year, freshmen were on-campus 11 days before classes began. Barclay said they’re looking at how to best deliver the orientation programs next year without having so much time between move-in day and the start of classes.

“I think it’s a long time to be up here before classes begin; I think it’s problematic,” he said.

The three summer orientation programs, Student Orientation, Advising and Registration (SOAR), Fall Launch and WOW will be scheduled closer together and all three will address alcohol and abuse.

This September saw the first Fall Launch, a program hosted by University Housing Saturday to Monday to establish a community dynamic, educate students about Cal Poly’s Learning Objectives and on-campus resources and connect students and faculty.

Ninety-eight percent of the freshman class (3,815 students) participated in Fall Launch Class of 2013. Of those, 1,263 took a survey after the program concluded. The results were positive, Associate Director of Housing Carol Schaffer said. The survey said that an overwhelming majority of participants were more familiar with the campus and felt connected to Cal Poly (95 percent) and met people they felt comfortable hanging out with (96 percent) and understood community expectations of making choices that are mature, responsible and respectful (97 percent).

The program was successful in helping students learn community standards and offering drug-free activities that set the standard for the year. It also helped students establish a support structure, Schaffer said.

“The ability to meet with students and have their attention for those first days to build community roommate to roommate, floor to floor and building to building, what I saw by Sunday afternoon was impressive,” she said.

The decrease in community standards violations from 2008 to 2009 indicated a 25 percent decrease; there was also an 83 percent decrease in housing license revocations.

In addition, this year returning students were allowed to move into on-campus housing a week before the start of school, but Morton said that University Housing is considering letting only certain students like orientation leaders, athletes, student volunteers and employees move in that early next year.

WOW already addresses alcohol abuse and consequences, but Andrene Kaiwi-Lenting, assistant director of Student Life & Leadership, said the program is making changes for next fall, including shortening the program from the usual five days to three and a half days next fall.

“WOW is resolving what it can … You will see significant changes, but it won’t be foolproof,” she said.

Psychology sophomore Geneva Licht said WOW shouldn’t be associated with alcohol consumption. It’s normal for freshmen to want to go out when they get to college; people off campus are facilitating the issue of alcohol consumption with a ‘WOWies are welcome’ attitude. The program tries to counteract the issue by keeping students late at night, but it can’t do much more, she said.

“I think the WOW program does all it can,” she said.

Kinesiology junior Chad Crockett added that returning students come back early because they know it’s a big party time, but there isn’t a feasible way to prevent that.

“It’s a large contribution, but it’s out of anybody’s hands, including WOW,” he said.

Kaiwi-Lenting said that WOW already offers freshmen opportunities to have drug-free fun with activities on-campus and in the local community from early in the morning to late at night, but it can’t and won’t babysit participants, she said.

“I don’t think it’s WOW’s responsibility to keep people off the streets, but it is to give them options,” Kaiwi-Lenting said.

Recreation, parks and tourism administration junior and 2009 WOW leader Ryan Swearingen, said he talked about alcohol with his WOWies and advised them not to drink, but knows that students will choose to drink anyway.

“Knowing that some students will still choose to drink alcohol, no matter how much you encourage otherwise, I advised my WOWies that above all, they need to be responsible,” he said. “They need to think about how their choices can affect them, and how they can affect other people as well.”

Swearingen does not like the idea of shortening WOW to three and a half days. Some of the main purposes of WOW are to meet new people, establish friendships and connections, become familiar with the campus and community and become aware of issues students face everyday as a college community. All of these things are critical to student success, he said.

“Shortening WOW in order to limit the opportunities for freshmen to drink/party/get into trouble is a great idea at first glance,” he said. “But before we jump into this, look at other schools. These kinds of problems happen everywhere, whether it is during the weekends before school starts or during the first weeks of classes. Before we decide to shorten WOW, we need to remember how much good WOW does, and look at how shortening WOW could influence that.”

The committee includes representatives from Student Affairs, University Housing, Student Life and Leadership, Campus Dining, University Police Department, San Luis Obispo Police Department and the Health Center. They are meeting weekly with hopes of presenting a plan to President Warren Baker and Provost Robert Koob early November.

Most students want to start a new school year on a positive note, but that wasn’t the case for some students who attended parties during the Week of Welcome, Cal Poly’s orientation program.

The University Police Department (UPD) gave 42 citations and arrested 43 people between move-in day Sept. 12 and Sept. 21. Stock Photo

UPD Chief Bill Watton said almost all of the arrests and citations were for alcohol-related incidences.

Watton also said that UPD increased patrols for the Week of Welcome and the first few weeks of school.

The San Luis Obispo Police Department also issued more than 80 citations from Sept. 10 to Sept. 21, including 49 citations for open containers, 16 for noise violations and 12 for urinating in public. The San Luis Obispo Police Department also arrested more than 25 people for a variety of offenses, including public intoxication, driving under the influence, one case of driving under the influence that resulted in an injury, battery and resisting arrest.

There were also two Cal Poly students arrested for trespassing early Sunday and Monday mornings, according to a press release from the San Luis Obispo Police Department. Both students did not know where they were; the disorientation was the result of alcohol intoxication.

San Luis Obispo police Capt. Ian Parkenson said, despite the tone of the university that the amount of patrolling was about the same as in previous years. He added that while this year’s activity was about the same as in past years it began earlier.

“We noticed problems starting on Saturday this year after the end of the football game,” he said.

The San Luis Obispo Police Department and UPD did not have the total number of arrests and citations for the Week of Welcome last year.
Area hospitals saw an increase in traffic during Week of Welcome festivities. Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center spokesperson Ron Yukelson said that the hospital had seen a “sharp spike” in alcohol-related incidents since Week of Welcome began. It treated one individual who had a blood alcohol content of .38, extremely close to the .39 to .45 percent of recently deceased Cal Poly student Carson Starkey.

Yukelson said the hospital wants to combat the fear and anxiety some students might feel about seeking medical help for friends or loved ones. “It’s very important to bring in friends and loved ones who are severely intoxicated—don’t let them sleep or put them to bed—bring them in,” he said.

Furthermore, Yukelson stressed the hospital’s ‘safe zone’ policy, which protects underage drinkers from police intervention.

“We’re a safe zone, so you don’t need to worry about us calling your parents or the police,” he said.

The office of university president Warren Baker sent a campus-wide e-mail Wednesday informing students of acceptable partying practices, encouraging them to keep gatherings under control by calling campus police if they see illegal behavior.

The e-mail urged students to make “wise and responsible choices” including checking IDs at the door of parties to ensure no underage individuals are drinking alcohol.

Student Affairs also sent out an e-mail on Friday about a student who was kicked out of his dorm just a few hours after moving in when he was caught smoking marijuana.

The total number of residents evicted from the dorms was not provided by the time of publication.