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Wednesday Nov. 10, 2010 www.scupdate.org Volume 116, Number 6

Cross country clinches 31st straight title

Clinton Dick/Collegian photographerAmy Pierson, nursing senior, races Friends’ Jordan Arnold to the finish at the conference meet Saturday. Pierson finished second behind Arnold, leading the women to a third-place finish.

By Lea ShoresManaging editor

Blackout in a can. Liquid cocaine. Four Loko. It doesn’t matter what you call it, it all spells danger. Named for the four main in-gredients, caffeine, taurine, gua-rana, and alcohol, Four Loko is becoming the go-to-drink for college students. “It’s a cheap way to get drunk,” said Tanner Weeast, business administration senior. Over the course of the last month, nine students from Washington and twenty-six from New Jersey were hospi-talized after blacking out and becoming sick from drinking. Some students reportedly had blood alcohol content levels as high as 0.33, nearly four times the legal limit and potentially fa-tal. According to a CNN report, police initially thought students in Washington were drugged because their BAC was so high. Investigators eventually ruled Four Loko as the cause. One can of Four Loko is 23.5 ounces and contains 12 percent alcohol. It is equivalent to• 6 cans of light beer• 1 750ml bottle of wine• 5 shots of 80 proof liquor• 3 cups of coffee Dan Falk, dean of students, said, “I think it’s scary. It packs the punch of four or five beers plus a couple cups of espresso.” Drinking too much alcohol is already danger-ous. But paired with caffeine, the effects of al-cohol are not as apparent, lead-ing students to believe they can drink more or even get behind the wheel. Falk is con-cerned about students’ abil-ity to make good decisions while drinking Four Loko. “The caf-feine masks the effects of alcohol. Students drink it and

and make sure they’re not mak-ing stupid decisions or driving or going home with someone they don’t know.” Weeast said, “If somebody tells me their going to give me a drink that’s called blackout, I’m probably not going to drink it. I like to remember my nights.” The Michigan Liquor Control Commission banned the sale of Four Loko and other similar drinks from being sold in the state on Nov. 5. There are also officials in several states, includ-ing Washington and New Jersey, who are trying to get Phusion Projects of Chicago Il., the mak-ers of Four Loko, to take re-sponsibility and stop making the drink. Gumm said, “They have a lot of warnings on the can saying there’s alcohol. It’s pretty well advertised what you’re getting but not a lot of people know the effects of that stuff, what effect it’s going to have on you.” Falk said, “They’re very savvy in their marketing. They know exactly what they are do-ing. From my point of view, the drink is relatively cheap, and that fits a college student’s bud-get. Energy drinks are already very popular among students. Then this company adds alco-hol to that. They’re targeting students. The cans are colorful and cool looking, which attracts students. They’re marketing to-ward students and for them to say they’re not, they’re not being very up front about that.” At the same time, Falk agrees that students need to be respon-sible for their own actions. A ban on Four Loko may or may not be in the future, only time will tell. Until then, it’s up to students to know what they’re putting in their bodies. Gumm said, “I was in Wichita the other day and they had this new drink like Four Loko, Tilt. This is just the beginning.” Lea Shores is a senior major-ing in English. You may e-mail

her at lea.shores@sckans.edu.

THE STUDENT VOICE OF SOUTHWESTERN COLLEGE

T H E

Deadly drink draws debate

By Lea ShoresManaging editor

Thirty-one. It’s just a num-ber to most people–perhaps one birthday after “The Big One,” or, for most students, around 10 years older than they are. For the men’s cross country team on Saturday, that number meant something else. It was looming, representing a rich tradition, older than the runners themselves. Thirty-one years is enough to make anyone a little bit nervous, especially when, for the men’s cross country team, it’s the num-ber of consecutive years of con-ference championships. Jim Helmer, head cross coun-try coach, said, “It’s always in the back of my mind. I think it’s a positive thing. It motivates our current runners to keep the tradi-tion.” Helmer’s theory was proven

right. The men won and women got third at the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Champion-ship in Salina on Saturday. Helmer said the women fin-ished right where they were picked to. “Overall it’s been an-other great season. Our women’s team was as good as almost all the conference championship teams in the past. We were pleased with our finish,” he said. Amy Pierson, nursing senior, finished second overall with a time of 18:17.01, less than a second behind Friends run-ner Jordan Arnold. “It was less than a second in a great, great battle down the stretch. Amy ran one of her best races ever,” said Helmer. Pierson said, “I don’t get beat at the end of a race very often, so it was kind of sad. I gave it my best and my best just wasn’t good enough. No regrets, I gave it my all.”

Pierson will be the only wom-an for the Builders racing at na-tionals on Nov. 20 in Vancouver, WA. “I think getting beat kind of helps in terms of training for nationals. It will put a little fire under my belt and spur me to try harder,” said Pierson. Despite only having one woman running at nationals, Helmer was happy with the out-come for them. “Jordan Unruh is a senior and she has had her best season yet. Larrissa Vasquez, also a senior, has improved a lot. And Jennifer Hendrixson who is a junior has had a breakthrough season,” said Helmer. Following Pierson in the race was 14 Jordan Unruh 19:38.28, 19 Jennifer Hendrixson 20:04.84, 25 Larrissa Vasquez 20:39.26, 28 Mallorie Coffman 20:57.58, 33 Sydnee Nelson 21:37.26, 36 Jacey Cullop 21:52.82, 55 Erica Dunigan 24:27.31.

By Erica DuniganStaff reporter

Christmas music won’t start playing on the radio until after Thanksgiving, but students have already started preparing the Christmas opera “Amahl and the Night Visitors.” The opera will be performed this Christmas season in addition to long stand-ing tradition “Eagerheart”. “Amahl and the Night Visi-tors”, originally composed in 1951 to be broadcast on NBC, is an opera about a young disabled boy. Amahl and his mother are visited by three kings who are on a journey to deliver gifts to a wondrous child. The story un-folds to tell the story of the birth of Jesus in a different point of view. David Gardner, professor of music, said, “The earliest memory of my life is being at a performance of this play on my third birthday. My mom was playing the role of the mother. Then when I was in high school I got to play the role of King Balthazar. This opera holds a lot of memory and history.” December will be busy for performers. The play, to be per-formed Dec. 3, involves students from theatre, orchestra, and choir. At the same time, the theatre department is preparing for “Ea-gerheart.” The orchestra and choir are preparing for their own concerts. Gardner said, “Combining the music department with the theater department has been re-ally interesting and fun. We have worked so well together, and we knew this was going to be a busy time.” Allyson Moon, professor of theatre, said, “We had to be very careful with creating a sched-ule to make sure the actors have

some free time. With ‘Eager-heart’ also going on during De-cember, and with having actors in both shows, we had to make sure it didn’t get too stressful.” Blake Carter, new media se-nior, said, “It’s very time con-suming. With me being in both shows I really had to look at my schedule, so I could manage my time and making sure I’m study-ing certain classes.” “We have been in rehearsal for about one week. It’s been really neat with how students are inter-acting with the music. Not only do we have 20th century opera, but a little bit of jazz too. There

is a much more immediate im-pact, and a more understanding of the storyline. It’s coming to life,” said Gardner. Moon said, “Anyone who might think that it is an opera, something they might not enjoy, will be surprised. It is about the travels of the kings for a child, baby Jesus. I think that anyone that is moved by the story of the birth of Jesus at Christmas time and sacrifice will enjoy ‘Amahl.’” Erica Dunigan is a junior ma-joring in professional communi-cations. You may e-mail her at erica.dunigan@sckans.edu.

the caffeine makes them feel ex-tra alert but they’re still drunk,” said Falk. “That caffeine could make students think they could drive but in reality their blood alcohol level is high. That de-pressant is still in their system.” The combination of alcohol and caffeine isn’t a new idea. Rum and coke has been around for years and vodka and Red Bull was a popular combination a few years ago. College stu-dents are attracted more to Four Loko for several reasons. According to Matt Gumm, clerk at C&B Liquor, Four Loko is sold for approximately $2.50, comes in eight flavors and is a draw because of the conve-nience of just buying one thing. “Most of the people really like it because it’s cheap and they’ll use it as a pre-game before they go to the bar,” said Gumm. “Some people use it as a mix and add more alcohol, making it more potent than it already is.” Weeast said he has tried the drink before but didn’t like the taste. “I think it tasted like a malt liquor cough syrup. I would not drink it ever again,” said Weeast. “It made me pretty tipsy right away, not a good feel-ing. I hear a lot of people saying good things about it. They think it’s the best thing since sliced bread.” “I know our students do drink

Four Loko. I’m aware that it’s on cam-pus,” said Falk.

“It’s here and I just hope

s t u d e n t s look out for each other and if your friend is drinking it, you w a t c h out for

t h e m

Carly Budd/Collegian photographer

Samantha Gillis/Collegian photographerCooper Hart, theatre sophomore, transports an armful of skirts on Saturday in an effort to move all of the theatre costumes out of the house behind Reid into the new theatre tech center. Students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members made up the 26-person crew who worked from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.

bb vs. hastings

Cast rehearses for opera

See XC, page 3—