Students put on beer goggles for USG

The Undergraduate Student Government told students to take off their glasses and wear their beer goggles, in the event they sponsored event last Tuesday to promote Student Life's Health Awareness Week.

Hosted in the Multipurpose Room, students in attendance had the shared intention of indulging in drinking games and the opportunity to get buzzed midday.

"I'm here to drink until I forget I'm at Baruch," said junior Daniel Levine.

The room was lit by colored strobe lights casting streaming waves across the floors and walls, and tables were set up for various drinking games. USG members wearing New Baruch Alliance t-shirts handed out cups of iced tea to minors and beer to students over 21.

"We are here tonight to increase awareness on the intoxicating substance of alcohol and to learn more about its effects," said USG president Tanvir Hossain.

Filled to capacity, the room was crowded with students intermingling, passing red party cups and enjoying free slices of pizza, all while listening to hip-hop. Groups of students tossed ping-pong balls into foaming cups of beer during mini-pong tournaments, while others participated in a game of flip cup as their friends cheered them on while they out-drank against opponents.

Vice President Armaan Torabi presided over a game of Kings, spreading a deck of cards on the table and laying out the specifics of the game to the other players.

With snippets of facts about alcohol displayed over a projection screen, Hossain interrupted the drinking festivities to introduce the event and set the tone of the evening.

"You are not just here to get free beer and food and then go home," said Hossain, who then played a two-minute video clip educating the attendees on the topic of alcohol abuse and addiction.

The video placed warnings on excessive drinking, directing the attention away from the party mode and leaving students partially indifferent to its intended message.

After the end of the clip, students returned to their drinking and dancing activities. Students also took turns trying on beer goggles, glasses that enabled them to test the effects of drinking on vision.

Towards the end of the event, Torabi took the stage to burst the party-goers' bubble. He informed the attendees that "the true content of the beer was devoid of any alcoholic substances."

The non-alcoholic beer was intended to serve as a placebo in order to observe the behavior of drinkers who believed they were indeed consuming an intoxicating substance.

"We had to have some fun and teach you guys a lesson but if there was alcohol in the beer you would be in a very unsafe condition," said Torabi. "I want you all to remember to drink responsibly."