Gathering Intel

Honestly, I felt a lot of resistance to my group's project decision of reporting on the drinking policies at the University of Pittsburgh and their consequences, mostly because

I don't really drink a lot of alcohol.



I have negligible experience with college party binge drinking.

I don't have qualms with others who do, nor do I consider myself superior. I have too much anxiety that has been soothed with too many of my own vices - I surrender especially quickly to the influence of caffeine. It's just that, quite frankly, I've never been much of a party girl, and all too wary of the negative side of drunkenness.

You can see by the number of "I's" in this entry that there is quite a bit of self-consciousness rather than confidence.

So, like anyone significantly independent of peer pressure, I went crying to the nearest authority figure. I confessed my sense of ineptitude regarding a project on inebriation to Professor Trachtenberg, who replied lightly, "You're an outside observer, so think of it as an anthropological study."

It's brilliant! I could definitely enjoy the historical and cultural aspects of research.

1) National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

I came across this page while searching for ordinary text sources in the Pitt library
such as this, a collection of papers from a conference on alcohol and culture, sponsored by
the NIAAA. I think this source could be useful for reading about basic health risks and
statistics about drinking for Americans.

2) College Student Drinking statistics arranged by a Sociology Professor

More specifically, this is by Professor David J. Hanson of State University New York with
some easy to read information on college drinking culture. I appreciate the follow-up links
within the page, especially the one that does focus on binge drinking, apart from the facts
of the actual norm of students. He includes a bibliography which could further our
sociological point of view for the project.

3) Voice of America audio article of Binge Drinking

I was happy to have found a specific and applicable audio file, although I am yet unable to
embed it. Interestingly, this report is right on the mark of our project aims with comparative
information on events and school policies and strategies for drinking.

4) Harvard School of Public Health Scholarly Article on Student Binge Drinking

I suppose that the aims of the class is not how to sharpen scholarly researching skills,
but this paper looked so completely relevant that I desperately want to include it for my
studies for this writing project. I can't wait to do old-fashioned research!

5) Video Documentary Against Binge Drinking

Admittedly this video will be very one sided (I have not yet had time to see it!) but even in
hearing one side of a story is good - one is at least halfway in understanding, perhaps. Plus,
I was starstruck from seeing Robin Wright Penn, the actress of Buttercup in the cult classic
The Princess Bride (1987). Anyway, I was happy to have found serious-seeming video
footage relevant to our topic.

I hope my sources are varied and useful for our ambitious project. As a bit of an outsider, perhaps I will give strength to the project by adding cold, hard research in the absence of raw experience.

But - as my inner, abstinent, wayward guru concludes - even from non-experience one can find new enlightenment.