The University of Wisconsin-Madison has started enforcing a policy of parental notification for any student who is intoxicated to the point of needing to be taken to a detox center.  According to the University, the goal of the policy is to get at the root of emotional or mental problems causing binge drinking, and to involve parents in the recovery and treatment of the student.  Other colleges and universities are looking into Wisconsin’s protocol, and might even adopt the rule themselves.

I am in two minds about this policy.  I know that if the University of Michigan had this policy in its residence halls when I was written up for intoxication during my freshman year, I would have been terrified of the wrath—and disappointment—of my mother. Over the subsequent years, I saw many more such incidents—friends who would drive drunk themselves rather than call a parent for a ride, friends who would incur thousands of dollars of hospital fees rather than risk having their drunkeness show up on their parents’ insurance statement.  Many parents, particularly those of extremely high-achieving students, refuse to believe that their son or daughter would even engage in excessive drinking.

But overall, I think the policy is a good idea.  Despite the fact that I believe that college students are adults and should be treated as such, many (even most at some elite schools) are supported financially almost 100% by their parents.  Simply the fear of knowing a parent might get a phone call the next day could be a strong deterrent from taking that next shot.

In case you just didn't want to burn that precious calorie breaking your candy bar in two, Mars candy corporation has now done it for you.

The new Milky Way bar is being christened the Milky Way 2 To Go and comes pre-cut, so it's easier to eat on the go.  And if that wasn't ridiculous enough, why not grab a Pocket Shot --a plastic portable pouch filled with liquor that you can take anywhere!  The website even suggests you drink liberally while biking, hiking, rollerblading, and swimming.  Whoever said that listening to marketing was bad for your health?