Pavarti Shallow, the million-dollar winner of “Survivor,” spoke about the effects of alcohol
At 11 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 20 in Leonard Auditorium, Pavarti Shallow, the million-dollar winner of the CBS television show, “Survivor,” spoke about the effects of alcohol on the body and brain, using her own experiences as examples. Although the majority of the crowd was composed of Wofford freshman, the speaker also attracted upperclassmen, faculty and staff.
Shallow asked various questions for students to consider before covering the correct answers to each. She asked things like if they knew how alcohol affected them, how they knew when they were drunk, how they could stay safe while partying and when they thought the right point to intervene on behalf of another was. She emphasized the fact that alcohol impacts every person differently, depending on features like height, weight, sex and life trauma. Reminding students that being drunk can feel differently for each individual, Shallow prompted students to intervene on behalf of another person when they are about to harm themselves or others.
Shallow also analyzed the effects that alcohol has on the body: the liver can effectively break down alcohol at a rate of 1 drink per hour; eating food while drinking slows the absorption of alcohol; liver metabolizing alcohol produces a toxin that results in a severe headache, nausea, vomiting and heartburn; alcohol depletes our body’s stores of vitamins and minerals essential for healthy skin, hair, brain and bodily functions. She also relayed another important message to students: “if you’ve experienced trauma, like injury, assault or witnessed something horrible, you are more susceptible to developing addiction: a dependent relationship on alcohol.”
There are six stages of drinking that Shallow discussed. The first is “happy go lucky,” where BAC is anywhere from 0.03-0.12. At this level, the effects of alcohol include becoming more confident and daring, having a shorter attention span and/or fading judgment. The second stage is the “slurring phase,” where BAC is anywhere from 0.09-0.25. The effects of alcohol at this level include becoming sleepy, having trouble understanding and/or remembering things, slowed reaction time, uncoordinated body movements and/or loss of balance. The third stage Shallow listed was “dangerous territory,” where BAC is anywhere from 0.18-0.30 and the effects of alcohol include confusion, dizziness/staggering, highly emotional (aggressive, withdrawn, overly affectionate), blurred vision and/or slurred speech. All stages after three seem to include extreme drunkenness and high risks of potential danger, including the fourth stage: “stupor,” the fifth stage: “coma” and the sixth stage: “death.” All stages are relative to your body weight and gender, as well as other factors.
About six people die from alcohol poisoning every day in the United States. At least half of all violent crimes and reported sexual assault and rape cases involve alcohol consumption by the perpetrator, victim or both. Conservative estimates suggest that one in four women have experienced sexual assault or rape.
Above all, Shallow stressed the importance of knowing yourself and your body when it comes to drinking so you can have safe fun with alcohol, both on and off of Wofford’s Campus: “Drinking can be really fun as long as you know how it affects you and what can happen when you put yourself into a potentially dangerous situation.”
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Students learn about how to be safe in making decisions about alcohol and the consumption of it on and off of Wofford’s campus.
