ALICE LAM Joe Goldman speaks about his
bad decisions involving alcohol as part of the Greeks Advocating
the Mature Management of Alcohol.
By Rachel Makabi
Daily Bruin Contributor
When Joe Goldman opened Monday’s “Sex Under the
Influence” program with images of partying and alcohol, he
presented scenes many students could relate to.
But most of these students could not relate to the life-changing
effects irresponsible drinking can cause ““ such as STDs,
unwanted pregnancies, and impaired judgment ““ he told about
1,200 fraternity and sorority members.
UCLA’s chapter of Greeks Advocating the Mature Management
of Alcohol and the Interfraternity and Panhellenic councils
introduced the program as part of an educational requirement for
members of the Greek system.
After contracting HIV in his college years, Goldman began
lecturing about the dangers of mixing sex and alcohol. He told
students that after making a conscious decision to stop drinking ,
he invariably began to practice methods of safer sex.
“After I was diagnosed, I discovered that one of the
ladies I had been with had two small children. The thought that I
could have potentially infected a child petrified me,” he
said.
While the program primarily focused on the effects of alcohol
abuse and unsafe sex, it also pointed to the relation of alcohol to
sexual and physical assaults on college campuses. According to
Goldman, on any given night, a third of drinkers on a college
campus will get into a fight with someone they care about. In
addition, 80 percent of sexual assaults on college campuses result
from alcohol abuse.
GAMMA co-chair Sarah Sanford-Smith expressed the necessity of
having such educational programs on campus.
“The program is important because a lot of people,
especially freshmen, don’t understand the problems of mixing
alcohol and sex,” said Smith, a third-year political science
and sociology student.
In the opening segment of the program, Goldman showed a picture
of himself in bed at three in the afternoon, after drinking the
entire night. Though Goldman woke up with someone else on his bed
and seven stitches in his leg, he had no recollection how any of
those two events happened.
“The program is not meant to make a judgement to stop
people from drinking,” Goldman said. “But it does aim
to raise awareness about the importance of drinking responsibly in
order to prevent a life-changing experience.”
According to Goldman, 50 percent of new HIV cases involve people
under the age of 24. Furthermore, he cited a recent college survey
where only half of sexually active college students reported using
safer sex methods consistently and correctly.
As part of the program, Goldman presented a video titled
“AIDS, Alcohol and Sex,” which compared sober and
intoxicated college students regarding their views on mixing
alcohol and sex.
“The people in the daylight scenes, who were not partying,
gave intelligent answers and sound like they know what they are
talking about,” Goldman said. “But if you look at the
night scenes, at students who were caught on tape after having a
few drinks, they were more honest about how they really act. These
comparisons show how even the most sensible people can impair their
judgement while under the influence.”
Although many students expressed that the message of the program
was obvious, they also relate that students do not always follow
these messages.
“Even though a lot of it is common sense, it is not common
practice,” said Jeff Ghassemi, a second-year political
science student.
At the end of the program, Kimberly Williams, an actress from
the movie “Father of the Bride” and the TV show
“Relativity” spoke about the necessity for students to
get involved in the fight against AIDS.