Arlene Halsted, a registered nurse at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, spoke to 10 women at Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority yesterday afternoon about the effects of alcohol on women as part of Alcohol Awareness Week.
According to a 1992 study of alcohol use here, 5.6 percent of Dartmouth women drink on a daily basis, an increase from the 1989 survey.
While the amount of drinking at Dartmouth has increased in recent years, most disturbing is the increase in drinking among women, Halsted said.
"Women are more easily intoxicated than men," Halsted said. "Women can become as drunk as men consuming less alcohol because they are smaller, have less muscle tissue and have a higher proportion of body fat."
Studies show that a120-pound woman is noticeably impaired after consuming only two drinks within an hour, Halsted said.
While men immediately metabolize 20 percent of alcohol consumed, women metabolize only five percent. This means that at any given time a woman has 15 percent more alcohol in her system than a man, according to Halsted.
Halsted emphasized that anyone can develop a drinking problem. "There is no alcoholic personality. Everyone is vulnerable," she said.
Halsted listed the specific ways alcohol affects women. Women who drink have a higher risk of developing brain or liver damage. Alcohol use has also been linked to breast cancer. Pregnant women who drink run the risk of having children born with fetal alcohol syndrome, Halsted said.
"A woman who drinks heavily may shorten her life span by 15 years," Halsted said.
Halsted said women have a stronger need to form emotional attachments than men. As a result, women often become dependent on alcohol, she said.
Women present at the discussion agreed that alcohol plays a large role in Dartmouth social life.
"I guess people feel that there's nothing else to do," Carrie Freeman '96 said.
Others felt that the lack of social options on campus led to excessive drinking. But Freeman disagreed, saying "the whole mentality has to change."
Sharon La Voy, the chair of Alcohol Awareness Week, said many Dartmouth students drink because they feel lonely.
"Being in a fraternity basement surrounded by people might make you feel less alone," La Voy said.
