Students have been hearing about the dangers of alcohol since elementary school. Programs like "D.A.R.E." and "Just Say No" are designed to create awareness of alcohol's dangerous effects from a very young age.
But these educational programs have nothing on Mother Nature and her dreaded hangover.
"A hangover is telling your body that drinking too much was very bad for you, and that you should not drink that much ever again," said Marla Jurek, a certified rehabilitation counselor at the Wellness Center.
Besides severely taxing the body's liver, kidneys, brain and other internal organs, alcohol puts those who overindulge at risk of death.
"Alcohol is a poison and it can kill you, just like any other poison," said Frank Johnson of the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information.
Ingesting alcohol dehydrates the body, drains it of vitamins and minerals, and depresses the central nervous system, Johnson said. These three effects combine to create a recipe for hangover disaster: headache, nausea, thirst, dizziness, fatigue, twitchiness, irritability and sadness.
Most students know the dehydrating properties of alcohol, and factor them in when trying to prevent or cure a hangover.
Jason Edick, a junior communications major, offered a preventative remedy, based on battling alcohol's moisture sapping traits.
"The night you get drunk, pound a glass of water," he said.
But, Johnson said, while drinking large amounts of water may help to fight dehydration, it cannot undo all of alcohol's harmful effects; drinking just one glass will hardly make a noticeable difference the next morning.
Other remedies are not helpful at all, and can even be more damaging than alcohol alone, such as the cure-all suggested by junior legal studies major Mike Enser.
"I have to drink a lot to get hung over, but coffee and aspirin always help when I do get a hangover," Enser said.
According to research from the American Medical Association, coffee is a diuretic and will only worsen the sufferer's dehydration. Aspirin and Tylenol also can be dangerous, causing stomach and liver problems if there is residual alcohol in the bloodstream.
Others partake in what is commonly referred to as the "hair of the dog" remedy.
"When I have a really bad hangover, I usually just drink alcohol the next day and don't feel hung over," said Kristin Hart, a senior political science and Spanish major.
This method is a favorite of Edick's, too.
"Bloody Marys work to cure my hangovers in the morning if I have something to do later that day," he said.
But, experts say this may be the most dangerous cure of all.
"When you start turning to alcohol to cope with problems caused by alcohol, you're headed for trouble," Johnson said.
Medical experts report that drinking alcohol when hung over may elevate the blood alcohol level, thus returning the body to a state of drunkenness. But, while a cocktail in the morning may provide temporary relief, the unpleasantness of the hangover will return eventually. Drinking more will only postpone the effects.
More dangerously, warns Johnson, this practice may be linked to patterns of alcohol abuse.
While some students may swear by their own hangover cures, Jurek said there is no foolproof way to prevent the sickness that often accompanies alcohol use. The only way to ensure safety from a hangover is to avoid the alcohol that causes it.
"If you don't want a hangover, don't drink so much. Prevention through moderation is best," Jurek said. "If not, abstinence from alcohol is obvious because if you don't drink, you won't get a hangover."
