Students simulate drunken driving at McNutt Quad

Sophomore Megan Moore's vision was obscured by black goggles as she drove a golf cart over several orange cones. \nStudents standing at the McNutt Quad circle drive watched as Moore swerved to miss two IU Police Department squad cars that arrived on the scene. John Summerlot, a residence coordinator for the building, yelled for her to stop. \n"I can't," she said, laughing. \nSummerlot countered with a harsher tone.\n"Megan, stop -- seriously," he said.\nMoore halted the vehicle she'd been driving as part of a "drunken driving simulation." The police had arrived to investigate a different incident, but as students took turns swerving wildly around cones in the circle drive, they had to be extra cautious to miss the parked squad cars. \nFour of the residential assistants from the Bocobo building of McNutt Quad sponsored a drunken driving simulator from 2 to 4 p.m. Friday in the circle drive of the dorm to increase awareness about alcohol safety.\nSophomore Derek Kries, one of the RAs in Bocobo, said each of the six buildings in McNutt will put on a program for students each semester. He said Bocobo was the first building to do its program, which also included "drunken doughnut" in the morning.\n"We had coffee and doughnuts out in front of McNutt. On each of the Styrofoam coffee cups we had alcohol facts," Kries said.\nMoore, an RA from a different building, was just one of the people who hung around the entrance to McNutt, curious about maneuvering a golf cart while wearing "drunk goggles" -- dark lab goggles which make the viewer see things slightly hazy and cockeyed. \n"It's something different," Moore said. "Everyone saw the circle drive closed off and the golf cart and thought, 'what's going on?'" \nThe goggles were meant to simulate a blood alcohol content of 0.2. They were provided by the Alcohol and Drug Information Center. Briana McHugh, from the center, set up a table and provided students with information about alcohol safety. \nSenior Bailey Redick, one of the RAs who organized the event, said students showed up consistently throughout the afternoon, wanting to give the simulation a try. \nRedick said they had to return the golf cart to the golf course a few minutes late because so many people were lined up to give it a try. \n"We had to send people away," Redick said. "We had to tell them we had to quit."\nRedick said when she arrived at the golf course, the manager told her two other dorms had called in the past two hours to ask about borrowing carts for the same reason. \nFreshman Grier Flynn hit a few cones during his drive. Resident assistant Jordan Luzader rode with him. \n"It was a whole lot harder than I thought it would be," Flynn said. "As soon as I sped up, it was horrible."\nFreshman Kyle Sullivan described it as a good experience. He said the simulator had convinced him of the consequences of drunken driving. \n"I clipped a cone," Sullivan said. "It could've been a kid." \nKries said he was happy with the turnout for the event. \n"It was a huge success," Kries said. "Between the doughnuts and the golf cart thing, we probably reached 250 students"