If the changing of the color of the leaves is any indication (and it isn’t), the season for parties is now. Midterms are over and done with and homework is already beginning to become an afterthought in the minds of the fatigued student body. With weekends gradually regaining their meaning, it can really only mean one thing: it’s time to bust out the beer pong table.

Of course, under no circumstances will I promote underage drinking or obnoxious behavior. In fact, I want to talk about safe partying and the reasons why one should be responsible when it comes to festivities.

That being said, discussing parties and not mentioning that the under-21 groups consume alcohol would be the journalistic equivalent of watching MTV’s “Teen Mom” and finding the adolescent pregnancy aspect surprising. Similar to music piracy, efforts can be made to make it more illegal, but thinking it can be eliminated entirely is crazy.

So stick that in your pipe dream and smoke it.

Based on my own definition, a party is a collection of people (generally more than one) having a good time in celebration of something. Vague? Yes, but parties aren’t meant to be too specific. Just look at Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the U.S.A.” where the location is narrowed down to a country. How are you expected to RSVP to a party when the setting is only limited to “the place between Canada and Mexico”? It should be noted that Ms. Cyrus does not recognize Alaska or Hawaii as “party states.”

Now, safe partying shouldn’t be considered “prudish,” partly based on the fact that no one uses the word “prudish” and partly because wanting to remember a celebratory night with your friends shouldn’t be an activity that is frowned upon. Puking, rather, should be.

Turning into a jerk and blaming it on booze is another reason why alcohol should be used in moderation. Taking responsibility for your actions is an important step in reaching adulthood. Yelling at your girlfriend for distracting you during a crucial round of flip cup, rather, is not.

Hanging out with friends can be a really fun time and, granted, doing dumb and irresponsible things before that final leap into the abyss of maturity keeps students from losing their minds after a stressful week of school-work and job-work. However, I personally find that these situations are more easily remembered without drowning them in heavy amounts of PBR.

Even though I am over 21 and don’t run the risk of getting an MIP, I still follow the fine print found on every Bacardi commercial: “Please drink responsibly.” For me, having a party isn’t about seeing who can chug the most beers or who can take the most shots, and the reason is not based on whether or not I would lose those competitions (I would). Instead, I prefer the experience of friends and silly games because I know how very little time I have left in college.

I’m a complete advocate for “living it up” in college, but I want everyone to be careful this Halloween weekend. Parties aside, it’s always the ones who make poor life choices that get murdered by psychopaths first.

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