Known for her trip to the hospital for alcohol poisoning on the first episode of MTV’s Real World Hawaii, Ruthie Alcaide spoke to University of Wisconsin students in Ogg Hall Thursday night about alcohol, sexuality and diversity.

The UW Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender center and UW Greek system sponsored the event as part of Out and About month, designed to increase awareness of sexual diversity and Greek week.

“Alcohol is not a bad thing, it’s how we use it,” Alcaide said. “I didn’t even know what binge drinking was until I was 21 and I was on the show.”

Alcaide said the lack of alcohol education is what causes people to make bad decisions.

Sue Pastor, University Health Services community health specialist, said Alcaide brought up good points about alcohol abuse.

“I also really appreciate the fact she brought up that nobody learns about limits and safety when they are learning about drinking,” Pastor said. “We just tell people, ‘Don’t.’”

Growing up in a foster home with older parents, Alcaide said her family didn’t talk about things like alcohol and sexuality, and therefore she did not know how much people drank before she transferred to Rutgers University for her sophomore year of college.

“I thought ‘everybody pounds beers, drinks frat punch, does keg stands and (plays) beer pong,’” Alcaide said. “They weren’t having a glass of wine; they were drinking the whole box, because it was a box back then.”

Alcaide told students not being properly educated explains why she drank too much her second night on MTV’s reality show.

“You know everyone has a honeymoon stage that lasts for at least like a month and then everybody stops being polite and starts getting real,” Alcaide added. “My ‘stop being polite and start getting real’ happened the second night.”

Alcaide said unreported rape, sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancies are consequences of heavy alcohol consumption and stressed the importance of getting tested for sexually transmitted diseases.

“You don’t have to be sexually active to make sure that everything’s very healthy down there,” Alcaide added.

Alcaide talked about several of the facts she learned while she was in counseling, which caused her to leave the Real World house for about a month during the 1999 tapings, including that it takes at least two hours for alcohol’s effect to reach its peak.

Pastor said part of her job right now is to develop creative ways to teach students about alcohol safety, including using Alcaide’s talk in a video for incoming students.

“I think that students want that education packaged creatively so it just doesn’t sound more like we’re telling you what to do,” Pastor said.

Alcaide also briefly discussed prejudice issues, saying the more we educate ourselves, the less ignorant we are about different ethnicities.

“When you see a movie trailer, you automatically assume that you know what the movie’s all about,” Alcaide said. “So when you see a person please try not to judge them just by their trailer, because you never know what their movie is all about.”