Alcohol. Utilize and you’re damned? Absolutely not. Necessary for a good time? Absolutely not.

Excessive alcohol consumption is another issue. A shot, three pitchers, eight bottles: what classifies excessive?

Each of us is entitled to our own opinion about what excessive represents; it’s nearly impossible for all minds to come to a consensus on a definition for excessive considering we all maintain unique perspectives of the world and how we should move through it. How can we judge what is too much, too little or just enough for another?

If we have learned anything from Goldilocks, it’s that each bear is warranted their own personal scale of appropriateness. Porridge that may be entirely too hot for you will appear glacier-like to the next.

My opinion is that excessive occurs when alcohol has been utilized to the point where an individual loses the essence of self. When the room spirals out of control, you can’t tell purple from green and the morals and values you have based your reputation on are hurled out the window. That’s excessive.

Maybe the desire to escape the present enthralls us so intensely that poisoning our bodies to the point of insanity is appealing. Maybe we are unaware of the existence of fun apart from liquor and booze.

Surprise! Spending time with people who are 100 percent themselves is much more interesting than anyone tainted with the, I’m-blaming-my-ridiculous-actions-on-the-a-a-a-a-a-al-cohol syndrome.

No, alcohol is not the root of all evil, nor do all who consume alcohol deserve a bad reputation. Simply, alcohol is not a necessary page in the book for a good time.

Example: Nearly 200 college students gathered a recent Saturday night in our very own Cedar Falls to experience a dance party, Funk City style. The hosts requested that alcohol be eliminated from the equation for the night; this desire was respected.

University students and guests alike spent four hours cutting a rug. Black lights illuminated the mass of people decked in neon as Kanye, JT and Lady Gaga pulsed through the airwaves. With the typical night-scene pressures omitted, a free-spirited nature filled the space.

Sound too good to be true…too good to be college?
Well, it’s for real; this fest was actually the third of its kind.

“Party” is morphing from “an excuse to be belligerent” and is being accurately restored to its original purpose of “social gathering.”

Opinion: alcohol can be handled in a sophisticated manner equally as much as an immature fashion. Fact: fun does exist in the absence of alcohol.