Under the Influence

By: Jivanto van Hemert
Posted In: News

What does it feel like to be hypnotized? What does it feel like to be drunk? Salve students experienced both of these effects in a recent campus event.

The Campus Activates Board’s (CAB) Spotlight Committee hosted their premier event on Tuesday, Nov. 30. Hypnotic Intoxication, featuring “Hypnotist Extraordinaire” Keith Karkut, presented a unique combination of education and entertainment. The first of two parts in the evening was a mini-lecture on the powers that alcohol and addictive drugs play on our lives. The lecture talked about how they affect the way we live and the way we act. Karkut explored and invited students to discover the many aspects alcohol could affect in our lives and how, if an alcohol or drug problem goes unnoticed, it can ruin lives.

The second part of “Hypnotic Intoxication” took up the majority of the presentation. Student volunteers were invited onto the Bazarsky stage and then hypnotized. The hypnotized students were led to believe they were at a party, and could have any kind of alcohol they could want in limitless quantities. The audience watched as this “party” -complete with music and dancing- progressed. The volunteers experienced all the various stages of being drunk, from being more outgoing and having fun at a party to experiencing what Karkut described as a “severe alcohol situation.”

“The best way to explain it is like waking up from a dream that you didn’t realize you were having,” said one of the hypnotized students, Patrick Suprunowicz, after he became fully conscious. “You remember bits, but the harder you try to remember the more you forget.”

The hypnotized students drank cup after cup of water that they believed to be alcohol. The students became more and more “intoxicated,” and the audience watched in amusement. Quickly the message behind the evening became clear- there are dangers associated with alcohol abuse. Karkut blended comedy and hypnosis to present a powerful motivational message.

“It is better to have a friend that may be in trouble and alive to talk about, then not in trouble and dead,” said Karkut, a two-decade hypnosis veteran and originator of one of the nation’s premiere alcohol education programs. Karkut hopes to inspire young people to think twice before leaving a passed out friend propped up and left to the wayside.

The event served as the first event of the CAB Spotlight Committee, which strives to provide entertaining and educational presentations to the Salve student body. Look for more upcoming events sponsored by the Spotlight Committee coming next semester.