Between the Streets

Contributions by Rachel Retchless | Photos by Kassandra Eller | Design by Krista Kok

Street art can be found all over the world, but you don’t have to travel far to find it. From Seattle to Ellensburg you can stumble upon these beautiful, strange and surreal pieces without ever leaving the Pacific Northwest.

Creativity has no boundaries. You can find a Blazin’ Kirby at the Graffiti Caves in the Yakima Canyon.

Curious eyes stare back in a spooky yet whimsical piece. This street art was discovered on a large building amongst other art pieces in SODO Station and was created by David Rice and Ola Volo.

An experienced artist captures a deer mid leap — a bit of nature in the city. This still-life can be found in SODO Station.

Imagination runs wild through the colorful urban scene. This piece is seen on the side of a warehouse when leaving SODO Station of the Seattle Lightrail System.

Feeling caught between the past and the present — fresh paint on an old building. Visit the PULSE YouTube channel for an inside look into some of the beautiful street art found in Seattle, Washington.

A Glimpse Into Addiction

‘You drink too much.’ ‘You sleep with too many people.’ ‘You need to spend less time playing video games.’ If you’ve repeatedly heard any of these phrases or something similar from concerned friends or family, you might have an addiction.

Even with how familiar people have become with the different forms of addiction, there are still issues that go unnoticed or are not taken seriously by some college students.

PULSE put together an addictions package to discuss the signs and resources for alcohol, gaming and sex addiction to help you become more aware of how to help yourself or others around you.

Story by Joseph Stanger | Photos by Zahn Schultz | Design by Sara Roach Blame it — on the Alcohol?

Muffled voices. Blurred vision. Spinning room. This is the fourth night in a row you’ve blacked out after a night of drinking. You may need help. According to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 14.4 million Americans 18 and older suffer from alcohol use disorder.

People become addicted to alcohol for many different reasons and figuring out how to get help might not be as easy as some people think.

“Sometimes people think that [alcoholism] is the same as dependence, and it’s very different,” says Douglas Fulp, assistant director for collegiate alcohol and drug recovery programs at CWU. Fulp describes dependence as, “When you become dependent upon something just because it becomes normalized. And that doesn’t necessarily mean you have a substance abuse disorder by the definition … it just means that you incorporated it as a major part of your life.”

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders uses specific criteria to determine if someone is suffering from alcohol use disorder. One of the pieces of criteria to diagnosing alcoholism is impairment.

Josh Loy, director of Counseling at Eastside Academy, an alternative high school for at-risk youth, and past counselor of author Joseph Stanger, says, “Impairment is always part of alcoholism or any addiction … [alcoholism] impairs other parts of your life.”

A second criterium of alcoholism is tolerance. Loy describes tolerance as the “need [for] more to achieve the same effect.”

In other words, if you have three drinks every night for a few days, your tolerance may build up and you’d need to drink more in order to achieve the same feeling that you got when you had three drinks for the first time. The problem arises when one continues to build their tolerance.

The third criterium, withdrawal, can be described as when “going without [the substance] creates either physical … or psychological consequences,” says Loy. According to American Addiction Centers, symptoms of withdrawal for alcohol are tremors or seizures lasting between three days and several weeks. “Impairment is always part of alcoholism or any addiction . . . it impairs other parts of your life.”

It can be important to know that having a few too many drinks with your friends doesn’t necessarily make you an alcoholic. However, it can be helpful to understand some of the different reasons why people drink.

Socializing is one common reason for drinking alcohol, says Meaghan Nolte, assistant professor of Psychology and Mental Health Counseling. “It’s often understood to be the mechanism for socialization.”

Nolte also touches on the idea that people drink because of trauma. “If I’m using, I don’t have to think about the trauma I experienced. As soon as I quit using, now I have to look at this [negative] thing that happened to me.”

While these are a few reasons people might drink, there can actually be biological predispositions to alcoholism based on family history.

“If you have a family member, either a grandparent or a parent, who has had addiction issues in the past, they’ve chemically changed the way their brain works,” says Fulp. “You’re four times more likely than the average person to develop an addiction or a substance use disorder.”

Family history may be a factor in your likelihood to develop alcoholism, but it isn’t the only thing to keep in mind when thinking of consuming alcohol.

Practicing safe drinking habits may be able to help you keep yourself in check. When it comes to knowing how to identify what safe drinking habits can look like, Fulp recommends, “Identify and know what you’re getting yourself into, asnd then go low and slow. Everything impacts everybody differently.” Loy adds, “I think there is risk any time you are drunk but not controlling the place or environment. Drunk at a buddy’s house is different than drunk in public.”

For people who have been diagnosed with an alcohol addiction, seeking treatment can be one of the first steps towards recovery.

Nolte explains that people who are physically addicted have to go through “a detox protocol where they’re being medically monitored to ensure that their heart rate and their blood pressure remain within normal levels.”

One of the more common treatments people go through for alcoholism, aside from detoxing, is joining Alcoholics Anonymous.

“That’s a system of accountability, and really a family,” says Loy. “That system is big enough that you can go anywhere … and find a community of people who will not judge you, but join you; give you an immediate place to talk about it, and they actually have a process.”

He adds that the name of this program reflects the “twelve steps that [alcoholics] walk over and over and over again that are related to what it takes to be sober.”

Alcoholism is a common problem in America that many college students are currently experiencing. If you or someone you know is at risk for alcohol dependency, contact The Wellness Center at 509-963-3213 or the Student Medical and Counseling Clinic at 509-963-1881.