The Rocket

Issue date: 9/30/05 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY NATHAN COLLINS

The endless nights jam-packed with a whole lot of alcohol and not much sleep can hardly be considered a rarity. The general lack of responsibility on the part of, well, everyone, is run-of-the-mill, too. The gay-bashing, Afro-American hating, curse-a-minute alcoholic that lives across the hall and brings home a different girl every night plays the role-village idiot, sex-crazed college student, opinionated loudmouth (all of the above?)-all too well.

The average dorm at SRU? Not quite.

Welcome to the real world.

No, not that real world.

"The Real World."

Ruthie Alcaide knows it. After all, she lived it, and after living it, she decided to tell her story to college students across the country. Monday night, Ruthie told that story to SRU

students in the University Union's Multi-Purpose Room.

Alcaide, 27, was a member of 1999's "The Real World: Hawaii" cast that became best known for alcohol abuse and skinny-dipping. She also took part in MTV's "Real World-Road Rules Challenge" as well as the first two seasons of "The Battle of the Sexes." Ruthie will also be appearing on MTV's "The Gauntlet 2," which begins airing in October.

Alcaide spoke to a crowd of more than 200 Monday night, offering her opinion and Real World examples on the topics of race, diversity, sexuality and alcohol. Ruthie, a homosexual, was best known for her binge drinking, a problem that eventually led to her hospitalization and alcohol rehab after passing out in a bar with alcohol poisoning.

Ruthie, who said Monday that she was not an alcoholic when she first arrived for the show, said she was portrayed as an alcoholic through video editing by MTV.

"If you watched one of the first few episodes," Ruthie said, "[MTV] showed me talking to [fellow housemate] Matt, and I was saying, 'Yeah, I'm an alcoholic.' At that point, honestly, I didn't even know what an alcoholic was. I thought it was just anyone who was a binge drinker."

Ruthie eventually completed a stay at a rehab clinic before returning to the Real World house.

Ruthie's stop at SRU was part of MTV's College Tour, a nationwide swing of colleges and universities that aims to inform students of the value of diversity.

Ruthie's comments and testimonies were spread over an hour that also included video clips from various "Real World" seasons that illustrated points on the topics of race and alcohol.

Continued...

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