Ruthie Alcaide, cast member of the 1999 season of MTV’s Real World: Hawaii, spoke to UW-Madison students Thursday about alcoholism and race relations.

As a cast member, Alcaide gained a notorious reputation as a party girl after passing out becaue of alcohol poisoning and then being asked to leave the house and enter rehab.

After overcoming her problems with binge drinking, she shed some light on the importance of alcohol education.

“One of the biggest things is education. It’s not that alcohol is a bad thing, it’s that we’re sheltered from it … and then you get a taste of it and can’t stop,” Alcaide said.

Alcaide emphasized that drinking is all about choices.

“Obviously with every choice, there is a consequence,” she said.

One of the consequences she touched on was the tendency for alcohol to go hand in hand with sex. According to Alcaide, 70 percent of college students are engaging in sex primarily because they are under the influence. Of that 70 percent, 60 percent of those people have sexually transmitted infections.

“Sex has its consequences: STDs, pregnancy and embarrassment. We don’t think rationally when we drink alcohol … we think we’re invincible,” she said.

As a woman of seven different ethnicities, Alcaide also made an effort to stress the importance of interacting with people as much as possible.

“The more we interact with people and more educated we are, the less ignorant we become,” Alcaide said.

Alcaide said her first culture shock came when she was a sophomore at Rutgers University. Upon entering the dining hall for the first time, she said she had never seen so many white people at the same time in one place. It wasn’t until she began talking to people that she realized she was a lot like others.

“I was able to look past color and see people for who they are … the more you travel and open yourself to people, the more perspective you gain,” Alcaide said.

Alcaide said she is happy with the person she is today. When asked if she regretted her Real World experience, she said, “No, this is my life … it’s a learning experience.”