The fourth annual “Art in Focus” lecture series began with a presentation delivered by art historian Helen A. Harrison that explored the role of jazz as a possible influence in the work of abstract expressionist artist Jackson Pollock.

Music thumping, bodies sweating, people vomiting – this is a familiar scene to most college students. The drug-fueled party is a fixture in almost every American college. At these events, the real life of the party is alcohol, derived from Arabic al-kuhul, the definitive social lubricant, a drug as ancient as civilization itself.