When booze-driven hookups are considered sexual assault and punishable by the university kangaroo court system, how are students affected?

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

University students divided over sex policy’s effectiveness

The UC Berkeley freshman took a drink, then another, and possibly a third. The alcohol buzz and the cacophony of the party helped douse the pain of her recent breakup, and it felt good when a guy flirted with her.

“I was not thinking straight,” the 18-year-old, now a sophomore, said on campus the other day as she recalled what happened last year. “He took me back to his apartment.”

The hookup, ripe for trouble, happened in spring 2014, soon after the University of California changed its policy on sexual harassment and sexual violence to require “affirmative consent” on all campuses. It means that students who engage in any kind of sexual activity without first obtaining clear, verbal permission from the other person could be subject to campus discipline ranging from a simple warning to expulsion. Under the rules, “consent” given under the influence of alcohol or drugs is not consent.

Similar policies were adopted at all colleges and universities in California, public or private, that participate in state-funded programs like Cal Grants after lawmakers passed a law requiring them last September.