Friday, September 18, 1998
 

Despite Awareness, Binge Drinking Still Popular

By Carrie McCarthy
Assistant News

According to a recent study released by the Harvard School of Public Health, a high percentage of college students still engage in binge drinking despite increased efforts by colleges to promote alcohol awareness.

The study was based on responses from 14,521 students from 116 colleges nationwide. Wesleyan was not one of the schools surveyed.

The study found that in 1997, 42.7 percent of students surveyed identified themselves as binge drinkers, down only slightly from 44.1 percent in 1993. The survey also reported that of students who drank, 52 percent drank to get drunk, up from 39 percent in 1993. In 1997, 19 percent of students surveyed abstained from drinking, an increase of four percent from 1993.

"There has been a very small drop in binge drinking between 1993 and 1997, due mainly to an increase of students who do not drink at all," said head of the study Dr. Henry Wechsler, director of college alcohol studies at Harvard, in a press release. "However, this has been more than offset by the increased intensity of drinking among those who drink: more drinking to get drunk, more frequent drunkenness and more alcohol-related problems such as drinking and driving."

in high school there is more emphasis on ‘just say no’ and learning communication skills, without learning how to drink safely.

~Director of Health Education Carol Grant

 Wechsler said that in order to curb drinking, changes needed to be made to fraternities and sororities, the center of campus alcohol culture. Scott Cunningham ’00, president of the Inter-Fraternity Council (IFC), said he disagrees with Wechsler’s statement.

"I don’t believe that binge drinking is particularly a fraternity or sorority problem, especially on this campus," Cunningham said. "The fact remains that people look at fraternities and sororities as places where binge drinking happens frequently. So it is important for us to do something about it and take a definite stand."

The study defined binge drinking as the consumption of at least five drinks in a sitting for men and at least four for women. Director of Health Education Carol Grant said that she preferred to use the terms high-risk drinking versus low-risk drinking because of the vague definition concerning the length of a sitting.

"If someone consumes five drinks in five hours, that is considered responsible drinking," Grant said.

"I think the whole thing is overrated," said Todd Themistocles ’01. "I think most people know how to handle themselves."

"It is just part of college," added Ben Perl ’01.

A 1996 survey at Wesleyan found that of the 250 students surveyed, 41 percent identified themselves as binge drinkers, while 21 percent said that they abstained from drinking.

However, according to Dr. John Kennedy, university physician, last year the number of students requiring medical attention due to alcohol consumption almost doubled from the year before.

"I’m really not sure why and no one really knows why," he said. "These kinds of numbers were also noted at other schools."

Both Kennedy and Grant stressed that the increased numbers may suggest that students are taking better care of each other, not that more students are drinking.

Kennedy added that he was not surprised that the number of binge drinkers had only decreased slightly, noting that more students are engaging in high-risk drinking at younger ages.

"One year is an awfully quick turn around for something that is embedded in high school culture," remarked Kennedy.

"Nationwide, my colleagues and I are feeling like students come with less knowledge about alcohol metabolism," Grant explained. "One of our theories is that in high school there is more emphasis on ‘just say no’ and learning communication skills, without learning how to drink safely."

"If people want to drink, they’re going to drink," said Shawn Lemerise ’02. "And if they want to drink a certain amount, they’re going to drink a certain amount."

This year, Wesleyan administrators added several programs to increase alcohol awareness among students.

Jim Matthews, a Keene State College health educator, gave a fast-paced, multimedia presentation about alcohol metabolism during orientation. Matthews used ads and media clips to portray the public’s general image of drinking.

"I thought that he was informative and entertaining, but not too heavy," remarked Kate Price ’02.

"He wasn’t there to say you shouldn’t drink," Lemerise said. "It was definitely the best presentation I’ve seen here so far."

As part of the new party policy drafted last year, students hosting social events now need to be certified in party hosting in addition to obtaining permission from the Dean of Student Services.

The two-hour hosting workshops cover issues such as alcohol metabolism and problems of security at social functions. DeRobertis explained that the host training is required even for social events without alcohol because students frequently come to these events already intoxicated.

"You can kind of call it alcohol 101," said Health Educator Lynn DeRobertis, who is facilitating the training. "The goal of the program is to encourage responsible use of alcohol at parties."

Grant said that while nationally the increase in the number of drinkers who drank to get drunk was cause for alarm, she remained upbeat about alcohol awareness at Wesleyan.

"There are definitely high-risk drinkers at Wes and I’m not ignoring that," she said. "I think you have to be optimistic about the fact that more people are drinking lightly or not drinking at all."