Study finds that despite signs of improvement, college binge drinking remains steady

Monday, March 25th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

BOSTON (AP) _ More college students are living in substance-free residence halls, and fewer recall drinking to excess while in high school. Yet binge drinking on college campuses is still as common as it was in the early 1990s, a new Harvard study shows.

The survey by the Harvard School of Public Health found 44 percent of college students admitted binge drinking within the previous two weeks _ the same percentage found in a 1993 study.

``It's part of the American college culture,'' Nicholas Pasquale, 20, a sophomore at Boston University, said Sunday. ``I don't know of any college where a large part of the student body isn't drinking on weekends.''

However, the survey also found that universities had made efforts over the past decade to change that culture.

About 65 percent more college students said they were living in substance-free residence halls and being exposed to alcohol awareness education. Also, fewer students said they were members of fraternities and sororities, where reported binge drinking rates have been the highest. A growing number of students said they abstain from drinking altogether _ 19.3 percent, up from 16.4 percent eight years ago.

Kelilah Miller, 19, a Boston University freshman, said she doesn't hang around with people who drink and questioned how much of a public health issue binge drinking is.

``What's society's responsibility to protect people from themselves?'' she asked.

The Harvard survey questioned 10,000 students at 119 four-year colleges, and defined binge drinking as four or more drinks in a row for women, or five or more for men.

Out of the traditional college students who drink _ 18- to 23-year-olds not living with their parents _ seven out of 10 said they had met that definition of binge drinking in the past 30 days.

``That's a staggering number,'' said Henry Wechsler, director of College Alcohol Studies at Harvard School of Public Health and lead investigator on the study.

``Before, we didn't see positive trends at the same time as the continuation of the binge rate,'' Wechsler said Friday. ``We didn't see this kind of illogical presence of trends that should lead to lower rates and a continuing high rate.''

``This, to us, indicates very strong forces are continuing to support this level of drinking on campus,'' he said. ``Those factors need to addressed in policies that colleges take.''

The University of Vermont in Burlington, one of 10 colleges taking part in an American Medical Association-led initiative to curb binge drinking, found when it joined the program in 1997 that 65 percent of all students admitted binge drinking, said Andrew Flewelling, director of the university's program. That number is now at 64 percent.

``Until the environmental factors are tackled, you can't expect any change,'' Flewelling said from Atlanta, where representatives of the 10 schools met Friday. ``Alcohol is similar (to tobacco) in the way it is so firmly entrenched in our society.''

Another school in the AMA program, Georgia Tech, said its binge drinking rate decreased to 34 percent from 43 percent in 1999.

The Atlanta school succeeded by making its policies clearer and easier to enforce and involving students in forming and implementing those policies, said dean of students Gail DiSabatino.

The school also started informing parents when students racked up repeated citations.

``All the data that has come back has shown us students are aware of the policies,'' DiSabatino said.

In the survey, students were characterized as binge drinkers if they had the specified number of drinks within the two weeks prior to the survey. Those who had done so three or more times in the 30 days prior to completing the survey were characterized as frequent binge drinkers.

Of the students surveyed, 22.8 percent characterized themselves as frequent binge drinkers, up from 19.7 percent in 1993.

The researchers also noted an increase in binge drinking at women's colleges, from 24 percent in 1993 to 32 percent in 2001.

``Even though this is a small group, and one that still drinks less as a group, this is a real change,'' Wechsler said.