GETTING WASTED IS NO WAY TO GET AN EDUCATION

Our daughters are drinking themselves witless on college campuses, and it's
causing them--and us-- big problems.

How do I know? Not from rumors or scare stories, but from the results of a
scientifically impeccable study of 17,592 students at 140 colleges and
universities -- a cross-section of U.S. higher education.

As a psychologist, a mother and grandmother, and a teacher of young people,
I care about the epidemic of binge drinking. (Bingeing is defined as heavy
episodic alcohol consumption; four or more consecutive drinks for women,
five or more for men). I want you to know how dangerous it is, and what can
be done about it.

How prevalent is binge drinking among college women? In the Harvard School
of Public Health College Alcohol Study, conducted by Henry Wechsler, George
Dowdall and their colleagues, 39 percent of college women admitted that they
had binged within the past two weeks. (The figure for men was even higher--
but that's another story.)

Isn't drinking just part of having fun at college? Yes, but there's a
difference between having fun and endangering your own and others' health
and well-being. Heavy drinking is linked with a party-centered social life,
studying less, earning lower grades, smoking cigarettes and marijuana, and
having many different sex partners. Let's look at the costs of this
lifestyle for young women.

Binge drinking is linked to a constellation of alcohol-related problems for
students who do it. They wake up sick with hangovers; they forget where they
were or what they did when they were drunk. They argue with their friends,
miss classes and get behind in their school work. They are more likely to
have unplanned and unprotected sex. Occasionally, they get injured, damage
property or run into trouble with the police. Not a pretty picture-- but,
unfortunately, an everyday fact of life on college campuses. In the Harvard
study, about one woman drinker in eight reported having five or more of
these alcohol-related problems within the current school year.

Binge drinking also causes problems for students who stay sober or drink in
moderation, but who live in a heavy-drinking campus environment. Women
reported that they often had to take care of a student who was drunk, or had
their studying or sleep interrupted by others' drunken behavior. Ugly
encounters are fueled by others' bingeing; women reported being insulted or
humiliated, getting into serious quarrels, being pushed or hit, and fending
off unwanted sexual advances.

Although you probably won't find binge drinking rates listed in their glossy
catalogs, colleges differ in how much they tolerate it.

Here at UConn, resident assistants receive two hours of alcohol abuse
education and training. As part of a fairly new program, students in the
residence halls receive cards that are stamped when they attend events, such
as an art exhibit, on nights on which students traditionally drink. Each
month and at the end of each semester, students whose cards have been
stamped are eligible to win a raffle.

Throughout the semester, students learn about the effects of bingeing during
meetings with resident assistants and others. In addition to focusing on the
immediate effects of binge drinking, the meetings also include discussions
about how bingeing impacts other areas of students' lives and could end up
costing them real money in terms of missed classes.

When Dowdall, Wechsler and I analyzed the Harvard study's data looking for
institutional patterns, we found a significant advantage for women's
colleges. Compared with women at coed colleges, those at women's colleges
were far less likely to be heavy binge drinkers. In fact, the risk of five
or more alcohol-related problems was more than twice as high for women at
coeducational colleges than those at women's colleges. Because other
students are bingeing less, women at single-sex colleges also have fewer
interruptions to their rest or study, worries about drunken friends,
quarrels, property damage and physical assault. They're less likely to drive
after drinking and to ride with a driver who is drunk or high.

I'm not saying that women's college students don't party. Our data shows
that they spend just as much time each week socializing with their friends
as women at coed colleges, and they report having just as many friends. And
I'm not saying that they're saints who never drink. They do use alcohol--but
they're much less likely to abuse it, or hang out with people who do.
They're more likely to say that people on their campus admire students who
can stay sober, and that you can make it socially at their school without
drinking.

Why are women's colleges healthier for women? Partly, it may be that more
mature, focused young women choose them--in other words, it's not the
college but the students who decide to keep binge drinking in the
background. Institutions do, however, play a role. I've taught at coed
universities for 25 years, and I know that much can be done to create
healthier climates for all students. Change starts with recognizing the
alcohol-abuse problem and its impact on campus life.

Research shows that campus climate is a big factor in alcohol abuse. For
women, attending a coed school substantially increases the likelihood that
they will become binge drinkers. Coed institutions are now recognizing the
risks and creating a healthier climate for all students--because getting
wasted is no way to get an education.