PUBLICATION'S 'PARTY SCHOOL' RANKINGS DANGEROUS, AMA SAYS

As thousands of Wisconsin students head back to college this month, the
American Medical Association is criticizing the Princeton Review for its
"top party schools" ranking in its annual "best colleges" guide, saying the
list gives college-bound students a skewed perception about partying on campus.

"It is extremely dangerous," said Don Zeigler, deputy director of the AMA's
A Matter of Degree program, which is trying to reduce high-risk drinking
among college students. "It continues the unhealthy image that college life
equals drinking."

Last year, the University of Wisconsin-Madison ranked No. 1 on the
Princeton Review's list for hard liquor, No. 7 for marijuana use, and No. 9
for overall party school. The guidebook's new list comes out next week.

The party-school rankings are compiled using student surveys that ask
questions about the use of drugs and alcohol on campus as well as the
university's drug and alcohol policies, a process that Ziegler said is "not
exhaustive and not scientific."

However, the Princeton Review contends that ranking students' party habits
is as important as listing the quality of professors or campus diversity.

"In no way does this book or Princeton Review encourage these conditions,"
said Robert Franek, editorial director for the publication. "We agree with
the AMA that binge drinking is dangerous. We're just reporting on the
conditions that exist on college campuses."

On one out of three college campuses, more than half of all students engage
in binge drinking, defined as consuming four to five drinks in a row,
according to the AMA.

"By that definition, I don't know there's a night that I go to the bars and
(am) not considered a binge drinker," said UW-Madison senior Luke Dixon.
"But I'm able to maintain myself after four or five drinks. After 20 or 30,
then things get out of hand."

However, some students contend that drinking is part of college culture and
something undergraduates eventually grow out of. "The only way to get rid
of binge drinking is to get rid of college students," said UW-Madison
senior Derek Mai.

Mai said freshmen tend to imbibe to the extreme more than upperclassmen
because of their new independence, and because they don't know their limits.

"It's trial and error," he said. "You drink too much once and you learn
your limits."

The problem, according to experts, is that students don't know their
limits. Earlier this year, a study commissioned by the National Institute
on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's Task Force on College Drinking found that
excessive drinking accounts for 1,400 deaths, 70,000 sexual assaults and
600,000 assaults on college campuses every year.

At UW-Madison, school officials strive to educate students about alcohol
use and to make students responsible for behaviors that result from too
much of a good thing.

"Studies show that the destructive behaviors are more likely to take place
when students feel no accountability for their actions," said Aaron Brower,
a professor of social work at the UW-Madison, and director of the campus'
anti-binge-drinking program, which is funded by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The UW-Madison program, one of 10 in the nation, is designed to create
initiatives to confront the issues and problems associated with youth and
alcohol. The goal, said Brower, isn't to curb drinking, but to deal with
the unhealthy consequences of excessive drinking, such as violence, rape
and vandalism.

"Alcohol awareness education takes many shapes and forms on campus," said
Ed Mirecki, the fraternity and sorority adviser at UW-Madison. "On a
national level, binge drinking is a concern on every college campus."

For Sarah Schweich, 20, drinking at Madison is no different than at any
other college.

"You're going to find it anywhere," she said. "It's part of college culture
and people that age."

This is exactly the kind of attitude the AMA's Zeigler would like to see
change.

"We need to change that culture and endorse the idea that higher education
is for serious thought," he said. "Of course, there's enjoyment, too, but
unfortunately, right now partying and enjoyment means getting smashed."

The Princeton Review says it has no intention of removing the party ranking
from its annual list. For Brower and the rest of the UW faculty, being
hailed as a party school is a "non-issue."

"In an ideal world, it shouldn't be done," he said. "But given that it's
not going to change, you just live through it and get back to business."