2008 Woodie Awards
Colleges Cracking Down on Alcohol
Andrew Becker
Issue date: 11/14/05 Section: News
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Matt McIntyre, a University of Oklahoma junior, has his fall schedule down: Wednesday night is $1 pitchers, Thursday is party night, and drinking on weekends is required.
"If you don't go out, you're a dork," the 21-year-old accounting and finance major said on a Saturday night as he waited to get into a bar. "You're not going to stop drinking. It's part of college life."
That sentiment remains despite the University of Oklahoma's alcohol ban at residence halls, fraternities and sororities after an 18-year-old freshman died of alcohol poisoning last year.
Fraternity keg parties, "beer pong" tournaments and dollar pitcher nights have long been rites of passage for college students. But authorities are cracking down, saying alcohol is the common denominator not just in flunking out but in campus rapes, criminal mischief and even deaths.
Spurred by an evolving view of their community role, colleges and universities have made strides against disruptive drinking with stricter policies, tough penalties and more education. But researchers say students are doing more binge drinking, which raises new challenges.
"It makes it even more dangerous," said Richard Yoast of the American Medical Association's Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse. "It wasn't always this way."
And just as students have conflicting views on alcohol, officials have different ideas on how to curb destructive use.
"You crack down on one area, and it moves to another area," said Drew Hunter, president of the BACCHUS Network, a peer-based education program that focuses on alcohol abuse and prevention.
To reduce excessive drinking, many universities have turned to intervention, Web-based self-assessment tests and even medical amnesty, a policy that shields students from sanctions if they call for help because of an alcohol-related emergency.
Education alone does not work, officials say. The same goes for scare tactics, such as emphasizing alcohol deaths on campus.
"If you don't go out, you're a dork," the 21-year-old accounting and finance major said on a Saturday night as he waited to get into a bar. "You're not going to stop drinking. It's part of college life."
That sentiment remains despite the University of Oklahoma's alcohol ban at residence halls, fraternities and sororities after an 18-year-old freshman died of alcohol poisoning last year.
Fraternity keg parties, "beer pong" tournaments and dollar pitcher nights have long been rites of passage for college students. But authorities are cracking down, saying alcohol is the common denominator not just in flunking out but in campus rapes, criminal mischief and even deaths.
Spurred by an evolving view of their community role, colleges and universities have made strides against disruptive drinking with stricter policies, tough penalties and more education. But researchers say students are doing more binge drinking, which raises new challenges.
"It makes it even more dangerous," said Richard Yoast of the American Medical Association's Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse. "It wasn't always this way."
And just as students have conflicting views on alcohol, officials have different ideas on how to curb destructive use.
"You crack down on one area, and it moves to another area," said Drew Hunter, president of the BACCHUS Network, a peer-based education program that focuses on alcohol abuse and prevention.
To reduce excessive drinking, many universities have turned to intervention, Web-based self-assessment tests and even medical amnesty, a policy that shields students from sanctions if they call for help because of an alcohol-related emergency.
Education alone does not work, officials say. The same goes for scare tactics, such as emphasizing alcohol deaths on campus.