Thursday, December 7, 1995
one-fifth
LEXINGTON, KY.-
Huddled in the comer of a small
apartment, oblivious to the chaos
around her is “Katie”, a
University of Kentucky nursing
student. Psychedelic lights
surround her, adding a tripping
effect to the room. Gyrating
bodies crash against each other
seemingly at lightning speed.
The smell of beer and sweat
intertwine with cigarette smoke
and fog from a huffing smoke
machine in the back of the room.
Every once in a while, people
come over to “Katie’s Comer” to
make sure the petite brunette is
breathing. She has already had
eight beers. A friend offers Katie
another swig of his mixed drink
called a suicide.
“She does this every weekend,”
he said before finding his date on
the dance floor. “She just uses it
as a way to relax.”
Katie is not alone.
Almost half of the college
students in the United States are
binge drinkers, according to a
1995 Harvard School of Public
Health survey of 17,592 college
students from 140 colleges
nationwide.
Nearly four percent of the
students drink daily. One-fifth of
the students were frequent binge
drinkers, which means they binge
drink more than three times a
week, the study reported.
After 20 minutes in the comer,
•Katie opens her eyes and wonders
how she can get more alcohol.
Grinning slowly, she goes to
greet the guy she thinks brought
her to the party. A few stumbles
later, Katie bumps into an old
friend from high school who she
hasn’t seen in two years.
He asks her to dance, and they
stroll silently toward the gyrating
masses. After a few twists and
turns, Katie, who will turn 21
next year, manages to maneuver a
plastic cup of Killian’s Red from
his hands and into her mouth.
A few more swallows, and her
dancing becomes less rigid. The
girl who originally sat in the
My parents drank
and probably did a lot
worse when they
were college
students. I don’t get
why experts in the
health fiedls are still
worried about the
effects. I mean, who
really cares?
- Libby Morgan
Katie said she is far from the
average alcoholic. She has a
3.78 grade-point average, a
boyfriend and a stable family life.
Four
But Katie is a binge drinker. She
can even recite the definition of
her affliction.
“The consumption of five or
more drinks in a row on at least
one or more occasions,” she reads
from one of her health textbooks.
“That’s pretty accurate. Five
[drinks] get me a good buzz
going. I can relax then.”
According to the nationwide
Core Alcohol and drug survey of
56,000 college students, binge
drinking contributes to a broad
range of problems for college
students including memory loss,
trauma, date rape, vandalism and
suicide.
The study says drinking is the
No. 1 health concern on college
campuses.
Dr. Tim Nolan, director of
student mental health for the
University Health Service, said
student drinking is a complicated
issue.
“Yes, one person may have
experimented with alcohol—and
this is perfectly natural in a
college environment-but this
experimentation often can lead
that person into negative things
like hurting themselves and
others or having unprotected
sex.”
Alcohol also has been
associated with missing classes
and poor performance ratings on
tests and projects. In the Core
group’s survey, college students
who reported the lowest grade
point averages consumed an
average of 11 alcohol beverages a
week, while those who reported
mostly A’s had less than three
drinks per week.
Nolan said most surveys he has
read on binge drinking show that
bingers are not just hurting
themselves.
“They show very clearly that
non-bingers are affected-they are
harassed, abused to some extent,”
he said.
Tradition or trouble?
Alcohol abuse is hardly a new
concept
College always has been
identified as a place for
exploration. It serves as a haven
for experiments with students’
new-found freedom. Many of
these experiments include
alcohol.
“My parents drank and
probably did a lot worse when
they were college students,” said
Libby Morgan, a UK sophomore.
“I don’t get why experts in the
health fields are still worried
about the effects. I mean, who
really cares?”
Nolan said sometimes
experimentation is taken too far.
“Alcohol and even binge
drinking are very difficult issues,
because part of the way we learn
is through experience,” Nolan
said. “Sometimes negative
experiences with alcohol can lead
to positive growth, but students
need to know the difference
between growth and self-
Features
percent students
drink daily;
frequent binge drinkers
destruction.”
UK Dean of students David
Stockham said students need to
know how to drink responsibly.
He said he doesn’t understand
what drives a student to lose
control.
“Incidents of binge drinking
occur too frequently—it’s the kind
of drinking when someone sets
out to get drunk and get drunk
fast,” Stockham said, “Usually, it
ends up making them terribly
sick.”
UK Police Chief W.H.
McComas said student alcohol
abuse can lead to bigger
problems.
He said that 90 percent of the
incidents where officials deal with
students involve alcohol.
“It is the drug of choice for
students. It is the most abused
substance in college,” he said.
However, he said UK Police
only give minor penalties.
If officers see a person
consume a beverage, then they
will arrest them, McComas said.
However, if officers find someone
drunk, then they normally will
render assistance and then may
•issue a citation. But, McComas
said, this usually isn’t the case.
“If they are a jerk they will be
arrested and given a citation,”
McComas said. “Officers take far
more people home than they give
citations.”
What is being done?
University officials say they
believe the national studies reflect
campus behaviors.
“We’ve carefully reviewed
studies from big schools, and we
have copies of them,” Stockham
said. “We use them as our
sources of information. We
believe the patterns [associated
with drinking] are similar.”
UK has made several attempts
to address these concerns.
In 1988, the UK revised
portions of its Alcohol Policy.
Heavy Drinking ... Is It Really Worth It?
Past Month Heavy Drinking* by Age, 1994
But have you considered the conse- 32 : - t
quences? When you drink, you run the * ' ~
risk of doing something you’ll regret later. _
When you're under the influence of g* 24 i
alcohol, you're more likely to expose 120 1
yourself to a sexually transmitted disease c oeQ^
(STD) by having unprotected sex. You 2 16
could get yourself into a situation you may S i? ■
not be able to handle—or get out of. S I I
Falling grades and dropping out become a £ B '
reality because college students who drink 4
the most get the lowest grades. 0 1 f f (
All students need to ask, “Is it really ia " 2l 22-25 26-29 30-34
worth taking the kind of risk that could Age
negatively affect the rest of my life? For * Heavy drinking is defined as five or more drinks per day on each of five
free materials and other resource informa- or more days in the past thirty days,
tion on alcohol and illicit drugs, call the
National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and M mm M »/* M
Drug Information at 1-800-729-6686. Jj&l/wlgAjPw
National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Sept. 1995
The policies became more
specific as to where and when
drinking on campus is
appropriate. Alcoholic beverages
are not permitted in classrooms,
laboratories, offices, residence
halls, athletic events and all
outdoor areas on campus.
Also, the policy says housing
corporations that supervise on
campus greek chapter houses are
supposed to establish rules that
are consistent with local laws and
regulations. Those house
corporations also are responsible
for ensuring compliance by
residents.
In conjugation with the
policy’s opening statements to
“promote alcohol education and
counseling programs,” Stockham
said the university has encouraged
student groups to create forums
on related issues.
Also, the university offers a
new short course with workshops
and special speakers describing
alcohol and its consequences.
The program is called On-
Campus Talk About Alcohol
(OCTA A).
For students who believe they
may have a drinking problems,
Nolan suggested several options
for seeking help on campus. He
said students may go the
University Health Services in
either the student mental health
wing or in the primary care
facility. UK’s Counseling and
Testing Center can also help.
Nolan added that the community
has several sources, including
help groups such as Alcoholics
Anonymous, Ala-non and Ala
teen.
The Morning After
Katie wakes up in a foreign bed
in a dark room. The only sign of
morning she can discern is the
blinking red 9:48 on the alarm
clock next to her. Katie's head
pounds, her mouth feels dry. She
leaves the sleeping man next to
her with as much silence as she
can muster in her present state.
“I know I didn’t have sex with
him,” Katie says a few hours
later. “I still had all of my
clothes on when I woke up and
he did, too. We must have just
passed out together.”
Katie still does not know who
the man she woke up with is or
what happened between them.
After sotneone describes her
state the night before to Katie,
she says this is not the first time.
She even admits that it “probably
If they are a jerk
they will be
arrested and
given a citation.
Officers take far
more people
home than they
give citations.
- W.H. McComas
is a problem,” but it will
“probably happen again.”
Two weeks later, Katie is
seeking help at a regional
rehabilitation center following an
overdose of sleeping pills and
muscle relaxants.
She acknowledges that the
drugs were definitely a problem.
But she still doesn’t think that
drinking on the weekend is “that
big of a problem” for her.
“Drinking is just an easy way
to forget all of the stuff that has
happened in the course of the
week—you know, grades and
classes and family and stuff,” she
said. “It’s not like I drink all of
the time. I do it on the weekends
only.”
by Jennifer Smith
The Kentucky Kernel
University of Kentucky
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