It will take much harder work to make a dent in the problem, according to researchers such as Toben Nelson at the University of Minnesota, especially at big schools with an emphasis on sporting events, which had the most problems. Harm reduction and screening help, he said, but research shows that telling students why they shouldn’t drink does little to change their behaviors.
He says colleges could do much more to limit the availability of alcohol, which saturates college culture. He points to a success story at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, which lowered its percentage of binge drinkers from the 60s to the 40s by limiting alcohol and requiring registration for parties so police could make sure they weren’t getting out of hand.
Research by the Harvard School for Public Health found that underage students in states with extensive laws restricting underage and high-volume drinking—such as keg registration, 0.08 driving laws, and restrictions on happy hours, pitchers, and advertising—were less likely to binge drink.
Schools might always have binge drinkers, Nelson said, but it’s defeatist to say nothing can be done to cut down on the severity and bad effects.
“You’re not going to stop it,” Nelson said. “The idea is to reduce it and keep a lid on it.”
(c) 2012, Chicago Tribune. Visit the Chicago Tribune online at www.chicagotribune.com. Distributed by MCT Information Services.
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