The Real U!

WHAT IS HIGH-RISK DRINKING?

A third of the local college students responding to a 2004 survey reported engaging in binge drinking within two weeks of taking the survey (see more survey results under “The Real Need”). Binge drinking is defined as five or more drinks in one sitting for males and four or more drinks for females. It is one of the ways to define high-risk drinking along with:

Drinking that results in harm to self, others, or the environment.
Drinking too much, too quickly or too frequently.
Illegal drinking, including underage drinking and drinking and driving.

WE WANT TO KNOW MORE!

According to the Evansville Police Department, 31% of all drunk driving arrests in Vanderburgh County in 2004 were 18-24 years old. However, law enforcement does not track how many of those were college students. The Real U plan calls for a system to track the number of alcohol-related violations involving college students.

IT’S TIME TO GET REAL!

Contrary to popular belief, binge drinking and other forms of high-risk drinking are not the norm on our college campuses. If a third of all students binge drink, then two-thirds do not. The Real U will emphasize the true norm to help reduce high-risk drinking even further. For instance, 91% of the local college students surveyed believe that the average student uses alcohol once a week or more, but only 21% of the surveyed students reported using alcohol that frequently. According to social norms theory, students who exaggerate or misperceive their peers’ behaviors are more likely to behave similarly – an “everybody does it” mentality. However, when students learn that healthy behavior is actually the real norm among their peers, they are less likely to engage in those negative behaviors. By correcting myths and misperceptions, The Real U hopes to influence positive change.

THE REAL NEED

In Spring 2004, all three Evansville-area colleges administered the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey through the Core Institute at Southern Illinois University. A total of 376 students from Ivy Tech, UE, and USI returned the voluntary survey. All respondents were 18-24 years old, 73% females and 27% males. The results may be conservative due to the high female response. Findings included:

48.2% of the underage college students consumed alcohol in the previous 30 days.
33.1% of the students reported binge drinking in the previous
two weeks.
22.4% reported driving a car while under the influence in the
last year.
27.3% reported public misconduct as a result of alcohol or drug use in the last year.
22.7% reported experiencing serious personal problems as a
result of alcohol or drug use in the last year.
40.4% would prefer not to have alcohol available at parties that they attend.

THE NATIONAL PICTURE

According to the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, every year high-risk drinking by college students causes 1,700 deaths and other consequences, such as: