Despite nightmarish national headlines and numerous programs explaining the consequences of binge drinking, the number of college students drinking dangerous amounts of alcohol has not decreased during the last decade.

According to the results of the Harvard School of Public Health’s College Alcohol Study, the number of binge drinking college students has remained steady during the past six years.

The 1999 survey of 14,000 undergraduates concluded that 44 percent were binge drinkers, compared to 43 percent in 1997 and 45 percent in 1993. The margin of error of the study was plus or minus 1 percent.

The study surveyed a random sample of students at 140 colleges in 39 states and the District of Columbia via mail.

The standard definition of binge drinking — the consumption of at least five drinks in a row for men and four drinks in a row for women — was used in the Harvard study. One “drink” was defined as 12 ounces of beer or wine cooler, four ounces of wine or a one-ounce shot of liquor.

A similar survey was administered by phone to ISU students in 1998, said Randy Mayer, coordinator of Research and Evaluation for the Student Health Center, and ISU results are slightly lower than the national average.

“Through our survey of undergraduate students, it was found that 42 percent are binge drinkers,” Mayer said.

The Harvard study showed that greek students were more likely to binge drink than students who lived in residence halls. The study showed that two-thirds of students living in greek houses were regular binge drinkers, while only one-third of residence hall students were binge drinkers.

The ISU survey also found a noticeable difference between the drinking habits of greek and non-greek students.

“In the residence halls, we found that 34 percent are binge drinkers, compared to 45 percent of off-campus residents and 70 percent of students within the greek system,” Mayer said.

Mayer said he thought the difference was because of the atmosphere found in greek houses.

“The survey that we did was not meant to pick on the greeks. I think we expected higher results there; it seems to be part of their culture,” he said.

The number of students who visit the Center for Addictions Recovery, 511 Duff Ave., has also remained relatively consistent throughout the decade, said the center’s director, David Sahr.

“We see about 200 students per year. That includes individuals arrested for ‘zero-tolerance,’ which is driving with any amount of alcohol in the bloodstream, and anybody under the age of 21 found to have alcohol in their system,” Sahr said.

But overall, Mayer said, the problem may not be as large as it seems.

“We know that there is some problematic drinking on campus,” he said. “But I think that the media overuse the term ‘binge drinking,’ which has made the problem seem larger than it is.”

Linda Ciccone, ISU coordinator of substance abuse prevention programs, said there are many things being done on campus to increase awareness and decrease excessive drinking.

“We have peer educators, student organizations like SADD [Students Against Destructive Decisions] and The Weekend Club; also there is the Social Norms Campaign,” she said.

The Social Norms Campaign is an advertising drive aimed at dispelling students’ incorrect assumptions about the drinking habits of their peers, Ciccone said.

It was initiated after a 1998 ISU study showed that students vastly overestimated how much other students were drinking, Mayer said.

“This is the first year of the full-fledged campaign, and we will be assessing it at the end of the year, but it will take at least two years before we will know what kind of actual effect the campaign has had on students and their drinking habits,” Ciccone said.