Recently, the issue of excessive drinking among college students has been addressed in studies across the nation.

On Sept. 10, the Harvard School of Public Health released the results of a survey conducted last year and found that more than half of the nation’s college students drink to get drunk. More than 14,000 students from 130 randomly selected colleges across the nation were questioned about the amount of alcohol they consume.

This month’s edition of the Journal of American College Health reported that these numbers increased by one-third from the 1993 survey. In 1997, the number of college students who engaged in binge drinking was determined to be 52 percent, compared to the 39 percent in 1993.

According to the reports, binge drinking is considered to be consuming five or more drinks in a row for men and four or more in a row for women. A drink is defined as a 12-ounce bottle or can of beer, a four-ounce glass of wine, a 12-ounce wine cooler or a 1.25 ounce shot.

This fall, a similar study, headed by the Alcohol Education Committee, will be underway at Iowa State.

Randy Mayer, a committee member and the interim supervisor of prevention education and outreach at Student Health Services, said the survey is based on the Harvard study but is not as lengthy and contains a few questions unique to ISU.

“The survey is the first part of the alcohol prevention project at Iowa State. Developing a program based on the results is the next,” Mayer said.

Alcohol Education Committee Chairman and Student Activities Specialist Dave Haden prefers the label “excessive drinking” over the term “binge drinking.” Haden said he sees a drinking problem at ISU similar to cases at many universities.

“Excessive drinking is a problem that needs to be addressed everywhere,” Haden said.

Haden said too many students at ISU go out on the weekends with the intention of seeing how inebriated they can become. He said this kind of behavior is dangerous for the student in many aspects — from alcohol poisoning to drunk driving.

Alcohol can be the instigator in assaults and date rapes and also can disrupt a student’s study habits, he said.

“Alcohol impacts the entire Iowa State community,” Haden said.

Currently, the survey is being approved and will begin Oct. 12, Mayer said. It will consist of 500 phone interviews from traditional ISU students — ages 24 and younger. Mayer said the phone method was chosen in order to ensure solid participation of the students.

The survey will be kept brief, encouraging all students to respond. The committee wants the survey to have an accuracy rate of 80 percent or higher.

“Students will be randomly selected, with equal representation of the three types of living — greek, on-campus and off-campus,” Haden said.

Mayer said the committee worked with Alan Berkowitz last January to formulate plans. Berkowitz headed a similar project at Northern Illinois, and he has found great success with his theory of alcohol prevention, Mayer said.

“[Berkowitz] suggested that we conduct our own study before beginning any prevention programs,” Mayer said.

Berkowitz discouraged using the national statistics, but he encouraged the committee to become better in touch with the problems at ISU through their own survey and deal with them specifically.

Mayer said the committee hopes that the survey “separates the myths and realities of drinking at Iowa State.”

He said the survey will provide the committee with answers to three major questions — how students feel about drinking in general, how they feel about other students’ drinking and how they feel about their own drinking behaviors.

Haden said the administration can only go so far in preventing students from excessive drinking. He said it is basically “a societal issue.”

“It must be the combined effort of the students, administration, the Ames community and the state of Iowa if we want to overcome this situation,” Haden said.

Haden works with students on a daily basis, and he said he has found an increase in involvement of the kids in the alcohol prevention programs such as SADD, VIBES (Variation in Better Education of Students) and the Weekend Club.

Each of these groups plan alcohol-free social activities for ISU students, and some of the students present in classrooms, which is called “Peer Education and Substance Abuse Prevention.”

Haden said he feels the national media has placed too much focus on the negative changes in student drinking. He pointed out that there has been a rise in the percentage of students who have chosen not to drink.

According to the Harvard survey, in 1993, the percentage of students who had not touched a drink in a year was at 15.6 percent, and it increased to 19.0 percent in 1997.

“The majority of students are not engaging in excessive drinking, and we need to place positive pressure on those who are, so that they will look around and reevaluate their behavior,” Haden said.

Haden said the Harvard study put a spotlight on the greek system, as the study reported four out of five fraternity and sorority members qualified as binge drinkers. He said he cannot argue against the statistics about the greek drinking behavior but does not agree with the stereotype that all greek members are “binge drinkers.” Based on his experience with student groups, Haden said he has found many responsible student leaders are members of the greek system.

“As a matter of fact, VIBES consists of many sorority and fraternity members, and they have been active in the program by going out into the greek houses and presenting on alcohol abuse. Many of these students do a good job and are setting positive examples for the rest of the students at Iowa State,” Haden said.

Jessica Kuecker, resident assistant for Webber House in Wilson Hall and junior in communication disorders, said that as a student, she agrees there is a drinking problem at ISU. She said many people she knows go out on the weekend and binge drink but still study and attend class during the week.

“Although they work hard during the week, they know that they shouldn’t be binging on the weekend, but I think that they accept it as a college students’ way of life,” Kuecker said.

Trent Decker, resident assistant of Knapp House in Friley Hall and junior in chemical engineering, said he felt alcohol is not a big problem with the residents on his floor.

“For the students on my floor, an addiction to the Internet is a bigger problem than alcohol,” Decker said.