About three out of four Iowa State undergraduates drink alcohol and of those, 64 percent fit the definition of binge drinkers, according to a survey of ISU undergraduates.

The survey was conducted by two intermediate journalism classes by telephone last month.

A randomly selected group of 567 undergraduates were surveyed, 408 of whom reported that they drink alcohol.

The margin of error for these statistics is 4.12 percent for questions answered by everyone and 4.9 percent for those pertaining to personal drinking experiences.

“I think undergraduates tend to abuse [alcohol] more because it’s relatively new to them; they can’t obtain it every day and they tend to not know their boundaries,” a female freshman in pre-journalism said. “

Adults should know their limits by now, but don’t necessarily watch their drinking.”

This survey used the same definition for binge drinking as a similar survey by the Harvard School of Public Health conducted in 1993. According to that survey, binge drinking for men was defined as drinking five or more drinks in a row in the past two weeks, and for women, drinking four or more drinks in a row.

Binge drinking is defined differently by gender because women who drink four or more drinks in a row report the same alcohol-related problems as men who drink five or more drinks in a row.

A shot of liquor, 12 ounces of beer or wine cooler or four ounces of wine each constitute one drink. “It’s a person’s choice to drink. Nobody forces you. There are quite a few undergraduates who drink,” a male junior in genetics said.

Among the ISU students polled who said they drink, 64 percent reported having five or more drinks (four or more for females) in one sitting at least once in the previous two weeks.

Sixteen percent of those said they had done so twice in the past two weeks and an additional 22 percent said they had done so three or more times.

“Drinking is not handled too well. I consider myself a casual drinker — I learned to respect alcohol early on because of my family,” a male freshman in forestry said. Similarly, 69 percent of drinkers said they considered themselves to have been intoxicated in the previous month.

Of those, 23 percent reported being intoxicated three or more times, 19 percent said they were intoxicated twice and 26 percent indicated being intoxicated only once.

Despite this, only 2 percent of the drinkers said they consider themselves problem drinkers.

“I think that undergraduates drink because of the new found freedom,” a male freshman in pre-architecture said. “They feel the need to exercise it.”

Of everyone surveyed, 95 percent said they believe at least half of ISU undergraduates drink.

Of these, 57 percent said they think more than 75 percent of ISU undergraduates drink.

Ninety percent said they think at least 5 percent of ISU undergraduates have a problem with alcohol. Of these, 56 percent said they think 25 percent or more have a problem. “I don’t think alcohol is being used more. I think that some students just don’t have the maturity level to handle it,” a female senior in biology said.

Only 34 percent of those surveyed said they think ISU undergraduates have greater problems with alcohol than the general adult population in America.

Sixty-one percent said they think problems are about the same or less among ISU undergraduates. “The problem with alcohol isn’t just here at ISU but at all collegiate campuses across the United States,” a female senior in dairy science said. According to the 1993 Harvard study of 17,600 college students at 140 four-year colleges, 44 percent of college students are binge drinkers and five out of six students drink. Since coming to ISU, 37 percent of those surveyed who drink said their drinking has increased since coming to ISU.

“I drink more than I did because I didn’t drink in high school, but I don’t think that has anything to do with ISU,” a male sophomore in ag studies said.

Half said they think they drink about the same as their friends at ISU, while 45 percent said they drink less than their friends. As a result of drinking, 46 percent of those who said they drink reported having a hangover since the beginning of the school year, 15 percent said they did something they later regretted, and 13 percent forgot where they were or what they did. Sixteen percent reported arguing with friends.

One male surveyed, a freshman in pre-architecture, said he hit a wall with his head once while intoxicated. He also said he had to go to Student Services for counseling. Four percent said they damaged property while under the influence of alcohol this school year, 5 percent reported getting hurt or injured and 1 percent required medical treatment for alcohol overdose.

Only 4 percent said they had gotten into trouble with campus or local police, while 11 percent said they had driven while intoxicated. Twenty-five percent said they missed a class because of alcohol and 14 percent said they got behind in school work.

Of those surveyed, 54 percent were male, 59 percent were under 21 and 15 percent were members of a fraternity or sorority.

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Alcohol survey

Of 567 ISU undergraduates surveyed, 408 drink alcohol.

Of those 408:

– 64 percent fit the definition of a binge drinker.

– 69 percent were intoxicated in the past month.

– 23 percent were intoxicated three or more times in the past month.

– 37 percent have increased their drinking since being at ISU.

– 46 percent have experienced a hangover this school year.

– 15 percent did something they regretted while drinking.

– 13 percent forgot where they were or who they were with