Alcohol consumption is a major activity among students at all universities. By most accounts, Iowa State is no exception.

But only about 50 students contact or are referred to Student Counseling each semester for alcohol-related assistance.

“Typically the majority of people who come in for assessment have been in trouble with the the law,” said Jeanne Burkhart, of ISU’s Substance Abuse Intervention Services. “Sixty-five to 75 percent of the people who come here to be assessed are sent by probation officers, while another 10 to 15 percent are sent from the Dean of Students Office.”

Burkhart said some people bring themselves in for help or are referred by resident assistants in the residence halls. If a student has been sent to the hospital for treatment, he or she is also referred to Student Counseling Services.

If a student goes to counseling services for assessment, he or she can expect to spend about an hour each week for three to five weeks with a counselor that is assigned to that student. The student must also participate in five to seven hours of outside testing and attend a drug education seminar which lasts about six hours.

According to John Mullahy, in a report due out next year by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, people, students included, who have drinking problems are less likely to be married and will have less education and usually a lower income. Mullahy is an economist at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.

Mullahy reported that a major reason for alcohol abuse is advertising. He said if alcohol advertising was not tax deductible for the liquor industry, deaths on the nation’s highways could decline by 1,300 each year. Mullahy also estimates that if broadcast advertising of alcohol was banned, between 2,000 and 3,000 lives would be saved.