A grant to reduce high-risk drinking: What's it all about?

Last fall, the University of Delaware was one of only a few schools nationally to receive funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to reduce high-risk drinking among college students. A considerable amount of media attention has been focused on the project and students have raised many questions.

John B. Bishop, who has chaired UD's Student Alcohol Use Committee for the past two years, is the Project Director for the RWJF grant. He answers some of the most frequently raised questions about the grant.

Q. Who decided how "binge drinking" is defined and that it is a problem?

According to the Harvard School of Public Health, binge drinking is defined as five or more drinks in a row, one or more times during a two-week period for men and four or more drinks in a row during this same period for women. Research demonstrates that this is the level of drinking at which individuals begin to report various alcohol-related health and behavior problems that affect them personally as well as affecting others in their environment.

Some students may feel that four or five drinks should not qualify them as a "binge drinker," since, in reality, many students report drinking far more than this. In fact, some have derided this definition of binge drinking because their perception is that "everyone I know drinks like that." Be that as it may, research data indicate that students who drink in these or greater amounts will differ from other students in the frequency and severity of their alcohol-related problems.

Many students freely admit that they fit the definition of a binge drinker, but do not regard it as a real problem in their lives. Most students who are frequent binge drinkers, however, do admit that they pay a price for drinking. That is, they may develop hangovers, do something that they regret later, miss classes, or forget where they were or what they did when under the influence of alcohol. Others report falling behind in academic assignments, arguing with friends, engaging in unplanned sexual activity, etc. So, the argument goes, why should the University concern itself with these behaviors since they reflect choices individuals may make themselves, with the consequences applying only to themselves?

The answer is that it is no longer possible to view binge drinking as solely the problem of the person who is doing the drinking because the consequences often affect other people. The rest of the community is paying too steep a price for the irresponsible actions of binge drinkers.

On our campus, most of the physical and sexual assaults, accidental injuries or fatalities, much of the property damage and a wide variety of other disruptions that occur in the lives of students are alcohol-related. The vast majority of students who live on campus have experienced one or more problems as a result of binge drinking that is done by other people. It is common to hear reports from students of having study or sleep interrupted by a binge drinker, being insulted or humiliated by a drunk, being confronted with unwanted sexual advances, or being in a serious argument or quarrel with a person who has had too much to drink. Most students admit to having had to take care of drunken students to keep them out of harm's way. In short, alcohol often has a negative impact on people who do not themselves abuse it.

Q. Why do students drink so much anyway?

The simplistic response to this question is, "There isn't anything else to do." Many of the suggestions that have been made to expand the social and cultural activities on campus have merit. But, should we expect those alone to reduce binge drinking? That seems an unlikely scenario, because it must be acknowledged that students often drink with the specific intention of getting drunk. That intention does not necessarily change in relation to the activities that are scheduled on the campus. A column on the sports page of The Review (Oct. 22, 1996) pointed out quite accurately that some students prefer to sit outside the football stadium and get drunk instead of going inside to attend an athletic event. We cannot ignore that students are making those choices.

Over the past two years, the Student Alcohol Use Committee has listened carefully to students and has received a great deal of information about their thoughts, feelings and behavior in regard to drinking. When given the opportunity to talk about their participation in binge drinking, some claim that being "wild and crazy" is a part of the college experience and that alcohol abuse facilitates or is a part of such behavior. Many other students on the University of Delaware campus make frequent references to feelings of loneliness, discouragement in attempting to make meaningful connections with their peers, low self-esteem levels that do not permit them to have the courage to go against the social and cultural norms, depression, anxiety, frustrations in establishing romantic and interpersonal intimacies, boredom resulting from not knowing how to fill their free time with meaningful or fun activities, fear of the future, and the list goes on. The point is, students do not tell us that they abuse alcohol because there is "nothing to do here"; instead, they admit to a very real set of personal rationales, fears and motivations that are understandable, but often unhealthy and alarming.

Q. What is the University going to do regarding binge drinking?

It is not the intent of the University of Delaware to abolish alcohol on campus or to take a stance that would suggest that the use of alcohol is morally incorrect. Instead, our goal is to have the students who choose to use alcohol do so legally and in a responsible fashion that is respectful of the community in which we all live. Our goal is to make drunkenness an unacceptable excuse or alibi for violent and disruptive behavior that violates other students' rights. Our goal is to have those students who have been negatively affected by binge drinkers to feel empowered to speak up without themselves feeling humiliated. Our goal is to have students recognize how a television commercial that has been produced by an alcohol manufacturer glamorizes the use of alcohol in a way that may be pure fantasy when compared to the everyday realities of being a college student.

Q. What are the chances of success?

To change a culture in which heavy drinking is not only a component, but often a goal, is a daunting task. In fact, local research data indicates that some students begin to binge drink in grade school. Still, it was once thought that drunk drivers were just a part of life and that smokers had the right to smoke anywhere and anytime they chose to do so. Today, people are much more likely to speak out against drunk drivers and smokers because we now know the harm they cause others is not an acceptable price to pay for their behavior.

To be successful, this project will depend on the willingness of students to voice their disapproval of binge drinking when it adversely affects their lives and their community. For those students, it will be important for them to know that other students are standing at their sides, validating their thoughts, feelings, and willingness to disapprove of the behavior of their peers. The support of the administration, while necessary, is probably not sufficiently powerful to promote a change in the peer norms that have developed around binge drinking. It is no longer reasonable to deny or ignore that there is a problem here. We are an educational institution whose goal it is to discover the truths in the world around us. Let's not pretend that alcohol abuse is an acceptable or harmless part of our community when it is so clearly associated with behaviors and consequences that we otherwise say we oppose.

If you have other questions about the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant or about binge drinking, please contact Dr. Bishop at the Center for Counseling and Student Development, telephone 831-8107 or via e-mail to John.Bishop@mvs.udel.edu