Local view: Program reduces college drinking and its consequences

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The Jan. 11 article in the News Tribune, “CDC: Young adults down 9 drinks when they binge,” quickly caught my attention. The article presented the standard definition of binge drinking as the consumption of five or more drinks for males and four or more drinks for females. As a University of Minnesota Duluth sociology professor who’s now retired and who currently is coordinator of the Tri Campus and Community Coalition on Student Drinking (T3C), I have been examining college student drinking and its consequences over the past decade for the three Duluth campuses (UMD, the College of St. Scholastica and Lake Superior College). The three Duluth campuses have used random sample surveys of students either using the National College Health Assessment or the University of Minnesota Boynton College Health Survey.

St. Scholastica was found to have an average (mean) of

5.44 drinks for male drinkers and 4.17 drinks for female drinkers in the 2011 survey. The percentage of males having five or more drinks the last time they partied declined by 7 percent, from 44 percent to 37 percent between 2009 and 2011, while the percent of female drinkers increased from

26 percent to 27 percent between the two survey periods. The percentage of St. Scholastica students drinking five or more drinks was the lowest of the three Duluth campuses.

At Lake Superior College, male students had a 2011 average of 8.5 drinks and females

5.15 drinks among those using alcohol. The percentage of males having five or more drinks the last time they partied declined by 11 percent, from 61 percent to 50 percent between 2009 and 2011, with a female decrease of 13 percent, from 47 percent to 34 percent.

Male drinkers at UMD consumed an average of 7.6 drinks at a time while female drinkers averaged 3.9 drinks, according to the 2010 Boynton College Health Survey. The percentage of male students having five or more drinks the last time they partied dropped by 11 percent, from

63 percent to 52 percent between 2007 and 2010, with a 9 percent decrease, from 47 percent to

38 percent, for females.

The good news is the average number of drinks consumed by Duluth college students when they drink is well below the average of nine drinks, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control study cited in the newspaper. In 2005, the average male college student in Duluth drank in the nine- to 10-drink range.

Additionally, the amount of alcohol consumed by college students at the three Duluth campuses has been declining. Along with the decline in quantity of alcohol consumed has been a decline in consequences from drinking. Between the two survey periods a decreasing proportion of students report consequences such as “regret over actions when intoxicated,” “blackouts,” “engaging in unprotected sex” and “poor test performance.”

What accounts for this good news? The Tri Campus and Community Coalition on Student Drinking connects campuses and the community in addressing college student drinking. T3C general membership meetings include landlords, campus neighbors, police, courts officials and educators working together to promote prevention strategies. One goal has been to change the college drinking culture, a goal that is recommended by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Changing the drinking culture has been accomplished through the social host ordinance and its enforcement by Duluth police. Also, UMD monitors college drinking in the community using a data-sharing arrangement with Duluth police. Students receiving alcohol-related citations in the community, as well as on campus, are seen by the UMD Office of Student and Community Standards. Police report the number of party calls declined by

41.6 percent between the 2007-08 and 2010-11 school years.

Yes, progress is being made, but an ongoing effort is required to continue these favorable trends.

J. Clark Laundergan is a professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

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