2008 Woodie Awards
Mass Consumption
Consequences of binge drinking outweighs risks
By Rachel Seeman
Rocket News Editor
Issue date: 2/3/06 Section: News
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Unfortunately, many of these students don't comprehend the potential problems that may arise in the not-so-near future.
Nearly 14 million people, about 1 in 13, in the United States abuse alcohol or are alcoholic, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).
Slippery Rock University Campus Police Captain Roger Knight said according to campus police records at SRU, in 2005, 199 people were cited on campus for underage drinking, nine for public drunkenness and 24 for driving under the influence of alcohol.
Drinking among college students from age 18 to 24 contribute to an estimated 1,700 student deaths, 599,000 injuries and 97,000 reports of sexual assault or date rape each year according to the NIAAA.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed telephone surveys of more than 100,000 people 18 years or older in the United States in 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2002. They reported people who admitted to binge drinking were 13 times more likely to drive while under the influence.
Most binge drinkers who were interviewed said they regularly consume more than five drinks in one sitting.
"I think when you're in college, you're here to be young and have fun and I think you should make the most of it," said Kevin Dobson, a junior sport management major. "If you like to drink all the time, it's your choice and I support it, because I do it too."
Stephanie Pienaar, a junior business management majors disagrees.
"I don't drink and I don't like the feeling of being drunk," she said.
Pienaar said her friends threw her a party once and she got a headache and fell asleep from drinking.
She said she doesn't understand why people like to get drunk, and could guess it was because they like to feel different.
Many who do drink have a tendency to ignore the effect alcohol has on them.
According to a national survey published in the May 2005 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, driving while intoxicated has increased significantly. Drunk driving slowly declined from 123 million incidents in 1993 to 116 million incidents in 1997.
From 1997 to 1999, there was a 37 percent increase to 159 million incidents and the amount of incidents continued to rise into 2002.
