By Jon O’Neal
West Virginia University has dropped from last year’s No. 1 spot on the Princeton Review’s list of top party schools to No. 4 this year.
According to the SAM Spady Foundation, an alcohol-education, nonprofit organization, over 1,400 college students will have died in that same period of time.
The parents of Samantha Spady, a 19-year-old Colorado State University student who died from alcohol poisoning, started the SAM Spady Foundation in order to educate parents and students about alcohol abuse, specifically high-risk consumption like binge drinking. An estimated 44 percent of all college students binge drink, according to Student Assistance Program at WVU.
“It’s part of the culture,” said John Spraggins, director of the SAP.
The SAP works with the university in educating students who’ve had problems or concerns with drugs and alcohol. Spraggins, who has been with the SAP for 10 and a half years, believes education is the key to combating college binge drinking.
“We need education at all levels of school,” said Spraggins, “We also need to educate bar owners so they can stop underage drinking and cut off those who’ve had too much.”
The risks aren’t just death, although Spraggins calls that “the big one.” DUIs, sexual assault, alcohol poisoning, and poor decision making are all results of binge drinking.
“If it weren’t for alcohol, I would’ve graduated by now,” said Josh Arbaugh, who is starting his sixth year at WVU. “I can’t believe how much I’ve drunk and how many classes I’ve dropped.”
The problem is further complicated as the term “binge drinking” itself is under debate. A Harvard School of Public Health study labels binge drinking “five drinks in a row for men” and “four drinks in a row for women.” Although that definition is the most commonly accepted among colleges, including WVU, other studies are contradictory. A Swedish study labels binge drinking as consumption or two bottles of wine on the same occasion. An Italian study considers eight drinks a day normal alcohol consumption.
“I think binge drinking is different for different people,” said WVU junior Paul Lindsay, “I don't think most people are in danger of alcohol poisoning after four or five beers.”
The origin of the college binge drinking culture might not even lie within campuses. A Harvard study found that those who binge drank in high school were three times more likely to binge drink in college.
“It’s not just college,” said Spraggins. “This starts in high school, too. Sometimes they’re even exposed to drinking by their parents. College is only a microcosm.”
One group has proposed another solution to the binge drinking epidemic that has affected campuses nationwide. The Amethyst Initiative, comprised of over 120 college and university presidents, wants to rethink national minimum drinking age passed by Congress in 1984. According to their mission statement, “a culture of dangerous, clandestine ‘binge-drinking’ — often conducted off-campus — has developed.”
The Amethyst Initiative believes that the national minimum drinking age isn’t debated because of a bill that is a part of the Federal Aid Highway Act. States that do not enforce the drinking age are subjected to a 10 percent decrease in their annual federal highway apportionment, and the Amethyst Initiative believes this may hinder discussion.
Opposing this movement is the MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). Candice Lightner, whose daughter was killed by a drunk driver, founded the organization in 1980. Her lobbying for a national minimum drinking age is often attributed to the success of the act. MADD’s Web site claims that an estimated 25,000 lives have been saved since the act was passed in 1984. In response to the Amethyst Initiative, MADD has begun a campaign to preserve the minimum drinking age at 21.
“Appealing the law is a terrible idea,” said Donna Hawkins, director of the Monongalia chapter of MADD. “It will jeopardize more teenage lives and make a huge problem worse.”
Even if the minimum drinking age is changed, some don’t believe it’ll have an effect.
“I personally don’t see the connection between the drinking age and college drinking culture,” said Lindsay, “I think it’s a coincidence and changing the minimum age won’t do anything.”
Spraggins believes that even if the minimum age is repealed, it won’t affect binge drinking.
“We’ll just have to educate more and start education earlier,” said Spraggins. “(People) don’t wait until 21 to start drinking. It will continue. This is a drinking culture now.”
