Campus Drinking: Who, Why and How Much

1
Campus Drinking Who, Why and How Much U.S. News
and World Report 6/20/94 Alcohol has long been a
staple of college life. But a new report from
Columbia University's Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse indicates the tradition is
fraught with peril. Consider Three of every five
college women with sexually transmitted diseases
were drunk when infected 1 in 5 students
abandons safe-sex practices after drinking, and
95 percent of violent campus crime, as well as 90
percent of campus rapes, involves alcohol. The
83-page report gave this picture Who drinks.
Almost all students had raised a glass in the
past year. Although 80 percent of students are
under the legal drinking age, 4 of 5 had imbibed
in the past month. Forty-five percent of all
white students had had recent binges downing five
or more drinks at a sitting--compared with 21
percent of Asian students. White males drink the
most, with nine drinks a week black women the
least, with one a week. What they drink. Beer is
the No. 1 choice. When. Drinking decreases as
graduation approaches, with freshmen imbibing the
most, seniors the least. Where. Northeastern
students drink the most--seven drinks per week,
more than twice as many as Westerners. Students
living in fraternities or sororities consume 15
drinks per week each, three times as many as the
average student. Why. One in three students
drinks to get drunk. Since 1977, the proportion
of women drinking to get drunk has more than
tripled, to 35 percent, while the proportion of
men has doubled, to 40. How much. The average
student drinks 34 gallons of alcoholic beverages
a year. Over 40 percent of all students had
"binged" in the past two weeks, compared with a
third of people their age outside college. Drink
more, achieve less Average number of drinks per
week by college grade average A 3.6 B 5.5 C 7.6 D
or F 10.6 Older and wiser Average number of
drinks per week by school year Freshmen 6.1
Sophomore 6.0 Junior 5.7 Senior 5.4 USNWR--Basic
data Southern Illinois University Core Alcohol
and Drug Survey
2
Production Possibilities Frontier

• GPA of Drinks
• A (3.50) 3.6/week
• B (3.00) 5.5/week
• C (2.30) 7.6/week
• D/F (1.70) 10.6/week

3
Production Possibilities Frontier

• GPA of Drinks Opportunity Cost
• D/F (1.70) 10.6/week
• C (2.30) 7.6/week 3/week
• B (3.00) 5.5/week 2.1/week
• A (3.50) 3.6/week 1.9/week

4
Production Possibilities Frontier