UW students top drinking average
Madison, WI (AP) - 12/7/94

The UW-Madison lives up to its reputation for hard drinking in a national survey but a top administrator says the result reflects a binge drinking problem in WI as a whole.

More than 65% of the UW-Madison students surveyed reported that they engaged in binge drinking, according to the study reported in Wednesday's JAMA. That compares with a national average of 44%.

Harvard University researchers linked problem drinking to numerous campus ills, including an increased chance for unplanned or unprotected sex, property damage or injury and run-ins with police.

A binge drinker was defined as a man who had five or more drinks or a woman who had four or more drinks in one sitting within two weeks prior to the survey.

UW System President Katharine Lyall, who chaired the study's oversight committee, observed that UW Madison's ranking reflected adult attitudes toward drinking in the state.

"UW Madison is obviously known as a party school," Lyall said. "I can be pretty sure that they're in the upper range in the survey. But I think it's also important to remember that this is a state where the adult population drinks a lot. We're not exactly a teetotaling state."

Henry Wechsler, the study's chief researcher, agreed the UW-Madison trend was related to binge drinking among WI adults.

"If the state has the problem, then the university will have the problem," Wechsler said.

The study, conducted by Harvard University researchers, examined drinking habits of 17,500 students at 140 colleges across the nation.

Overall, 44% of undergraduates reported going on a binge. Of that group, about 1 in 5 admitted to bingeing frequently, defined as three or more in the previous two weeks. About 1 in 6 students described them selves as nondrinkers.

Of those surveyed, 50% of the men and 39% of the women reported binge drinking.

The researchers concluded that intervention programs should focus on frequent binge drinkers, referring them to treatment or educational programs that emphasize the problems they can cause fellow students.