Alcohol And Academics
Alcohol Advertising And Sponsorship
Alcohol And Date Rape
Drinking Habits
Alcohol And Health
Useful Quotes

ALCOHOL AND ACADEMICS

Nearly 7% of first year students who drop out do so because of alcohol-related problems.
(Office for Substance Abuse Prevention, Alcohol Practices, Policies, and Potentials of American Colleges and Universities - A White Paper, February 1991)

College administrators link alcohol with over 40% of incidents of lowered academic performance.
(Anderson, David, and Pressley, George, Drug and Alcohol Survey of Community Technical and Junior Colleges, 1991, George Mason University)

25% of cases of attrition are related to alcohol use.
(Ibid.)

Missing classes or work is the most common indicator of a student's alcohol/related problems.
(Ibid.)

As many students will eventually die of alcohol-related causes as will eventually get their masters and doctors degrees.
(Office for Substance Abuse Prevention, op. cit.)

College presidents cited alcohol abuse as the campus life issue of greatest concern.
(The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Campus Life: In Search of Community, Princeton University Press, 1990, cited in Office for Substance Abuse Prevention, op. cit.)

On average, the more a student drinks, the lower his/her grades will be.
(Presley, Cheryl A., Ph.D., and Meiliman, Philip W ,Ph.D., Alcohol and Drugs on American College Campuses: A Report to College Presidents, Southern Illinois University, July 1992)

33.2% of students surveyed said that they would rather not have alcohol available at campus events.
(Ibid.)

ALCOHOL ADVERTISING AND SPONSORSHIP

Alcohol advertising can influence youths as well as adults in their decision about drinking. Sponsorships and promotions on college campuses by alcohol producers and the use of celebrities and youth-oriented musical groups in advertising create a pro-use drinking environment.
(Healthy People 2000, National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objective's September 1990, cited in Office for Substance Abuse Prevention, Bulletin Take- a Look at College Drinking, April 1992)

37% of all college newspaper alcohol advertisements encourage excessive drinking.
(Walfish, Steven et. at, International Journal of Addictions, 16:941-945, 1981, cited in Office for Substance Abuse Prevention, Alcohol Practices, Policies, and Potentials of American Colleges and Universities -A White Paper, February;- 1991)

Approximately 35% of all college newspapers' advertising revenue comes from alcohol advertisements.
(Breed, et- at, Alcohol Advertising in College Newspapers: A Seven Year Follow-Up, In Press, cited in Office for Substance Abuse Prevention, op cit)

10% of big brewers' revenue comes from college students. In 1989 this meant $1.02 billion in sales for Anheuser-Busch and $353.4 million for Miller.
(The Wall Street Journal, October 6,1989; Anheuser-Bush Companies Inc., Annual Report, 1989; Philip Morris Companies, Inc, Annual Report, 1990, cited in Marin Institute, Progress Report; Alcohol Promotion on Campus: Exposure to beer advertising and peer influence are the two greatest predicators of adolescent beer drinking, Atkin, et at, 'Teenage Drinking: Does Advertising Make a Difference?" Journal of Communication, 34:157-67, 1984, cited in Office for Substance Abuse Prevention, op. cit.)

In 1984-5, a study found that the average college newspaper had over 40 column inches of alcohol advertising per issue, compared to 2 column inches for book advertisements and 1 inch for soft drink advertising
(CASS Student Advertising, Inc., 1981-2 National Rate Rook and College Newspaper Directory, Evanston, IL, cited in Office for Substance Abuse Prevention, op. cit.)

College students spend approximately $4.2 billion yearly on alcohol (more than it costs to operate campus libraries and fund all scholarships and fellowships nationwide.)
(Office for Substance Abuse Prevention, op. cit.)

College students consume an estimated 430 million gallons of beer, wine and liquor per year. This is enough alcohol to fill 3,300 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
(Ibid.)

Approximately 20% of the consumers of "Light" beer are 18-24 years old.
(Simmons Market Research Bureau, 1987)

In 1991, 21% of colleges prohibited alcohol advertising in their campus newspapers.
(Anderson, David and Gadaleto, Angelo The College Alcohol Survey, George Mason University,1991).

The alcohol industry spent between $15 and $20 million on advertising targeted at college youth in one year.
(Marin Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Other Drug Problems, Spring Newsletter, 1990, cited in The New York Times, February'27, 1992)

25% of colleges do not permit the alcohol industry to sponsor campus events.
(Peterson 's Survey of Drug and Alcohol Programs and Policies at Four Year Colleges, Peterson's Guides, Princeton, NJ, 1989, cited in Marin Institute, op. cit.)

ALCOHOL AND DATE RAPE

College men get smashed and break something; college women get smashed and get broken"
(Wilson, Robin, "Better Times At Chico State, Prevention File, University of California, San Diego, Fall 1990)

Alcohol use is one of the highest predicators of a college woman's rape.
(Abbey, Antonia, "Acquaintance Rape and Alcohol Consumption on College Campuses: How Are They Linked?," Journal of Arnerican College Health, January 1991, cited in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, Youth and Alcohol; Dangerous and Deadly Consequences.)

75% of college men and 55% of college women involved in acquaintance rape were drinking or using drugs just before the attack.
(University of California, Berkeley, Consider the Connections - Alcohol/drugs, Sexuality/sociability and Beyond; Consider the Connections Campus Index June 1990)

The U.C Berkeley Police Department said that every reported acquaintance rape on campus in a two year period involved the use of alcohol by one or both people.
(Ibid.)

Alcohol is advertised by the media as an accompaniment to sexual activity and as something that increases sexual attractiveness.
(Burgess, Ann Wolbert, ed, Rape and Sexual Assault, a Research Handbook, CIL 7. Sexual Assaults on College Campuses, Garland Publishing, 1991)

Instances have been noted where college men engineered parties with the goal of getting women drunk so that the women would be unable to refuse sex.
(Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Coalition Commentary, Spring 1990.)

46% of sexual assault victim who had been drinking believed that the perpetrator had planned the event and encouraged the victim to drink beyond her tolerance
(Ibid.)

Women become drunk faster than men because their stomachs have less of a certain enzyme which neutralizes alcohol, so more alcohol enters the bloodstream.
("Study Tells Why Alcohol is Greater Risk to Women," The New York Times, January 11, 1990.)

DRINKING HABITS

Nearly 4% of college students - nearly 1/2 million - drink every day.
(Office for Substance Abuse Prevention, Alcohol Practices, Policies-, and Potentials or American Colleges and Universities - A white Paper, February 1991 of college students drink monthly. Johnston, Lloyd D., et. at, National Survey of High Schools and Colleges National institute on Drug Abuse, 1989.)

Half of college men and a third of college women get drunk at least once a month.
(Wechsler, Henry', and Isaac, Nancy, Alcohol and the College Freshman: Binge Drinking and Associated Problems, AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, D.C., January 1991.)

For traditional (under 24) students, the smaller the school, the more they drank; students attending schools of less than 2,500 drank the most.
(Ibid.)

45% of students surveyed reported using alcohol on a weekly or more frequent basis; 23% of students drink 3 or more times a week.
(Ibid.)

College students drink an average of 5.11 drinks per week; 7.8% of students drink 16 or more drinks per week.
(Ibid.)

ALCOHOL AND HEALTH

Alcohol is involved in over 40 percent of campus incidents of injury to self or others.
(Anderson, David, and Pressley, George Drug and Alcohol Survey of Community, Technical and Junior Colleges, George Mason University, 1991)

2/3 of college women with unplanned pregnancies were intoxicated at the time of conception.
(University of California, Berkeley, Consider the Connections - Alcohol/drugs, Sexuality/sociability and Beyond; Consider the Connections Campus Index, June 1990 4/5 of college women diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease were intoxicated at the time of infection. (Ibid.)

"Students are at an age where experimentation with alcohol is common, and many develop patterns of use which follow them throughout their adult lives. Use of alcohol tends to blur sexual decision-making, prompting people who would not otherwise do so, to engage in sex without precautions against conception or sexually-transmitted diseases."
(Ibid.)

A single drinking episode can depress certain basic immune responses of white blood cells among healthy individuals.
(National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Alcohol Alert, No.15, PH311, January 1991)

Over one-fifth of people with AIDS are in their 2O's. Because the latency period between HIV infection and onset of symptoms is about ten years, most of these people probably became infected with HIV as teenagers, many while in college.
(Center for Population Options, Fact Sheet: adolescents and Sexually Transmitted Diseases, August 1990.)

1 in 6 freshmen interviewed report having had unplanned sex after drinking.
(Wechsler, Henry, and Isaac, Nancy, Alcohol and the College Freshman: Binge Drinking and Associated Problems, AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety', Washington, D.C, January 1991.)

Dieting in young women is associated with increased alcohol use, abuse, and dependence; dieting severity is related to frequency of altered mental status due to (drinking and to a number of negative consequences of alcohol use).
(Krahn, Dean, et al The Relationship of Dieting Severity to Alcohol and Other Drug Use in Young Women, American Psychiatric Association, Washington).

USEFUL QUOTES

"Educational campaigns will be ineffective in campus environments that encourage drinking and deny or ignore the risks associated with drinking ."
(Marin Institute, Progress Report: Alcohol Promotion on Campus, November 1991)

"Use of alcohol and other drugs tends to blur sexual decision-making, prompting people who would not otherwise do so, to engage in sex without precautions against conception or sexually-transmitted diseases."
(University of California, Berkeley, Consider the Connections - Alcohol/Drugs, Sexuality/sociability, and Beyond, Consider the Connections Campus Index June,1990)

"I was at a party and everyone appeared to be drinking beer. Guys would assume that because alcohol was being consumed they could get what they wanted and that girls would be willing."
(Burgess, Ann Wolbert, ed., Rape and Sexual Assault, a Research Handbook, Ch. 7: Sexual Assaults on College Campuses Garland Publishing, 1991)

"Sponsorships and promotions on college campuses by alcohol producers and the use of celebrities and youth-oriented musical groups in advertising create a pro-use drinking environment"
(Healthy People 2000, National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention 0bjectives, September, 1990, cited in Office for Substance Abuse Prevention, Bulletin: Take a Look at College Drinking, April 1992)

"[Alcohol] ads tell our youths that high-risk activities go hand in hand with alcohol. Alcohol in actuality goes hand in hand with every other cause of serious injury, and even death."
(Surgeon General's Report, Youth and Alcohol - Advertising That Appeals to Youth, December 4, 1991)

"[W]e need to focus beyond the individual drinker to the broader societal, political, and economic forces which contribute to alcohol-related problems."
(Ibid.)

The beer barons aren't stupid. They know that ten percent of the national puddle of beer is consumed by somewhat less than five percent of American college student.
(Ibid.)