Battle Of The Binge Drinking

At the beginning of my research I started by looking up a statement that would catch my attention, I went page by page until I stumble across (Cohen 1997). The statement he had caught my attention it said "One college fraternity pledge, for example died after a seven hour drinking binge and approximately 24 drinks. His blood alcohol level was measured at 0.58, which was six times the legally establish limit to drive a vehicle (Cohen, 1997)." I proceeded into looking up the references which was about Cohen A. (1997, September 8) Battle of the Binge, time, pp. 54-56.

The article was about college students and binge drinking. I realized that from the moment freshmen set foot on campus, they are steeped in a culture that encourages them to drink, and drink heavily. At many schools, social life is still synonymous with alcohol-lubricated gatherings (Cohen). Binge drinking is a huge aspect of the culture of college life; many college students binge drink to become socially accepted in a particular group. Binge drinking is not only considered an acceptable part of lives by many college students, but is also true for members of fraternities. Drinking for social reasons plays an important role in gestures of interest between males and females.

Arguing binge drinking is Adam Cohen in his Time article "Battle of the Binge." This article investigates the drinking habits of Louisiana State University where 20 year old Ben Wynne died from alcohol poisoning. Benjamin Wynne, 20, underwent two of the most time-honored rites of passage at Louisiana State University that week. He received a pledge from the fraternity that voted him into the brotherhood, and so he decided to celebrate by drinking.

After an off campus keg, the fraternity boys moved to a local bar where they continued to drink into the late hours of the morning. The next morning, Wynne was dead and three other fraternity members were seriously alcohol poisoned. An autopsy found that Wynne, who downed the equivalent of about 24 drinks, had a blood-alcohol level six times the amount at which the state considers a person intoxicated. All this occurred even though L.S.U. is an alcohol free campus.

Consequently to this incident, there was research done about binge drinking on campuses all over the U.S. A Harvard survey of 18,000 undergraduates found that 44% said they had engaged in binge drinking about four to five drinks in a row during the previous two weeks. Studies shown binge drinkers are 21 times more likely, than non binge drinkers to have, missed class, fallen behind in school work, damage property, been hurt or injured, engaged in unplanned sexual activity, not used protection when having sex, gotten in trouble with campus police, and driven a car after drinking.

In addition, injury and alcohol poisoning are also two serious effects of college binge drinking. Alcohol poisoning is the most serious life-threatening result of binge drinking. Every year, students die in alcohol-related tragedies: acute alcohol poisonings, car accidents, drowning, falls, and fights. While such tragedies are relatively rare, they underscore the multiple and far-reaching consequences of binge drinking. Colleges today are among the nation's most alcohol-drenched institutions. America's 12 million undergraduates' drink 4 billion cans of beer a year, averaging 55 six-packs a piece, and spend $446 on alcoholic beverages more than they spend on soft drinks and textbooks combined.

Studies show that excessive drinking affects not only the bingers but also fellow students, who are more likely to report lost sleep, interrupted studies and sexual assaults on campuses with high binge-drinking rates. Several schools, including the University of Colorado, the University of Iowa and Ohio State, have recently been the site of "beer riots," some set off by toughened alcohol policies. At Colorado, scores of police and students were injured when a mob of 1,500 threw bricks and Molotov cocktails over a three-day period last May to protest a crackdown on drinking.

Therefore, some colleges have decided that the most direct way to combat alcohol abuse is to ban consumption on campus entirely. I believe that this is not the way to stop the students from drinking because banning alcohol on campus does not put an end to the dangers that lurks just outside in the street. You can have a perfect program on campus, but if you don't do anything about the liquor store across the street that sells to minors or the bar that serves intoxicated students, you haven't solved the problem. I believe that we need to work together as a community to put an end to all this.

In fact, some experts say that rather than driving students into the outside world by banning alcohol, colleges should encourage at least those who are of legal drinking age to drink responsibly on campus. The night Wynne died there was a school wide no-alcohol policy in effect But neither that policy nor the fact he was underage stopped him from finding a private party and an off-campus bar to serve him enough alcohol to end his life.

In conclusion all the information on this article was very supportive but I believe that we need to work together to put an end to all the danger of drinking among college students. I believe that each college campus should offer a class that encourages students not to drink. These classes should encourage students to watch incidents of people who have been in accidents involving alcohol. By having the students see the outcome and how these people's life change or how some of them lost their love ones maybe they can stop and think that next time this could be them. Maybe by seeing their life in front of them they can awake to reality and focus more on staying sober.

work cite:Cohen A. Battle of the binge. Time, Sept. 8, 1997, pp. 54-56.