WINTER 1999
Volume 42, Number 2

IN THIS ISSUE

Stretching the Dollars to Update Technology

'Dear Mom...'

What We Need

Sweating out the Tryouts

Changing Binge Drinking

Health Iowa

Students First Rx

Plenty of Choices

Squandered Opportunities

Parent Times Briefs

Calendar

 Binge drinking is an emotional topic for The University of Iowa, which has mourned a student death caused by it. A multi-pronged effort is under way to develop ways to lessen the problem.

President Mary Sue Coleman is co-author of Be Vocal, Be Visible, Be Visionary: Recommendations for College and University Presidents on Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention. She is recognized as a leader in a nationwide battle to curb binge drinking.

Recently she said in an editorial comment in the Baltimore Sun, "...Fatalities hardly begin to measure the societal costs of excessive drinking in this age group. Binge drinkers fall behind in their schoolwork, have unplanned and unprotected sex, become involved in accidents, and get in trouble with the law. They interrupt other students' studies and their sleep; they damage property, pick fights, and commit sexual offenses."

In other words, they affect nondrinking students as well.

A comprehensive campaign called Stepping Up, headed by Julie Phye, seeks to combat the problem on multiple fronts. Among them are:

• Correcting the misperception that "everyone" is a binge drinker. The facts are that 44 percent of students nation wide are binge drinkers, but 56 percent don't indulge. This can help students resist peer pressure.
  
• Asking bar owners to end "two for one" and other specials that encourage binge drinking.
  
• Changing the drinking culture by providing a number of free, interesting alcohol-free activities.

Parents can help by modeling moderate behavior and by watching what they say.

Pat Ketcham, director of Health Iowa, says, "If there is one message I'd like to give parents, it's that they shouldn't glamorize drinking when remembering their own college careers. Some come to campus with their students, take them to the Airliner, and tell about their own campus antics involving alcohol. The student takes away the impression that these are the years when they can have wild times and that's OK, just a part of college with no consequences. But the consequences are quite real. Students may die; they may have trouble staying in school; they may get in fights. And it can set the stage for alcohol addiction."