Study: College Drinking Can Have Deadly Outcomes

W A S H I N G T O N, April 9, 2002 -- Each year 1,400 college students die from alcohol-related accidents, half a million are injured and more than 70,000 are victims of alcohol-related rape or sexual assault, a report on student drinking said today.

The causes of death include car crashes, falls from balconies and students choking on their own vomit, among other misfortunes, said the report, released by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, a subsidiary of National Institutes of Health.

"This should be a wakeup call. There's a clear need for colleges to do something about it," said the study's lead author, Ralph Hingson, associate dean for research at Boston University School of Public Health.

Along with the troubling statistics comes a bit of welcome news for colleges — research outlining proven strategies to curb college drinking. Schools are urged to strictly enforce the drinking age, find creative ways to change student habits and enlist the surrounding community for help.

Those ideas have been tested at the University of Rhode Island — named the nation's top party school three years in a row in the mid-1990s. "We really had to admit that we had a alcohol problem. We are just like an alcoholic that was in denial," said URI President Robert Carothers.

Denial has been replaced by resolve. The school now has one of the nation's toughest anti-alcohol campaigns

"If your idea is to abuse alcohol or other substances, please do us a big favor and don't come here," Carothers said. "We don't want you. We won't need you and you won't be happy here so don't come."

At URI, alcohol is strictly banned at all campus events without exception. That includes homecoming, fraternity parties, even alumni events.

The school also works in partnership with the local community. Area police contact the school once a week to report all students who have run afoul of the law because of alcohol. And students who live off campus must sign leases that strictly prohibit fraternity events and keg parties. If they violate the lease, their parents can be fined.