binge

Blitzed, blasted and bombed. Upon hearing these terms, some Chico State University students think of alcohol and others think of warfare...but both words spell death. Could you be the next casualty of binge drinking?

It's a problem on college campuses across the country -- students are drinking themselves to death. And Chico State is no exception.
       "One of the biggest misconceptions students have is that you can't die from drinking alcohol," said Rebecca Berner, program assistant at the Chico Stae Campus Alcohol and Drug Education Center (CADEC).
       Binge drinking, or high-risk drinking, is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as five or more alcoholic beverages in a row. It may lead to trouble with the police, physical and emotional injuries, sexually transmitted diseases, rape, alcohol poisioning and even death.
       Even though Chico State is above the national average, it is well below what most Chico State students think it is.
Students believe that 99 percent binge drink once per week, while in actuality only 59 percent binge drink that often, said Shauna Quinn, director of the Campus Alcohol and Drug Education Center (CADEC) at Chico State.
     Over 10 years ago, however, if students assumed Chico State was a heavyweight in the college-party scene they would have been right.
       In 1985 and 1986, the campus sponsored Pioneer Days as a way for Chico to celebrate its uniqueness, but canceled the event when it got out of hand because of people partying and drinking excessively.
In 1987, Chico State made national news when Playboy magazine named it the No. 1 party school in the nation.
       But the problems didn't end when Rancho Chico Days died.
Beginning in 1992, Halloween started attracting more and more out-of-towners who came specifically to revel in the drunken atmosphere of the downtown area. St.Patrick's Day has also attracted a considerable amount of attention in the last few years from heavy promotion by downtown bars, said Quinn.
    But death, not partying or rioting, is what brought high-risk drinking into the limelight.
    Eighty-seven people have died by alcohol poisoning on college campuses since 1996 -- four of them here at Chico State. The death of 18-year-old Adrian Heideman.occurred just last semester.
    According to the spring 2000 Chico State Student Alcohol and Drug Survey, 13 percent of Chico State students reported having been taken advantage of sexually because of alcohol use, and 16 percent reported having been in trouble with police or other college authorities as a result of alcohol use.
      Binge drinking is a problems, but there are solutions.
University President Manuel Esteban formed a program two semesters ago called Social Norming, to combat high-risk drinking.
       Social Norming is designed to influence the population toward the idea that not everyone is binge drinking. If it succeeds, more people will realize that it is not socially acceptable to drink frequently, and they will gravitate toward more positive attitudes and behaviors.
       "Most of the programs to educate in the past haven't been successful because of
the negative approach," said Dr. Linda Pneuman, chief of medical staff and director of the Chico State Health Center. "This program is designed to use positive behavior models to influence more of a positive behavior trend towards high risk drinking."
         The Social Norming campaign will use guest speakers, newspaper articles and posters to combat alcohol consumption and announce more non-alcohol related events.
         This program has been used on other campuses throughout the country to fight
high risk drinking and has received great reviews.
          "All the campuses that have had very active, intensive social norming campaigns
have seen a decrease in binge drinking," said Pneuman.
          To truly fight the problem, however, the university realizes that it must work
hand-in-hand with students to achieve its goals.
        "Don't take the responsibility out of the student's hands," said Andrew Flesher, professor of religious studies at Chico State. "If anything happens, it will come out of a partnership of everyone working together to help end this problem."