On a campus where 10% to 15% of the students are considered problem drinkers, officials at California State University, Fresno, are struggling with ways to reduce alcohol abuse. It's a battle that's being fought on campuses across the nation, often with little success.
We regularly hear stories about college students dying of alcohol poisoning after a night of binge drinking. At the University of California, Davis, a popular student died three years ago after belting down 21 drinks on his 21st birthday. There have been allegations of sexual assault at a Fresno State fraternity party after a night of heavy drinking, and university officials have reported that a half-dozen students in a four-year period were so drunk that they were taken to hospital emergency rooms out of fear they were overdosing on alcohol.

California State University Chancellor Charles B. Reed has called binge drinking the No. 1 problem on university campuses and ordered the 23 universities under his control to take the problem more seriously.

Officials at Fresno State and seven other CSU campuses think they can make a dent in the drinking problem with a high-powered education campaign that isn't preachy, but seeks to arm students with information that will help them make good choices.

Marketing push

While college drinking isn't a new problem, previous generations weren't exposed to the overwhelming presence of alcohol marketing, particularly at sporting events. You aren't cool at football games unless you're sucking down beer and letting your inhibitions go. Who cares if you're too bombed to read the scoreboard?

Dr. Lynnette Zelezny, a Fresno State associate professor of psychology and a member of the Alcohol Advisory Council, said the latest effort to curb drinking includes accepting the fact that it's probably hopeless to tell students they shouldn't drink. But if the students know that most students drink moderately, there's a good chance that they will conform to that moderate behavior.

"Progress is being made to reduce alcohol problems at Fresno State using a promising approach, social norms marketing, which is a positive rather than problem-based approach," Zelezny said. "Research has shown that a significant risk factor for heavy drinking among college students is the misbelief that their peers drink more heavily and more often than they do. This misbelief influences behavior and puts students at risk for alcohol problems."

That's why the university is releasing survey results that say 71% of Fresno State students consumed zero to three drinks the last time they attended a function where alcohol was available. That's the pattern that university officials want the rest of the students to model their drinking behavior after.

But someone having fewer than three drinks at a fraternity party probably would be considered a teetotaler in that environment. Fresno State, after all, is a campus where half the fraternities are on probation, with alcohol-related problems a key factor.

Ironically, Fresno State has been a CSU pacesetter on the issue, which is why the system's Sober Driver Initiative has its headquarters on the campus. Fresno State President John Welty, who chaired a CSU committee aimed at reducing alcohol abuse on college campuses, has been a national leader on seeking innovative solutions to the problem.

Drinking responsibly

The program at Fresno State and seven other campuses is funded by a $770,000 two-year grant aimed at devising a comprehensive education, prevention and enforcement campaign. The state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the California Highway Patrol and local law enforcement agencies will participate.

The goal is to not only reduce excessive drinking by students, but also to stop students from driving after drinking. Perry Angle, the program's director, said peer education will be crucial to making progress.

But if alcohol is sold on campus and drinking is an accepted practice at Fresno State sporting events, especially during tailgate parties at football games, isn't the university sending a mixed message to students about alcohol's danger?

Not at all, says Dr. Paul M. Oliaro, vice president of student affairs at Fresno State. Moderate drinking is always the goal, he said, and selling alcohol at a restaurant on campus does not encourage alcohol abuse.

The CSU program will also be at system campuses in Chico, Long Beach, Hayward, Monterey Bay, Sacramento, San Bernardino and Sonoma.

The state has put a lot of resources into this attempt to reduce excessive drinking by college students. Even Maria Contreras-Sweet, the secretary of the state's Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, which oversees the CHP and the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, was on hand for the announcement of the program last week.

Contreras-Sweet said students should be prepared to enter society responsibly from college and that alcohol education should be a part of their learning experience. State resources, she said, should be focused on prevention, not just remediation.

This is a well-intended program, but we'll see whether it has any more success than the many alcohol programs that came before it. Unfortunately, problem drinking on college campuses may be much bigger than our real commitment to solving it.