CHICO - On the eve of St. Patrick's Day - traditionally one of the most raucous and inebriated celebrations in this college town - civic and university officials discussed their perennial concerns about student alcohol abuse with a national expert.

The Rev. Edward A. Malloy, president of the University of Notre Dame, met with the group Tuesday on the campus of California State University, Chico.

"I don't think there's any panacea," he cautioned, as he talked about devising a holistic strategy in which government, business and university officials work together with students to avert the kinds of alcohol-related tragedies that have occurred at colleges across the country.
In 2001, after suffering four alcohol-related fatalities at Chico State in five years, university and city officials began a more intense effort to educate students about the hazards and to punish those who flout the law.

Community leaders first banded together and successfully curbed Halloween celebrations. They're deflating the rowdy levity from St. Patrick's Day, too, due in large part to the university restructuring spring break to coincide with the holiday. Now, when the green beer flows, most students are out of town instead of in the local bars.

Malloy knows well the struggles that universities face in thwarting excessive drinking, a problem that has become endemic on many campuses. An ethicist by training, he chose substance abuse as an area of special concern 16 years ago when he became president of the "Fighting Irish" university in South Bend, Ind.

He has served on several national committees, including the President George H.W. Bush's council on drugs. Currently Malloy is co-chairman of the subcommittee on college drinking of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and chairs the National Commission on Substance Abuse and Sports.

On Tuesday, Malloy said that research shows three red-flag areas that warrant concern.

"The evidence is overwhelming that campuses with a high 'Greek' presence have more problems," he said, noting that hazing rituals and a party culture at sororities and fraternities often have led to tragic consequences.

First-year students are more likely to overindulge as they cope with transitions, and are at higher risk.

Schools with large athletic programs, and the major events that come with them, have greater problems with excessive consumption, he said.

Malloy emphasized that women, who don't metabolize alcohol as quickly as men, almost always lose "drinking contests" and may end up victims of alcohol poisoning.

"Transitions are hard," he said, acknowledging that college students face difficulties that sometimes lure them into risky behavior and poor decisions.

He said that he hoped "in that isolated moment when they're trying to fit in or be popular, that they don't die or do something they'll regret the rest of their lives."

Malloy advises students to look for "places to belong," whether in athletics, religion, student government, dramatic arts, or any campus group where they will find "like-minded questers."

He also gives a simple directive to freshmen: Don't eat alone. That reinforces loneliness and isolation, he said, while a shared meal is a natural social event that draws them into the larger group.