Drug and alcohol usage among Ohio University freshmen is staying the same, prompting university officials to evaluate how to further curb high-risk behavior.
The AlcoholEdu program gauges student usage of alcohol and other drugs prior to, and 45 days into, students' college careers through two self-reporting surveys. This year, it found few statistical differences from data gathered in years past.
If we look at drinking rates
I would say our rates haven't changed a lot said Terry Koons, associate director of the Campus Involvement Center, which oversees AlcoholEdu.
In this year's statistics, 54 percent of incoming freshmen reported in August that they were non-drinkers, but only 22 percent of them reported around October they still did not drink.
At the same time, so-called heavy drinkers (4+ drinks a night for women, 5+ drinks for men) and problem drinkers (8+ drinks a night for women, 10+ for men) increased. The total number of freshmen heavy drinkers increased from 31 percent to 47 percent, while problem drinkers increased from 10 percent to 18 percent.
These statistics don't necessarily indicate OU students discover alcohol when they come to Athens, Koons said.
It's more of looking at who do we attract Koons said, If more people are drinking before they come to college
it's not like coming to OU made the students drink.
Dean of Students Ryan Lombardi also said more freshmen are drinking before arriving at OU.
It's obviously a concerning statistic to me
Lombardi said. The behavior they've established starts early....but I'm glad the numbers are not going up.
The data are markedly similar to 2009 statistics, which indicated 38 percent of freshmen were high-risk drinkers before coming to OU, which rose to 47 percent in October 2009. That number fell from 2007's freshmen levels, in which 50 percent reported drinking before attending OU and 65 percent drank in October of their first year.
Chris Quolke is a graduate student studying both education and public health. He analyzed data from the surveys and said all 4,150 incoming freshmen were required to respond to the first survey but only about 3,000 responded to the second, optional survey.
Incoming freshmen quickly acclimate to the environment of campus with their drinking and drug usage, Quolke said.
We call it the 'college effect'
Quolke said. Students gravitate to whatever social function is going on.
He noted the survey indicates a small number of students use harder drugs such as heroin and cocaine, and that total usage decreases when they arrive at OU. He called these numbers statistically insignificant
indicating only about 50 OU freshmen reported coming into OU having recently used these drugs.
However, the drinking statistics remain a concern to him.
The decline of moderate drinkers is alarming
Quolke said. There's a potential they're becoming high-risk drinkers.
He notes statistics gathered from UC 115 students indicate they believe their peers drink far more than they actually do - 43 percent of those surveyed think their peers consume more than 10 drinks every week.
People always overestimate how much their peers drink and modify their behavior accordingly. Quolke said.
He added that he worries OU's environment puts its students at risk for alcoholic behavior. The same UC 115 survey indicates 55 percent of the students have biological risk for alcoholic behavior, such as family members who are alcoholics.
These students who have alcoholism related family issues - they're at increased risk for developing alcoholism themselves
Quolke said.
In spite of these statistics, administrators maintain that their efforts, including the Stop at the Buzz campaign, do not focus solely on reducing alcohol consumption.
It's not about reducing drinking
it's about reducing risk for harm and injury
Koons said, Not making a fool of yourself
