While fewer Dartmouth students report binge drinking over the past year, 97 percent of students report that the social atmosphere on campus promotes alcohol use according to a recent survey.
According to the third annual CORE alcohol and drug survey, frequent binge drinking declined from 35 percent of the student population in 1994 to 27 percent in 1995. Binge drinking involves consuming more than five drinks in one sitting more than once in a two week period.
The College distributed the CORE survey to 1,200 students last Spring, and 609 students responded. The U.S. Department of Education developed the survey about six years ago, according College Health Service researcher John Pryor, who analyzes the results for the College.
"The survey looks at alcohol and other drugs on campus," Pryor said. "It looks at behavior, attitude and other beliefs."
The survey results come after a concerted effort by the administration over the past few years to change the campus social life and de-emphasize the role of alcohol in student life.
Director of Health Resources Gabrielle Lucke said the biggest issue to look at is "the 97 percent number. We need to take a close look at campus to find out what gives students these perceptions."
About 51 percent of students at other colleges and universities in the United States said the social atmosphere on their campus promotes alcohol use, Pryor said.
The 1995 Dartmouth survey does not show why students think alcohol plays such a large role in campus activities.
Dean of the College Lee Pelton said the survey's results means that the College needs to continue decreasing the importance of alcohol in student culture.
"While I am encouraged by the reported reduction in binge drinking among our students, there is still work to do," Pelton said in a press release. "In particular, I believe that the College should pay more attention to the negative environmental impact that drinking has on campus culture."
"Our long term goal should be to foster a student social community where alcohol is not center stage," Pelton said in the release.
Pryor said he plans to examine the issue further by talking to students and getting their perspectives on the impact of alcohol on student life.
Pryor and Lucke presented the results of the survey to the Board of Trustees on Saturday.
"The Trustees were attentive and asked good questions," Lucke said. "They seemed interested in hearing the students' perceptions" and the reality of the status of alcohol.
Forty-six percent of the students said they do not abide by College regulations on drinking and other drug use.
The survey also shows binge drinking increases proportionately to fraternity or sorority involvement with campus social life.
While 19 percent of students who are not involved with the Greek system said they are binge drinkers, the binge rate doubles for students who attend Greek events but are not members of houses.
The survey also states that active fraternity and sorority members have a 61 percent binge drinking rate, while 68 percent of Greek house leaders are binge drinkers.
According to the survey, the number of students drinking in residence halls dropped from 74 to 68 percent over the past year.
Negative consequences due to alcohol use, such as hangovers, missing classes and alcohol-induced sexual activity, also decreased, according to the survey.
Lucke said these changes are "a sign of hope." She added that students are taking more responsibilities for their actions concerning alcohol use.
"The students need to take some credit for these decreases," she said.
Lucke said she attributes part of the decline in binge drinking to peer educators and other preventive programs.
She said peer educators try to find out what kind of relationships students at Dartmouth have with alcohol.
Lucke said students have responded very positively to substance-free programming and have requested more substance-free events.
Some of this programming is funded by the Fund for Improvement of Post-Secondary Education.
Pryor said he will analyze more of the data during the rest of the academic year. He has yet to compile how different genders and classes responded to the questions.
While the official results of the survey with respect to drug use have not been released, Pryor said, "The figures are the same. There are no significant changes in marijuana or hallucinogen use."
Pryor said since the Department of Education has heavily promoted the survey recently, a lot of college are using the survey, which provides Dartmouth will great deal of comparison data. The margin of error in the survey is plus or minus four points.
