The headline says it all: “Student dies after drinking binge” Twenty shots in ten minutes.  That is how long it took to kill an engineering student.  Is that how you would want to spend your twenty-first birthday?  It is surprising that there are not more cases like this.  For every one story that gets printed in the newspaper, there are probably a hundred cases of heavy drinking around college campuses.  Students are left all over campus passed out from excessive drinking, close to death.

Statistics from the Students Guide to Drinking states that as many as 360,000 of the nation’s 12 million undergraduates will die from alcohol-related causes while in school. This is more than the number who will receive M.A. and Ph.D. degrees combined.

Since college is the first time for many students to drink when they want, they take advantage of it.   Students drink at parties; that is all there is to do.  Being away from home, with hundreds of other underage students drinking, makes drinking seem acceptable.  The fact that it is illegal has no relevance.

Showing up at a party and drinking as much as possible before the keg goes dry or the police come to break up the party is all part of the fun.  It is this kind of behavior, binge drinking, that is the cause of many problems for college students.

Binge drinking is when a person consumes five or more drinks in one sitting. Walking into a party with a six-pack of beer and drinking it before hitting the dance floor is a normal thing to do on the weekends.  Students drink an estimated four billion cans of beer a year.

If  this problem is not a big deal, consider this: Half of college men and 37% of college women can be classified as binge drinkers.  The statistics are four times higher for those that belong to fraternities and sororities.  With this large consumption of alcohol, it is not surprising that college students spend $5.5 billion each year on alcohol—more than soda pop, tea, milk, juice, coffee and text books combined.
Students proclaim that they were “so trashed” and “beyond wasted” after parties as if it were something to be proud of.  Many  are just lucky that someone didn’t take advantage of them while they were under the influence.

Even though these parties seem safe, being surrounded by friends and all, the fact is, 78% of all rape victims know their attacker.  Date rape usually occurs when a man and woman are alone in a room, apartment or car.  The use of alcohol increases this risk.  Consider this: 55% of female students and 75% of male students involved in acquaintance rape had been under the influence or alcohol or drugs.
Not all drinking is bad.  However, when it begins to control one’s actions something needs to be done.  Students complain to that their grades are bad and need to be brought up.  Nonetheless, they still go out to parties every weekend.  The next day will most likely be spent wearing off the hang over.
Statistics show that drinking and grades have a direct correlation on each other.  On college campuses, alcohol is a factor in 41% of all academic problems, and 28% of all dropouts. More than 7% of college freshmen drop out of school for alcohol-related reasons, causing more than $261 in tuition to be lost
Stereotyping every fraternity or sorority member or all freshmen and college student that drinks will not solve the problem.  Being aware and concerned with the number of alcohol-related tragedies occurring on campuses every year may.  This is a big deal;  classmates are dying.

Drinking into a drunken stupor, with a blood alcohol level high enough to put you in the hospital, is fun?  Is it worth risking a future for?   What about friends and family that worry every time they know a loved one is out drinking?

Drink responsibly.  If someone is smart enough to go to college, they should be smart enough to know when to cut themselves off.  It only takes one night of binge drinking to take a life.