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April 9, 2002
WASHINGTON (AP) -- An estimated
1.400 college students are killed every year in
alcohol-related accidents, according to a study released Tuesday
-- a study that researchers call the most comprehensive look
ever at the consequences of student drinking. The
researchers say the figures show that college drinking needs to
be seen as a major health concern.
"Historically, I think there has been
the view that whatever college students are doing, it's not that
serious a problem, it's a rite of passage," said Kenneth J.
Sher, a psychology professor at the University of
Missouri-Columbia. The study by the federally supported Task
Force on College Drinking estimated that drinking by college
students contributes to 500,000 injuries and 70,000 cases of
sexual assault or date rape. Also, 400,000 students between 18
and 24 years old reported having had unprotected sex as a result
of drinking.
The study does not say whether the problems
are increasing or decreasing. A Harvard School of Public Health
survey released last month reported that more students are
abstaining from alcohol, but levels of binge drinking -- having
at least four or five drinks at a sitting -- are the same as in
the early 1990s.
The new report is one of 24 studies
commissioned by the task force of college presidents, scientists
and students convened by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse
and Alcoholism. The institute is part of the National Institutes
of Health.
Most of the papers will be published in the forthcoming March
issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol.
 Researchers
integrated various databases and survey results to reach their
findings.
Fatalities:
Cars, falls, drownings
Motor vehicle fatalities were the most
common form of alcohol-related deaths. The statistics included
college students killed in car accidents if the students had
alcohol in their blood, even if the level was below the legal
limit.
Students who died in other alcohol-related
accidents, such as falls and drownings, were included. Those who
died as a result of homicides or suicides were not.
Chief researcher Ralph Hingson of the
Boston University School of Public Health said he believes the
estimates are more likely to be too conservative than
overstated. "I think actually getting the numbers out will
help the public understand that this is a very large problem,
perhaps a larger problem than people might have otherwise
thought," he said.
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