Greek life study looks into drinking behavior

Fraternity and sorority members will be the focus of a new $143,769 grant from the U.S. Department of Education aimed at preventing high-risk drinking and violent behavior.

"It's about risk reduction. They learn skills that will help them moderate their drinking," said Carolyn Collins, director of health promotions and preventative services.

The strategies used to curb alcohol abuse will be different for fraternity men and sorority women, Collins said.

Half of the fraternity men in this fall's pledge classes will participate in a one-on-one educational program. The program will use questionnaires to assess the personal risk level of each man in relation to alcohol abuse. Graduate student employees will be hired to review the questionnaires individually with the men and to monitor the group's progress throughout the semester, Collins said.

To evaluate the program's success, the group's final survey results will be compared to the survey answers from the half of the pledge classes that do not participate in the program.

"It will be a barometer about whether or not alcohol abuse is a problem," said Clint Walls, vice president of public relations for the Interfraternity Council.

For sorority women, the program will develop ads and posters regarding alcohol abuse similar to those seen around campus and in the Campus Health Service building. These ads will be displayed in the chapter houses, Collins said.

The university has been working to curb drug abuse among students with 10 grants from the U.S. Department of Education since 1992, Collins said. The university has been using these grants to develop posters, flyers and advertisements.

Each poster design costs $900 to develop, and the program spends about $11,000 each year for advertisements in the Arizona Daily Wildcat, Collins said.

Student surveys show that the campaigns have been successful in reducing heavy drinking and the negative consequences of heavy drinking on campus since they began in 1992, Collins said.

The program has won several awards since it began, including the Model Programs Award from the U.S. Department of Education.

This year's grant mandated that a specific group of students be targeted, so the health promotions and preventative services department chose to target greek organizations, Collins said.

"I think, historically, you will find with any national study that members in the greek system have, on average, a higher drinking rate than your typical undergraduate student," she said.

"I think it is a good plan. It will help greeks to evaluate whether or not alcohol abuse is a problem," Walls said. "It will be useful for our pledges."

According to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, about 1,400 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die from alcohol-related injuries, including car accidents, every year. Also, more than 500,000 students are unintentionally injured under the influence of alcohol, and more than 600,000 students every year are assaulted by another student who has been drinking.

This year's grant is one of 13 grants nationwide that took effect July 1 for one year. It is renewable for a second year, contingent upon the success of the program.

÷ Aaron Mackey contributed to this report.