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An Environmental Approach to Campus Drinking
Higher Education Center for Alcohol, Other Drug,
and Violence Prevention
 In 1854, a cholera epidemic sweeping Europe claimed more than
500 lives in London in just 10 days. With no cure in sight, Dr.
John Snow walked through the city of London, documenting the address
of each victim. He discovered that the outbreak was restricted
to an area within 250 yards of the Broad Street water pump. With
the data in hand, Snow convinced the city to shut down the pump,
and the epidemic ended three days later.
The staff of the Higher Education
Center for Alcohol, Other Drug, and Violence Prevention (HEC)
believe that colleges can learn a lot about preventing high-risk
drinking from Snow's example. The power of Snow's story, according to William
DeJong, HEC's director, is that people can improve their health by changing
their environment. "For most Americans, the idea that you can change your
environment is something of an epiphany," says DeJong. "Instead,
we tend to focus on the problem of weak individuals. But you need to think
about a campus community as an environment that can be changed."
HEC is working to move colleges away from a primarily educational approach
to high-risk drinking and toward a broader, public health approach. HEC collaborates
with college students, administrators, and faculty to help them re-examine
and expand their responses to student drinking. In addition to serving as a
clearinghouse and publisher of prevention resources,
HEC provides training and technical assistance to individual campuses. Like
Snow, HEC staff believe it's critical to begin with research-in this case,
a wide-ranging assessment of campus attitudes and behaviors related to binge
drinking, as well as the environmental factors that may contribute to the problem.
For example:
- Housing. Many institutions are focusing resources on preventing
drinking in dormitories and on-campus fraternities and sororities,
but they also need to consider off-campus housing and overall
housing policies.
- Class schedules. At many universities, weekend partying starts
Thursday afternoon and stretches through Sunday. Modifying
class schedules can alter excessive drinking.
- Low expectations. A few years ago, the University of Maine
conducted a study showing that students were spending about
10 hours per week in class and only another 15 hours per week
studying. "That leaves students with a large amount of
unrestricted time," comments DeJong, "which contributes
to the amount of partying and drinking on campus. When faculty
don't demand enough, students realize they don't need to do
a lot of studying to get a B+." Higher academic expectations
can make a difference.
- Surrounding community. "We're getting colleges and communities
working together in a re-examination of the kind of community
they want to have," says DeJong. "Who says we have
to tolerate a bar one block from campus that runs low-priced
promotions and targets its advertising to the college? Who
says the college and community shouldn't or can't change that?"
For questions or comments, contact mosaic@edc.org.
Copyright 2000-2003
Education Development Center, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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