Questions about Binge Drinking
Related Topics
"Jmelb" jmeba...@uni.edu
Dear Sir and Madam: I am a student at the University of Northern Iowa, and I am very interested in the topic of college binge drinking because as a college student I am surrounded by the issue everyday; and I am writing a journalistic report about this topic. I would appreciate it if you could provide your insights about this topic answering the following questions. Please note that by providing me your insights, your responses remain confidential and your identity remains anonymous.
Also, if you wish to receive a copy of this report, please indicate so in the last question, and you will receive a copy when the report is completed. Please send your response to my email address at jmeba...@uni.edu by Wednesday, December 6, 2006. If you have any question about this inquiry, please feel free to contact my instructor Dr. Sarina Chen at sarina.c...@uni.edu, TEL: 319-273-6021. Thank you.
Sincerely, J.Bagenstos Dept. of Communication Studies Univ. of Northern Iowa Sarina Chen, Ph.D.
***ociate Professor Dept. of Communication Studies Univ. of Northern Iowa Questions: 1. How would you define college binge drinking?
2. Do you think college binge drinking has become more of an issue in our society now than in the past and why?
3. Do you think that the college environment that students are in has an effect on the drinking patterns of students?
4. What do you think what needs to be done to help students become more aware of the effects of binge drinking?
5. What do you think colleges can do to help curb the drinking problem on college campuses today?
OceanView m...@TheSea.com
My opinions only, not of AA, and YMMV Drinking to get drunk from the start, usually p***ing out.
Yes. Why, I'm not sure. More pressure to succeed? More permissive society?
an effect on the drinking patterns of students?
Somewhat. I went to UM***, which, though known as a party school (much less now than the 70s), you could chose to live in the drunken "Southwest" dorms or the quiet "Sylvan" dorms or someplace in between. You choose your own circles.
more aware of the effects of binge drinking?
Visit a treatment center and talk to other people who thought it was harmless, whoc could quit whenever they wanted and it couldnt happen to them. Ask them about their college (or early 20s) years.
problem on college campuses today?
A little 'education' might help! No doubt, for some, it is just a phase and if they live through it, they'll reflect back on it with fond memories.
Others need to understand the cunning, baffling and powerful nature of alcohol and how it grabs hold long before you realize the problem. The "it can't happen to me" attitude is common at college age, it's a very difficult problem to attack. Finding recovering aloholocs who are under 25 to come and talk might help. They are probably your best bet for getting people college age to pay attention. Within that audience, the aloholics will keep drinking until they hit bottom anyway. I did.
"Tommy" to...@geemail.corn
****ing amateurs Who the **** cares about you and your society. Show us your tits.
If they are sober enough to draw patterns, then they ain't drinkers.
Puking fountains. Where they can puke, then a toothbrush stand for washing the puke smell off their breath. Have you ever gotten ridden by a puking freshman,,, the smell of his breath would stifle you Issue free frenchies, free Viagra, and issue pins to the best shaggers.
That way we wouldn't have to waste our money getting the birds drunk so we can ride them.
Is there a bounty or a bonus attached to this survey. You want a pic of my cock???
Cheers Tommy
ByTor By...@snowdog.com
Geeeeeeeezuz Tommy you're freakin out there dude, that is the funniest thing I've read yet......(LOL) Can you imagine though, from what I understand college years are the best years for drinking & screwing (I wish I experienced it)........WHY would they wanna ruin it all with freakin studies & awareness.....
DAMN, take the fun out of it... ;0)
"Mark Warner" mhwarner.inhibiti...@insightbb.com
First, define 'binge drinking'.
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Mark Warner lose .inhibitions when replying
"Tommy" to...@geemail.corn
Typical lazy bastiid... Like you didn't ask her to define college, or drinking - no you picked the easy one ehh Cheers PS A binge is a male minge - really Cheers Tommy
"Tommy" to...@geemail.corn
You better believe it. When I went back to college, hey I still attend to this day..
And I can honestly say, that for an uggly (but interesting) bugger like me, although they ain't queueing up they are definitely putting it about. I have a 60 year old sitting beside me, she has skin like velvet, is not one bit shy, actually she looks fecking great for her age - she swears she has only had surgery done on her boobs. I saw one of them, loud and proud it stood on its own.
They say that the muscles down there tighten up with age. This old bird must be nearly a virgin - - -
again :-)) I hope to feck there's no one out of the college subbed to this newsgroup heh heh Its not that I am interested in her, but purely from an academic viewpoint I should investigate her tautness. Maybe do a masters on it. If I could stay errr ahem hard long enough?, or is that stay long, hard enough?
Whichever:-) Cheers Tommy
ByTor By...@snowdog.com
Geeeeezuz, really more info than I need to know Tommy......(LOL) Only college I went to was a community college while I was sober. 5yrs of night school and it got me nowhere.....Ho hum.
Chemical Dependency curriculum that I couldn't transfer the credits now if I wanted too....it was a specialized course, and I never pursued the field as I was making too much at a present job to take a pay hit......Wish I still had the job though.......Ho Hum!!!!
Mark Warner mhwarner.inhibiti...@insightbb.com
No, the OP is the lazy bastiid -- it's his/her survey, and they want the *respondents* to define the terms. ****ing "journalism" student needs to learn some methodology if he/she wants to get anywhere. A journalist *reports* what a survey says -- he/she doesn't create it. That's for the social scientists that might have some clue.
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Mark Warner PCLinuxOS v.93a Registered Linux User #415318 ...lose .inhibitions when replying
JoeRaisin joerai...@charter.net
Back when I used to speak on such matters "bingeing" was generally defined as 6 or more drinks in one session. It is probably more accurate to say that it is when one becomes intoxicated whether the original intent was there or not - it is the end state that matters.
I think that binge drinking in general has become more of an issue in our society because our society has become less tolerant (which isn't always a bad thing). In days gone by social faux paus or even minor legal ones could be excused by an apology in which one explained that, "I was really drunk." That doesn't cut it in many situations in current society.
People are more likely these days to be held accountable for their behavior either drunk or sober. Intoxication, and the irrational behavior that often accompanies it, causes higher profile issues than in the past.
When the cat's away, the mice will play - and the cat has a pretty good time as well.
Out from under the parent's scrutiny for the first time many young folk sew a few extra oats. Expand your research a bit and you will find the same sort of behavior among those of similar age in the military. Watch a group late teen or early twenty type folks out cutting up and then wonder how their behavior would be different if their parents were watching (and the kids knew it).
Add to that perceived freedom the "peer pressure" of expectations.
While it is unlikely that there are very many kids trying to talk others into drinking ("C'mon, it feels good, everybody's doing it...") many kids believe that they are expected to behave in certain ways. They want to be accepted (don't we all) and don't want others to think of them negatively.
Add to those factors, the prevalence of drinking on and around campus and you have created a very difficult situation for the average kid.
Interestingly, back in the day, when I was doing prevention talks, we used to hand out questionnaires that asked about a person's drinking habits. While I was running my mouth on stage my colleagues were tallying up the responses. At the end of my talk we would ask the folks (the ones who just did the survey) about the drinking behaviors within their unit (this was a military environment). Invariably, the amount of drinking that they 'thought' was going on was much greater than what was actually going on.
Show the 'effects' on a regular basis.
Make them aware that one does not have to have a drinking problem to have problems from drinking (a bit of wisdom worthy of "The Sphinx" -
ala Mystery Men).
The actual statistic probably doesn't exist but it would be educational to know how many folks flunk a cl***, drop out, are asked to leave due to poor academic performance or drop out before that request is made -
due primarily because their drinking / studying ratio is askew.
Ask them to consider how many people they know that have lost friends or an important relationship due to something that happened when that person was intoxicated - perhaps they themselves have had such an experience.
Ask them to think about things they have done or seen others do while intoxicated which could have turned out very badly if they hadn't been lucky. Most people who have been intoxicated many times have at least one experience that could have negatively altered their lives significantly without that bit of luck. They could have gone to jail, hurt themselves seriously or injured someone else. Plenty of examples without even bringing drunk driving into it.
Challenge folks to pay attention to the world around them with an eye towards the negative consequences of intoxication. These consequences can range from a miserable hang-over to incarceration or even death -
but usually fall somewhere in between.
Awareness that intoxication is risky. I used to tell those I addressed that while drinking isn't bad, intoxication is. Intoxication is a very risky state of mind. People have a tendency to do things that, "...seemed like a good idea at the time..." Last time I checked over half of pedestrians killed by traffic are intoxicated. Victim precipitated homicide often involves a victim who is intoxicated. Suicide attempts are often made while intoxicated.
The point being, that a person cannot guarantee what they will do after becoming intoxicated, therefore it is a state of mind to be avoided.
Life skills is another way to curb such behavior. In the treatment of addictions we teach all manner of life skills, goal setting, stress and anger management and problem solving among others. What if we taught these things to people before they suffer negatively by using drugs and alcohol to ***uage anxiety.
Make no mistake - the primary draw that alcohol and other mood altering substances have is their effect on the part of the brain that controls anxiety (euphoria). Anxiety can range from paralyzing fear to simple acknowledgment of negative consequences. Relief from worry is a good thing, but usually that 'acknowledgment of negative consequences' goes away along with the unease.
We can harp on what not to do forever, but how about defining what appropriate drinking is? IMHO it is simply avoiding intoxication.
Moderation Management is a wonderful resource in this regard.
"tedw" te...@earthlink.net
I only want to answer question #5. Close the bars on campus where they exist.
Ted H t...@heise.nu
On Fri, 01 Dec 2006 21:22:21 -0500, Mark Warner <mhwarner.inhibiti...@insightbb.com> wrote: Not to mention the serious sampling bias issues from trolling Usenet with *any* survey instrument.
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Ted H
"Mark Warner" mhwarner.inhibiti...@insightbb.com
What? You mean a.r.aa isn't a representative sample?
No wonder all those people out there in meatspace seem so weird to me...
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Mark Warner lose .inhibitions when replying
"Tommy" to...@geemail.corn
Nope... Bingeing is staying sober for long periods and then having a breakout, And as a one-time event it couldn't be cl***ed as a binge..
Most alcoholics interpret their illnesses as a factor in the closeness together of their binges - war-hero drinkers usually last about 4 or 5 weeks at a time. Either lack of money, food, sleep or sex was what drove me home..
As we all know it isn't about the amount of drinks - its the quality of the bender...
6 drinks (as they say down in the back field, commonly called 'The Backers') would do nothing more than put a goo on me.. I never had the courage to go into the Backers unless I had at least 10 under me belt.. I did once sleep at the railway junction to stave off a hangover.
Ahh trains under the bridges. We hiked out the country, jumped onto the slow moving train, threw barrels off the wagons. heh heh and then had to cart them to a meeting place and #tap# them. Jaysus hic :-)) Cheers Tommy
"Positively 62nd Street" not_lik...@all.notatall
I've never heard of 'binge' drinking defined by a number of drinks either.
Doesn't mean some outfit doesn't define it that way... I've just always heard it described differently. In the mid-late 80's there seemed to be an effort to address it, but it didn't last. It's popular to talk about again, but until binge drinking is seen as a form of alcoholism or potential alcoholism outside of drinking circles it might never be taken as the serious issue it is.
'Binge drinking' (as I know it) is differentiated from 'daily drinking to excess' by the fact that there may be periods of weeks or months or more in between where there is no or next to no drinking. Binge drinkers are the hardest nuts to crack in terms of getting them to realize that there is a problem, because... they focus not on the consequences but the spells without drinking as proof they can 'quit when they want to'. This is where the old saw comes in about 'it's not about how much or how often but rather what happens when you *do* drink'.
While I agree with much of what Joe wrote about drinking and prevention in general... his definition has nothing to do with bingeing, IMO. Bingeing is defined by the ability to stay abstinent for a period followed by a period with little to no control at all followed again by a dry spell.
JoeRaisin joerai...@charter.net
Words mean different things to different people.
That particular definintion was concocted by researchers who always have to have a clear line of demarcation when it comes defining behaviors. I think they even drooped the number of drinks to four for women.
I believe they settled on that number as the point where (over just a few hours) the blood alcohol content starts into the risky zone (approaching .07 or higher) Other researchers lean more towards the idea of a prolonged period of intoxication lasting two or more days.
Since our intrepid researcher is in the world of academia (where the 'number' definition comes from) I simply referenced it in order to show how my thoughts differed.
The second half of my answer is how I view it. IMHO it is the level of intoxication moreso than the duration that is important.
Chronocidal Charlie clew...@hot.rr.com
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Hash: SHA1 I've mentioned numerous times here that my lifelong drinking pattern other than about the last five years was for the most part *episodic* *periodic* sort of drinking. Military you know. I imagine if I totaled up all the completely dry, or abstinent time I logged from the time I was 20 or so up until I got all I wanted at 55, I could probably say that I had been *sober* as in not drinking at all, 17 or 18 years out of the 25. A year or two years here and there dry. Once over three years.
Few months at a time. five six, nine. My binges would last anywhere from, in the beginning a weekend or long holiday or four day p***, and there was always 30 days annual leave or delay in route between ***ignments that was most always totally blotto and the affects those periods had on me progressively worsened from a bad case of Monday shakes to harrowing three to five day ordeals of withdrawals with deliriums, hallucinations, an occasional seizure. In the latter years, particularly after I got out of the army, the binges lasted until I ran out of money, got put in jail or family or someone or entity intervened and had me committed to and locked down in some kind of institution.
Yeah, I've been straitjacketed and restrained more times that I care to try to count.
But it was common for my family to explain Charlie's absences quite often. "He's out on one of *his *binges* ." Kind of a small miracle that I pulled out of that last five year one in 95, alive and on my own with no medical ***istance or intervention or not anyone to even nag me about laying off the stuff.
Just realized I'd had all I wanted and got up and started cleaning up my mess.
CC
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"Tommy" to...@geemail.corn
Different words mean different things to different people Joe.
Stay with English please. You were doing so well. Maybe you mean different people make different interpretations of different words. BUT that doesn't change what the words mean.
The world of Academia could do with a few lessons in English also.
The level of intoxication is not in dispute - jesus it wouldn't be called 'drinking' or bingeing if the perp could stop before he got into a state.
Neither is duration... It ends when they run out of the wherewithal to drink or the spree has run itself out. It starts out with gaps of various lengths. Nobody including your Academical researchers have an understanding of the who's, the whats, and the whens... and if it is strawmen that are the issue, then they would better spend their time harvesting trees and ignoring the whys.
I will only add that this is just like yours, an expressed opinion.
Cheers Tommy
JoeRaisin joerai...@charter.net
Amen to that, brother.
Again, different interpretations to different words (better?). If you were to ask some folks, they would say they had been drinking even if they only had one drink. My interpretation would be similiar to yours, if I didn't get drunk, I hadn't been drinking.
Kinda odd sometimes, the way normal folks view drinking.
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