In today’s society, sporting events and alcohol are intertwined. Social drinking has always been a part of the sporting spectrum, whether at a tailgate party, sports bar, professional stadium or arena, and even at home. Collegiate sporting events are no exception to this popular pastime. However, alcohol is not available at every NCAA sporting event. According to Mitchell (2015), only 25% of FBS colleges allow the sale of alcohol at sporting events. Obviously, the main concern for not allowing alcohol at sporting events is the risk of underage drinking, binge drinking, and rowdiness among students and fans. Despite this setback, many colleges are allowing the sales of alcohol in order to decrease the economic burden many colleges are facing. Several colleges such as the University of Maryland and the University of Memphis have recently started implementing the sales of alcohol for this reason. Not only is sales the main revenue stream for selling alcohol, but also sponsorship from the alcohol companies themselves. The idea of extra revenue may sound great for many collegiate athletic departments, but there are legal risks to take into full consideration. In a hypothetical situation where Dr. Mark Emmert resigns as president of the NCAA, the first priority that should be implemented by the new president should be the acceptance of alcohol sales at collegiate sporting events, specifically championship events. When looking at the NCAA as a whole, the biggest setback that most
As many teenagers enter college, they begin to experiment with many things. Although not all students participate in underage drinking, it is evident that a vast majority do. Drinking is not the problem. The main problem occurs when students resort to binge drinking. In the
In the Journal of Alcohol & Drug Education is the letter “Tapping into College Football: The Need for Research Examining the Impact of Stadium Alcohol Sales on Drinking Behaviors and Incidents” written to the editor by Adam E. Barry, Texas A&M; Steven M. Howell, Northern Illinois University; and Steven Salaga, Texas A&M University. Barry, Howell, and Salaga give background information on the alcohol sales and alcohol related incidents. They focus on the West Virginia University Case findings heavily. The research provided shows a decrease in alcohol related incidents in 2010 which was the year before allowing alcohol to be sold in the West Virginia stadium (Tapping into College Football). According to Jenni Carlson, a sports columnist for the Oklahoman, “West Virginia decided to start selling beer at concession stands in 2011. That was its final season in the Big East before jumping to the Big 12. The first year that it sold alcohol in the stadium, sales added $700,000 to the athletic department coffers. But there were more benefits, benefits that should interest other schools. In 2011, the campus police at West Virginia reported an across-the-board drop in game-day incidents. Calls. Cases. Arrests. Charges. All of them went down, including a 35 percent drop in arrests,” (Cheers to Selling Beers at Football Games).
Binge drinking and consumption of alcohol by minors has long been a problem on college campuses. According to the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 59.4% of college students between the ages of 18-22 consumed alcohol within the past month (Prevalence. The same survey found that 39% of students in the same age group reported binge drinking (five or more drinks in a short period of time) within the past month. Given these numbers, institutions have created many programs to both deter drinking and encourage safer drinking. This literature review will analyse and discuss current literature regarding prevention programs, professional standards, and statistics about college age drinkers.
Drinking on college campuses has become a huge problem. For example, in the 10th century only old people used to drink, but now students drink more than their parents. Students see their parents drinking, so they may think that drinking has no effect on health that anyone can drink so why can’t the students drink? Therefore, college students have been drinking alcohol since the 14th century. Barrett Seaman’s article “How Bingeing Became the New College Sport,” appearing in TIME magazine on August 29, 2005, explains how binge drinking is affecting college students. It also suggests that lowering the drinking age might help solve the problem of binge drinking. This article has much information on how and where students get drunk.
Fraternities and sororities are at the center of binge drinking on college campuses. It is proven that in fraternity houses, approximately 80% of students binge, and over 50% binge frequently. Fraternities attract people beyond their members, including high-school seniors, which are future college freshmen that are already being introduced to binge drinking as being a social norm. The majority of alcohol-related deaths of college students involve fraternity parties. College administrators are afraid of acting out against fraternities because they do not want to anger the generous alumni donors who themselves, too, were partying during their college years. Colleges should not wait until a tragic event happens to realize that something must be done about fraternities and the alcohol-related problems that they cause. Also, it is morally wrong to treat alumni better than students, giving them the privilege to drink at events such as homecoming activities and sports. Banning alcohol for just students is not an effective way to gain students’ support for any new alcohol-control policies. It is quite obvious that colleges base their decisions on
Even with all the efforts to enforce an alcohol-free campus, the hard work has fallen to the waste side throughout the life span of the policy. To this very day, students continue to drink illegally in the dorms, in Greek houses on campus property, and in some cases openly around campus. The alcohol policy was put into place to protect the well-being of all concerned in the University community. The history of alcohol consumption at OU was the leading cause of the once wet campus to become dry. The movement to a dry campus began after the death of a freshmen pledge into the Greek system. The freshman had dead from alcohol poising after a night of binge drinking at a fraternity house. The death of the young man promoted leadership at OU to reevaluate the current alcohol policy. Per NBC News “Oklahoma University president David Boren says the one death on his campus was one too many.” (Williams 2004). In January 2005, the campus officially went to a dry campus, with a three-stick policy attached. Students would be given three alcohol policy violations before being expelled from the university (2016) . The leadership at OU had sold grounds for implementing the zero-alcohol policy. As rational as this policy was to implement, it hasn’t been as effective as the University was hoping for. Eliminating alcohol on campus is a far cry from the once wet campus. There is a middle ground that could have
Introductory statement: The debate if alcohol should be allowed at college sports venues can be very intense. Many fans that go to these events want to enjoy a cold beverage and should not be restricted to enjoying that beverage just because they are at a college sporting event. According to ESPN.com news services, there are only 21 on-campus football stadiums that allow drinking (2014, para. 3). This number should be higher because there are benefits to allowing alcohol at a college sporting event. Just because a few fans get too rowdy doesn’t mean everyone should suffer and not be allowed to drink.
The legal drinking age in the United States will always be a point of contention. No one can settle upon a drinking age that everyone is in agreement with; should it be 18 or 21? Ages 18 and 21 are the most popular options, yet neither one has 100% of the vote. With the current legal drinking age in America standing at 21, meaning that people under the age of 21 cannot purchase or consume alcoholic food or beverages, there is the question of whether or not to lower it to 18 or 19 years old. This paper will argue that the drinking age should be lowered, and examine its impact on State University.
It’s no doubt that alcohol has a major sway on today’s society across the board both culturally and globally. When we take a look into past history, we can see how alcohol has been the fundamental measures to religious, professional, and social concerns. It seems that no matter how far our history books go back, the United States has had a question about the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Through the years of Prohibition halting the sale, shipping, and ingestion of alcohol and the constitutional acts delegating who is accurately fit to drink. Today’s controversy is a lot less infringing on personal rights. It’s regarding whether the legal drinking age should be lowered from twenty-one to eighteen. This has been a huge controversy geared exclusively towards college students due to the fact that alcohol consumption at universities is the definitive part of campus life even though the greater part of students are not legally permitted to drink. It is apparent that through the regularity and risks of binge drinking across universities and the high percentage of DUI and alcohol related fatal crashes, that something needs to shift in this country. Lowering the drinking age to eighteen would be an expedient and positive step in reducing binge drinking, nurturing the safe practice of drinking alcohol, and permitting those students of legal drinking age the chance to fully and sensibly make mature adult choices.
Per Lisa Birnbach’s New and Improved College Book, many statements regarding Arkansas Football games are mentioned, including “liquor flows fast and steady on and off campus, and despite a state ordinance against underage drinking, no one lacks for opportunities to imbibe.” (46) Seems to me that just like other schools, the drinking problems are all over colleges across the US and are influencing bad behaviors. Undergraduates who are experiencing independence for the first time are falling to College Culture influences. Much like peer pressure, students are participating in these activities to fit in. It is unfortunate because they need to be focused on school rather than
Barrett Seaman, in “How Bingeing Became the New College Sport”, argues that binge drinking amongst college students would decrease if the legal drinking age was brought down to 18 or 19, instead of 21. The author explains what “Pregaming” is, along with the consequences that had come forth from college students consuming too much alcohol. Seaman talks about how the drinking law was put into place by Congress all thanks to Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Did you know 82-92% of college students consume alcohol? (Taylor) Did you drink while in college? Do you agree with alcohol on college campuses or do you disagree? Why? Restricting alcohol consumption on campuses sometimes is used to prevent alcohol abuse and alcohol-related problems. Dry campus policies, however, remain misunderstood. According to Dexter M. Taylor, “Drinking and alcohol-related problems found on dry campuses were similar to national trends on wet college campuses” (Taylor). Alcohol related problems that occur on college campuses include injuries, unprotected sex, date rape, poor academics, and health issues. If alcohol was aloud on college campuses how could this help improve these statistics? Demographic and Academic Trends in Drinking Patterns and Alcohol-Related problems on dry College Campuses an experiment of two western universities who surveyed students ages 18 and older. Due to this experiment “dry campuses were similar to national trends on wet college campuses” (Taylor). According to Frances W. Oblander, “Alcohol abuse has become a major concern on campuses. With this concern, a variety of alcohol education activities ranging from awareness days to full-blown peer counseling and education centers has emerged” (Oblander). It’s time for colleges to start educating their students about alcohol and how alcohol affects the human body. Alcohol should be allowed on college campuses. College is about finding who
The consumption of alcohol as a habitual behavior has long been associated with the American collegiate experience, despite the many known negative consequences a student who partakes in drinking can encounter. Because of the danger drunken students pose to a college’s reputation and the safety of its surrounding areas, much research has been done concerning the collegiate party and drinking scenes. This research mostly studied the demographics of the student body, so strategies developed to curtail the illegal or overconsumption of alcohol could be targeted towards the specific groups that demonstrated the highest likelihood of participating in these acts. When the strategies were implemented, however, there was little decline in the number of college students who chose to party and drink (Vander Ven 2011). This failure did not point toward a flaw in the research data, but instead a lack of research into the benefits a collegiate drinker receives that are rewarding to the point he or she cannot resist. This is the topic of Getting Wasted: Why College Students Drink Too Much and Party So Hard by Thomas Vander Ven.
Binge or excessive drinking is the most serious problem affecting social life, health, and education on college campuses today. Binge or excessive drinking by college students has become a social phenomena in which college students do not acknowledge the health risks that are involved with their excessive drinking habits. Furthermore college students do not know enough about alcohol in general and what exactly it does to the body or they do not pay attention to the information given to them. There needs to be a complete saturation on the campus and surrounding areas, including businesses and the media, expressing how excessive drinking is not attractive and not socially
On college campuses across America, the use of alcohol has been an topic in need of explanation for many years. The concept will be explaned with emphise on the negative effects of hooch. Alcohol in cardio-sport athletes is especially harmful. But at any rate the negative concepts apply to all student. Besides the fact that a large number of students are underage when they drink, alcohol can put students in dangerous situations and give them a headache long after the hangover is gone. The short and long term effects alcohol has can impair students physically and mentally, impacting their education and health.