Graduate Program

College Student Affairs

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Semester of Degree Completion

2008

Thesis Director

Richard Roberts

Thesis Committee Member

Steven Conn

Thesis Committee Member

Eric Davidson

Abstract

Underage drinking, that is, anyone consuming alcohol under der the t age of 21, is one of the most important issues facing college campuses today. In thee United States, two out of every three full-time college students report having drunk alcohol in one capacity or another in the last 30 days (Wechsler et al., 1998). An estimated 307 college student were involved in non-traffic alcohol related deaths in 2002 (Hingson, Heeren, Zakocs, Kopstein & Wechsler, 2002). According to a 2002 NIAAA study, more sexual assaults, robberies, vandalism, and other crimes occur when students have been drinking previo to the crime being committed. The number of 4-year college students that are unintentiona onally hurt or injured under the influence each year may reach 500,000, and the number hit oror assaulted by drinking college students is over 600,000 (Hingson et al., 2002). Aboutout 5,000 people under the age of 21 annually die from alcohol-related injuries volving underage drinking including: 1,900 motor vehicle crashes, 1,600 homicides, and 300 suici icides (Scope of the Problem, 2005). Campus administrators are especially concerned bedecause heavy or even moderate underage drinking is correlated with fatal and non fatal injuriries, alcohol poisoning, blackouts, academic failure, violence which included rape anand sexual assault, unintended pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/A/AIDS, property damage, and vocational and criminal consequences that could jeopardize High risk drinking, previously known as "binge drinking," is typically defined as dize future job aspects (Goldman, Boyd, and Faden, 2002).

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