USD Magazine Fall 2005

T he statistics are alarming. Nine out of 10 college students experiment with alcohol. Seven out of 10 drink regularly. Nearly three in 10 will be problem drinkers. “Heavy drinking is a prevalent health problem on college cam- puses nationwide, and USD is not immune to the consequences,” says associate psychology profes- sor Michael Ichiyama. Clearly, the freedom that comes with going away to col- lege is the impetus for at least some underage students to drink. Now, USD is taking a lead- 6 AROUND THE PARK by Kelly Knufken [ s u r v e y s a y s ] USD MAGAZINE

problems among college under- graduates,” says Ichiyama, who is co-investigator for the grant, along with principal investigator Louise Stanger, USD’s director of alcohol and drug education. A survey will involve some 450 randomly selected incoming freshmen and a larger sample next year. About half of their parents were chosen to receive the handbook. Students were surveyed on family interaction and their own alcohol use before the semester began, and will answer questions again later to see whether the children of par- ents who used the handbook fare any better when it comes to indulging in risky behaviors like binge drinking, unprotected sex and physical altercations. Rather than just instructing parents, the 45-page handbook — written by Rob Turrisi, who is participating in the USD study as

NIPPED IN THE BUD Grant awarded to enlist parents in the ongoing fight against underage alcohol abuse

ership role with its proactive stance: The school recently sought and received a $788,000 grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to address the touchy topic head-on. The grant — one of the largest in USD history — looks at freshman attitudes and whether an instruction book that helps parents communicate with their children can keep alcohol-related problems at bay. “Parents have been an untapped resource when it comes to reducing or preventing heavy drinking and its related

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