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Binge drinking among LSU students
remains high 2theadvocate.com staff In the years since LSU student Ben Wynne died of alcohol poisoning in 1997, the Campus Community Coalition for Change has received close to a million dollars to reduce binge drinking by students. But numbers in a recent study show not much has changed. According to the study, 40 percent of female students under 21 were binge drinkers in 2003, an increase from 1999 when it was 34 percent. Males under 21 went from 41 to 65 percent in the same period, and females over 21 went from 39 to 45 percent. Males over 21 was the only category that went down, dropping from 60 to 57 percent. For the purposes of the study, binge drinking was defined as five drinks in a row for men and four drinks in a row for women. "Where the problem remains is with male students under 21," said Dr. Nancy Mathews of the CCCC. "It remains too high, and that is affecting the overall rate for the whole campus." Mathews said despite the numbers, the program has been successful in other ways. "For one thing, drinking and driving has dropped," Mathews said. "We also have a reduction in the students who are having harms in academic success." As reported Feb. 21 on WBRZ's 6 p.m. broadcast. If you have information or comments related to this story, e-mail them to news@wbrz.com.
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