Drinking and lack of diversity related

A recent Harvard University study could link two issues many students associate with IU: binge drinking and a lack of diversity. \nGreater diversity on college campuses significantly lowers rates of binge drinking among high-risk students, according to the study.\nWith The Princeton Review's national ranking of IU as the number three party school, there is no denying that binge drinking is an issue. According to a recent IU student survey, 54 percent of students on the Bloomington campus participate in binge drinking, said Dean of Students Richard McKaig.\nIn addition, many students complain about the lack of diversity on Bloomington's campus, with white students making up more than 80 percent of undergraduate enrollment, according to the Office of Academic Support and Diversity.\nHarvard's study proposes one possible explanation for a relationship between binge drinking and a lack of diversity.\n"If you have younger white males together to the exclusion of other groups, you're going to have fewer role models for lighter or non-drinking behavior," said Henry Wechsler, the study's lead author. "That might explain why fraternities have had such a high level of drinking problems."\nWelchsler said 44 percent of students at four-year colleges can be described as binge drinkers. Previous studies have shown that binge drinking rates vary among certain student subgroups. For example, African Americans, Asian Americans, females and older students have lower rates of binge drinking than Caucasians, males and younger students.\nMcKaig said the study does not necessarily explain binge drinking at IU.\n"We've known for years that peer groups can encourage moderate drinking or binge drinking," McKaig said. "This study is more correlational than causative."\nMcKaig said the study might cause people to reflect on the importance of diversity in a new context.\n"If diversity is successful, you're looking to have a peer environment that moderates drinking," McKaig said.\nSophomore Molly Amadeo said her New Jersey high school had much more diversity than IU.\nAmadeo said she sees no difference in the amount of binge drinking now that she is in a place with less diversity.\n"At my high school there was a lot of binge drinking, too," Amadeo said. \nAmadeo said that while there is a lack of diversity at IU, she sees no relationship between binge drinking and diversity, and listed other reasons for binge drinking among college students.\n"People binge drink for entertainment, it helps some people express themselves," Amadeo said. "People also binge drink to be accepted, to relieve stress or out of boredom."\nThe study, which appeared in the November issue of the American Journal of Public Health, was based on data from 52,312 college students at 114 predominantly white colleges from the 1993, 1997, 1999 and 2001 College Alcohol Study surveys.\n-- Contact staff writer Alli Stolper at astolper@indiana.edu. Reuters contributed to this report.