Alcohol Usage Data
As noted in the following tables, WPI has been involved in a twelve (12) year College Alcohol Study (CAS) sponsored by the Harvard University School of Public Health. Longitudinal Data (1993 – 2005) for WPI respondents from the Harvard study is provided below. Please note that the terminology “Binge Drinking” and “High-Risk Drinking” are used interchangeably in this report.
| Table 1: Distribution of drinking | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Question | 1993 | 1997 | 1999 | 2001 | 2005 |
| Past Year Abstainers/Lifetime Abstainers | 12.4% | 19.5% | 17.6% | 15.3% | 19.1% |
| Drank, but did not binge | 29.5% | 25.9% | 36.2% | 36.5% | 35.5% |
| Binged 1 – 2 times in past two weeks | 37.5% | 34.5% | 23.1% | 26.3% | 24.9% |
| Binged 3 or more times in past two weeks | 20.6% | 20.0% | 23.1% | 22.0% | 20.6% |
Brief Synopsis: Abstainers have increased in numbers over the decade; the data on high-risk drinking frequency reinforces the adage at WPI of “Work Hard, Play Hard”, with approximately 45% of our students engaging in high-risk drinking at least once every two weeks.
| Table 2: Drinking styles of students who had a drink in the past month: | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Question | 1993 | 1997 | 1999 | 2001 | 2005 |
| Drank on 10 or more occasions in the past 30 days | 17.8% | 21.0% | 30.3% | 37.2% | 31.4% |
| Usually binged when drinking | 47.3% | 35.0% | 43.3% | 27.6% | 33.8% |
| Was drunk 3 or more times in the past month | 24.9% | 32.8% | 32.3% | 31.3% | 34.7% |
Brief Synopsis: One can extrapolate from the data that the same students who indicate they get drunk 3+ times in the past month are the same students who usually “binge” when they are drinking. This data reinforces our need to continue prevention initiatives, particularly all campus peer education and safety training programs.
| Table 3: Students who drank in the past year experienced the following first-hand effects: | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Question | 1993 | 1997 | 1999 | 2001 | 2005 |
| Had a hangover | 61.9% | 57.2% | 54.3% | 66.9% | 63.8% |
| Miss a Class | 25.1% | 22.9% | 19.8% | 24.1% | 16.9% |
| Got behind in school work | 21.2% | 24.0% | 20.7% | 21.9% | 17.4% |
| Do something you later regret | 30.2% | 39.4% | 35.1% | 45.9% | 28.5% |
| Argue with your friends | 28.1% | 28.3% | 16.1% | 28.8% | 19.9% |
| Engage in unplanned sexual activity | 19.2% | 30.4% | 18.8% | 21.2% | 16.5% |
| Damage property | 21.1% | 28.9% | 12.7% | 22.0% | 13.0% |
| Get into trouble with campus or local police | 6.6% | 13.0% | 7.3% | 8.1% | 7.8% |
| Get hurt or injured | 15.5% | 30.5% | 15.4% | 18.7% | 14.1% |
Brief Synopsis: WPI students continue to experience repercussions from their own drinking behavior, although over the decade, many of these first-hand effects decreased. Some of these responses may be attributable to current peer education/safety initiatives, as well as our focus on educational judicial action, in which students are actively learning from their mistakes.
| Table 4: Students bothered by other's drinking (second-hand effects): | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Question | 1993 | 1997 | 1999 | 2001 | 2005 |
| Been insulted or humiliated | 29.4% | 40.1% | 37.8% | 35.3% | 28.4% |
| Had a serious argument or quarrel | 27.5% | 32.2% | 21.0% | 30.1% | 18.2% |
| Been pushed, hit or assaulted | 16.8% | 22.7% | 15.5% | 18.4% | 16.0% |
| Had property damaged | 16.0% | 27.3% | 21.1% | 21.5% | 17.5% |
| Had to "baby sit" a drunken student | 56.6% | 53.0% | 46.0% | 63.2% | 57.7% |
| Had studying or sleep interrupted | 52.3% | 53.9% | 50.6% | 54.1% | 46.6% |
| Experienced an unwanted sexual advance | 21.0% | 14.9% | 18.5% | 23.2% | 15.1% |
Brief Synopsis: WPI has intentionally focused many of our efforts on students helping to influence their friend’s behavior. This is likely a result of our increased expectation that students take care of each other, as well as less tolerance among the general student population for these types of behaviors.
| 2003 | 2004 | |
|---|---|---|
| Students Drinking at ANY level in past year Overall: | 73% | 71% |
| Students Drinking at ANY level in past year Non-drinker: | 27% | 29% |
| Students Drinking at ANY level in past year Light Drinker: | 38% | 35% |
| Students Drinking at ANY level in past year Moderate Drinker: | 31% | 30% |
| Students Drinking at ANY level in past year Heavy Drinker: | 4% | 6% |
| Students who had 5 + drinks during one sitting in past two weeks: | 34% | 39% |
| Students who think avg. peer had at least 5 drinks in past 2 weeks: | 41% | 40% |
| Number of alcoholic drinks consumed last time went out: | 3.3 | 3.4 |
| Amount of time spent drinking the last time you went out? | 130 min. | 128 min. |
Did You Know...
- 95% of WPI Students are moderate, light or non-drinkers
- One 12 oz beer = one 5 oz glass of wine = one 1.5 oz shot of liquor
- Nationally 1,400 college students die each year from alcohol-related injuries
- Nationally 500,000 students are unintentionally injured under the influence of alcohol
- Nationally 400,000 students report being too intoxicated to know if they consented to having sex
- Almost 2/3 of WPI students worried about a friend drinking too much
- More than 2/3 of WPI students intentionally ate a meal or snack before drinking
- Nationally 70,000 students are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape
- Almost 2/3 of WPI students worried about a friend drinking too much
- Non-Drinker...3 out of 10 self-identify as a non-drinker of alcohol
- More than 3/4 of WPI students chose not to drink alcohol in the past month
- Most WPI Students (88%) think stress is a problem at our school
- 4 out of 10 WPI students (43%) chose to drink less because of schoolwork
- Almost 1/2 of WPI students have had to take care of a friend who drank too much
- 85% of WPI students do not smoke
- 9 out of 10 (91%) of WPI students have NOT driven while impaired by alcohol
- 3.4 = the average number of alcohol drinks consumed the last time one went out
National data comes from College Drinking: Changing the Culture website. WPI data collected from The CORE Alcohol Survey (1994 - 2001) & TheHealthSurvey (2003 & 2004), administered in December/January 2003 & 2004.
Maintained by webmaster@wpi.eduLast modified: July 19, 2007 13:45:23