Campaigns to reduce college drinking through the emphasis on social norms do not have an effect on students' drinking habits, according to a Harvard study released July 2003.
However, James C. Turner, director of the Elson Student Health Center at the University, claimed that efforts to reduce drinking at the University through social norms programs have had a positive effect on efforts to curb student drinking. Turner will argue against the Harvard study as part of a national audio conference to be held in Boston tomorrow.
Henry Weschlser, director of college alcohol studies at the Harvard School of Public Health, conducted the national study on the effectiveness of social norm campaigns.
According to Student Health officials, the social norms program, initiated in 1999, is an effort to decrease students' misconceptions concerning how many of their peers engage in activities such as drinking and drug use.
Turner said Weschlser's study of the programs was flawed.
"I think [the Harvard study] is wrong," Turner said. "The study does not take into account time or consequence" of drinking.
Jennifer Baurle of Student Health's Office of Health Promotion said the Harvard study surveyed 120 schools and reported a response rate of effectiveness between 22 percent and 86 percent.
According to Turner, the Harvard study failed to assess the quality of social norms programs, asking only if schools had social norms programs and if so, for how long. He also said the sample size was too small for precise results.
Turner said the Harvard study used an inappropriate index for measuring drinking, defining binge drinking as five drinks for a male and four drinks for a female at any given social event.
"The problem with this index is that the binge drinking bar is too low," Turner said. "Some students are not even intoxicated at that point."
Student Health Center statistics claim that 49 percent of first years do not drink, and the majority of first years said drinking is not a central part of their lives.
Aaron Laushway, associate dean of students and director of fraternity and sorority life, also said he believed that student drinking is on a decline.
"Clearly over the last couple years we have seen our students report that they are not drinking as much as students have reported drinking in previous years," Laushway said.
However, some University students' response to social norms campaigns may support the Harvard study's findings.
Second-year College student Laura Michael said students do not take the alcohol awareness programs seriously, also questioning the accuracy of statistics distributed by University health officials.
"I do not think [the programs] are effective because 95 percent of people I know drink," Michael said. "I also did not trust the statistics of the Stall Seat Journal -- I do not think they are accurate or reliable."
Third-year College student Josh Wilfong said alcohol awareness programs might discourage drinking, but was skeptical of administrators' claims of success in recent years.
Awareness programs "could be somewhat effective for people who did not come to college with drinking experience, but I do not think it deters people who already drink," Wilfong said. "From my experience, I have not seen a decrease in drinking among my friends."
Turner said that since 1999, there has been a decrease in the number of first years, females in sororities and non-Greek males who drink. Drinking habits of males in fraternities stayed the same, though the number of emergency room visits has decreased, he said.
Officials argued that proper execution of the social norms campaign in conjunction with increased enforcement of underage drinking in residence halls, peer alcohol counseling and moving fraternity rush to the spring has led to decreased drinking rates.
But despite awareness programs, first-year College student Hillary Barry said social norm programs do not have an effect on students.
"The programs do not affect people one way or the other," Barry said. "I do not think they will persuade people not to drink -- because drinking is not allowed, it makes it so much more tempting."
Baurle, however, said the social norm program works because it bridges the gap between perception and reality, allowing students to act on their principles.
"The students at the University of Virginia have good values," Baurle said.
Still, second-year College student David Rose said students decide whether to drink or not on their own.
"The people reading the Stall Seat Journal and crap like that have already chosen not to drink and those that do drink ignore it," Rose said. "Students who do not drink [just] don't -- not because of the University."
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