Universities are competing among themselves and within their communities to improve their campus athletic and arts facilities and to enrich their cultural environments by attracting professional entertainers to campus venues. Attracting popular entertainers is dependent on both the size and quality of the facility and the financial guarantee that can be provided to the promoter. A significant amount of the revenue of any entertainment event comes from the sale of alcohol. Further, the national promoters of entertainer tours generally have contracts with alcoholic distributors requiring that only venues where their product can be sold will be scheduled. Consequently, dry campuses are under considerable pressure to modify their policies to allow alcohol sales at campus events. This study evaluates the impact on student drinking of a decision by the administration of Boise State University, a historically dry campus, to allow the sale of alcohol in the campus pavilion when contracting with outside entertainment events. The study evaluates the extent to which alcohol sales are well controlled at the university events in comparison to competing, noncampus events. It also measures the extent to which sales of alcohol at campus events change the overall student alcohol consumption on the nights of the events. Finally, the study attempts to determine whether this change in campus alcohol policy increases the quantity and frequency of student drinking and the resulting alcohol-related problems in comparison to a sister dry campus at Portland State University.
| Lange, James E; Clapp, John D; Turrisi, Rob et al. (2002) College binge drinking: what is it? Who does it? Alcohol Clin Exp Res 26:723-30 |
