Problems of binge drinking by UNC students persist

TO THE EDITOR:

A newly-elected mayor, Mark Kleinschmidt, and Town Council will soon assume leadership in Chapel Hill.

Underage drinking is a serious problem here. A few years ago, though progress has been made, high school students exceeded state and national averages in their consumption of alcohol.

Most recently, with national collegiate alcohol-related deaths at an all-time high, we learn that alcohol poisonings among UNC students, likewise, is at a record level.

In particular, the problem of abusive drinking among many UNC students has long been part of community life.

While the nation is making progress in reducing drinking among 18- to 20-year-old non-students, the opposite is true among collegians. Forty-four percent are now identified as binge drinkers.

The fruit of our national complacency about underage drinking is best seen in the finding that 53 percent of the nation’s alcoholics are now identified as young people, age 26 or less. The vast majority began drinking as teens.

This is not the legacy we wish for UNC students.

While these troubling statistics involve University students, this is a community problem.

The teen drinker may suffer the damage to physical health and future, but the greater community suffers the secondary effect of their abusive drinking.

UNC cannot solve this problem alone, and must have strong community support if progress is to be made.

I call upon Mayor-elect Kleinschmidt and members of the council, joining with UNC, to take a visible, active and aggressive leadership role in solving the crisis of underage drinking in Chapel Hill.

Our community will be watching how you lead.



Ronald E. Bogle
Retired Superior Court Judge
Chapel Hill