THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2009 NEWS 5A Adam Luke, Wichita junior, takes a shot with friends at Jazzhaus. Luke often frequents the establishment Tuesday nights for the $1.50 "almost anything" drink special. Lawrence residents can typically find cheap drink specials every night of the week, a contributing factor to Lawrence's reputation as a party town. Jazzhaus is one of about60 establishments in Lawrence that serve alcohol. @ KANSAN.COM See students' opinions about drinking in Lawrence and on campus, and learn how to stay safe during your nights out. CAMPUS DRINKING UJH video takes look at the drinking culture residence halls and green houses. Students talk about whether peer pressure affects their drinking habits. WHAT DO YOU THINK? HITTING THE BARS Follow one student through one night out in downtown Lawrence. we become armed, and STAY HEALTHY Jenny McKee of Wellness Center gives tips on how to protect yourself when you drink. rial Hospital's emergency room treated 1,526 patients for alcohol-related issues, 273 of which were college students. 365 were treated for alcohol poisoning. "Drinking in Lawrence is an epidemic," said John Drees, the hospital's community education specialist. After working the overnight weekend shift as an ER nurse at the hospital, Drees said, he and other hospital staffers had adopted a dark sense of humor. He recalled a night when a fellow nurse started dancing a jig in the nurses' station while she exclaimed, "I have a sober patient! I have a sober patient!" He said the joking helped him deal with the situation. "It's very human, you know, and it actually gets you kind of depressed because you're going. 'How much can this happen?' Drees said. McKee said most students don't understand the dangers of binge drinking. She said the standard definition of binge drinking is consecutive consumption of five drinks for men and four drinks for women. One drink is measured as a one-ounce shot, 12-ounce beer, or a 4.5-ounce glass of wine. McKee said one drink could raise the typical person's blood alcohol concentration by .02 percent. The legal limit is .08 percent. She said many students she counseled have easily exceeded that amount on a regular basis. "That seems like pre-gaming to them," McKee said. "That's not what they think binge drinking is." A popular excuse for binge drinking is tailgating at home football games. The time-honored tradition attracts thousands of fans who barbecue and drink hours before kickoff. Joseph Weeks, St. Paul, Minn., junior, said he often woke up with hangovers on game days. But he said he would force himself to drink with his friends, even if he wasn't in the mood. "If it's a big game, I'l probably drink through the day and night," Weeks said. Jon Goering/KANSAN a popular gift among college women, usually given for the recipient's 21st birthday. Each of the 21 the recipient's signature, sometimes used as a way to chart her degree of inebration. A 2007 University of Texas study showed that students consumed more alcohol during college sporting events than they did on Halloween and New Year's Eve, which are typically heavy drinking days for college students. Capt. Schuyler Bailey, of the KU Public Safety Office, said law enforcement regulated drinking on game days. On an otherwise dry campus, drinking is allowed in the areas surrounding Memorial Stadium from three hours before kickoff until the end of halftime. Drees, of Lawrence Memorial Hospital, pointed to drinking games — beer pong, card games, and power hours — as dangerous contributors to binge drinking at the University. "The real question is: Why aren't we having more deaths?" Drees said. "Tailgating is not synonymous with drinking," Bailey said. "There is nothing that says that you have to have alcohol in order to tailgate." The Alcoholic Beverage Control estimates that in Douglas County, about $73 million each year, or $200,000 each day, is spent on alcohol at bars, restaurants, grocery stores and liquor stores. That's enough to buy about 1,000 8-gigabyte iPhones, 33,000 Jimmy John's sandwiches or 80,000 loads of laundry each day. The Southeast Kansas senior made about 50 IDs, sometimes selling them for as much as $60 to $120. He said he made about $1,250 during the course of two years. Despite the potential for profit, he didn't recommend that anyone else make fakes. Bailey said he had witnessed a shift in recent years of students drinking more heavily and going out with the sole intention of passing out. "The risks of that far outweigh the benefits of just having fun," he said. "It's not worth it all." He said he didn't think fake IDs contributed to underage drinking, because he said most underage students found other ways to get alcohol. "They're gonna drink whether they have a fake or not," he said. Edited by Tara Smith BURNING THROUGH BOTTLES Several Lawrence bars supplied numbers to show the average amount of alcohol they use in one week. | | Bottles of vodka | Bottles of rum | Kegs of beer | Bottles of beer | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Johnny's Tavern 410 N. Second St. | 36 | 12 | 20 | Unknown | | The Phoggy Dog 2228 Iowa St. | 24 | 12 | 20 | 960 | | Abe and Jake's Landing 8 E. Sixth St. | 48 | 36 | N/A | 2,400 | | The Granada 1020 Massachusetts St. | 12 | 12 | N/A | 3,360-5,040 | | Jo Shmo's 724 Massachusetts St. | 24 | 24 | 20 | 240 | | 23rd Street Brewery 724 Massachusetts St. | 10-12 | 6-8 | 18 | Unknown | HOW MUCH DO KU STUDENTS DRINK? A 2006 survey of college students across the nation, including about 1,500 at the University, show average drinking patterns of students. All answers are percentages. Question: Within the past 30 days, on how many days did you use alcohol?
NeverUsed, but not in the past 30 days
Kansas127
National average1737
Used 1-9 days Used 10-29 days Used all 30 days 55 24 1 54 15 <1 Question: Within the last 30 days did you drive after drinking any alcohol at all? Kansas 47 National average 23 Question: Within the last 30 days did you drive after drinking 5 or more drinks? Kansas 18 National average 4 Question: Think back over the last 2 weeks. How many times, if any, have you had five or more alcoholic drinks in one sitting?
None1-3 times3-5 times6 or more times
Kansas4428217
National average6322113
Question: If you drink alcohol, within the last school year, have you experienced any of the following as a consequence of your drinking? Did something you later regretted Forgot where you were or what you did Forgot where you were or what you did Kansas 53 46 National average 36 30 Question: Within the past 30 days, how often do you think the typical student at your school used alcohol?
NeverUsed one or more days
Kansas153
National average462
Actual use, as reported by students:
Kansas1380
National average1769
As reported by students in the 2006 National College Health Assessment Courtesy of Watkins Memorial Health Center --- 4