UVa hopes to curb binge-drinking tradition
Published: November 19, 2008
Saturday marks the last home game of the University of Virginia’s football season and school officials are trying to curb the accompanying “fourth-year fifth” tradition.
On that day, the tradition among fourth-year college students involves attempting to polish off an entire fifth of liquor — the equivalent of 17 shots.
“Hopefully, this will be a game that all of our students remember,” said Susan Bruce, director of UVa’s Center for Alcohol and Substance Education.
Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Team peer educators and fourth-year class trustees will distribute water to students who sign pledges not to participate in the dangerous drinking practice.
It’s been 11 years since a student, Leslie Ann Baltz, died in an alcohol-related fall on the day of the season’s last home football game. She was the last UVa student to die in an alcohol-related accident at the university.
Bruce said she has heard about students planning to split the fifth, rather than attempting to drink the whole thing themselves, or women who say they will drink a bottle of wine rather than booze.
Others may start the fifth at midnight, then sleep before resuming their drinking later in the morning. Some plan to designate a friend to watch them, or eat a big breakfast to slow the absorption of the alcohol.
While these halfway solutions aren’t ideal, they’re an indication that students are trying to reduce their risks, Bruce said. “We try to meet the students where they are.”
This week is designated as Substance Abuse Awareness Week, with several events and activities designed to highlight possible side effects of alcohol abuse and provide healthier alternatives.
There will be screenings tonight of the recently released documentary “Haze.” The film, showing at 7 and 10 p.m. in Newcomb Hall Theater, examines the issues surrounding the college drinking culture in America, including the death of a University of Colorado freshman who died following a fraternity-initiation ceremony.
Reader Reactions
I was surprised and upset to read the statistic that it has been 11 years since Uva had an alcohol related death. On March 6, 2002, just before the beginning of spring break on March 9, my daughter Dorian Brown, a second year student at Uva, had been drinking in her dorm room with her room mate and other friends. She left to drive a friend home and was involved in an accident that left her brain injured, in a coma, on life support at Uva hospital. Her room mate had expected her to return to her dorm room shortly, but she never came back. She was dur to drive a shift that day for UTS where she worked, but, of course, she did not. She never regained consciousness and died of her injuries March 10, 2002. Her blood alcohol level at the time of the accident was 0.16, twice the legal limit. How can anyone deny her death was of alcohol related caused? She lived, she was important, I don’t want her death overlooked.
Joyce Brown
Advertisement