University of Wisconsin System students are becoming less
prone to binge drinking, although the numbers are still above national binge
drinking rates among college students, according to a survey released last week.

The survey was administered by the UW System Alcohol and
Other Drug Abuse Committee and consisted of responses from 15,077 UW System
university and college students and will be discussed as part of the December
UW System Board of Regents meeting Thursday.

Seventy-seven percent of survey respondents — who were
randomly selected from each school — said they had consumed alcohol in the last
thirty days. Within those respondents, 54 percent said they had participated in
binge drinking at least once in the last two weeks, down 5 percent from the
2005 survey.

The national average of binge drinking among college
students is 44 percent, according to the report.

For purposes of the survey, binge drinking was defined as
consuming five or more drinks in one sitting.

UW System upperclassmen are also more likely to participate
in binge drinking. In the two weeks prior to the survey, 57 percent of seniors
and 58 percent of juniors said they had participated in binge drinking, compared
to 52 percent of sophomores and 48 percent of freshmen.

Binge drinking rates among the Greek communities on UW System
campuses are significantly higher than all students, as 74 percent of fraternity
or sorority members engaged in binge drinking, according to the survey.

Despite the decline in binge drinking rates, overall
awareness of drug and alcohol prevention throughout the UW System campuses has
also declined since 2005.

When asked if they were aware of the regulations an
individual campus has concerning alcohol use by students, 59 percent of
students said they were aware of the policies, compared to 65 percent in 2005.

UW System spokesperson David Giroux said the decrease in
drinking trends shows the UW System is "moving in the right direction," but
added it is still an issue across state campuses.

"We’ll have much more insight down the road when we have
more years of research under our belt," Giroux said. "We still have more work
to do because the numbers show binge drinking among UW students statewide is
still above national averages. It’s moving in the right direction, but we
haven’t gotten to where we need to get."

Giroux said the study plays an important role in helping
control binge drinking across state campuses.

"The more that we can arm our counselors and our educators
with real data about the behaviors and about their consequences, the better we
can help them to change those behaviors and improve the educational environment
on our campuses," Giroux said.

The survey also analyzed the use of drugs other than alcohol
and problems individuals experienced due to drinking.

Marijuana use among respondents decreased from 20 percent to
15 percent between 2005 and 2007. Seventy percent of respondents reported
suffering from a hangover, up 1 percent from 2005, and 41 percent of
respondents reported doing something they later regretted, down 7 percent from
2005.