A report was released Tuesday by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism showing that 1,400 college students are killed each year in alcohol-related accidents.
Motor vehicle accidents are the most common cause of death related to alcohol; other causes include falls and drownings.
The study estimated that college drinking contributes to 500,000 injuries and 70,000 cases of sexual assault or date rape a year. Four-hundred thousand students, ages 18-24 also admitted that they have had unprotected sex as a result of drinking. Another report released in 2000 by the Department of Health and Human Services found 41 percent of students aged 18-22 reported having binge drank on at least one occasion.
A Harvard study released in March showed that although more students are abstaining from alcohol, levels of binge drinking are the same as in the early 1990s. The same survey found UW-Madison students participate in binge drinking at a rate approximately 20 percent higher than the national average.
Members of the study expressed concern for the \culture of drinking"" that has developed on U.S. college campuses.
