Colleges see cocktail hour as cure for boozing
By Jennifer Harper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
May 8, 2006

The remedy for rampant drinking at American colleges? It could be a crash course in the art of sensible social drinking, reminiscent of the old-fashioned, formal cocktail hour -- often a showcase for decorum.

"My belief is that we have to face the fact that a certain percentage of college students will drink. So, what can we do to reduce the likelihood of them getting into trouble?" asked Steve Benton, a psychology professor at Kansas State University who has studied the negative patterns of collegiate boozing.

"Students who tend to have attitudes that make them greater risk takers are more likely to get into trouble when drinking," Mr. Benton said. "Even when controlling the amount of alcohol, it's not how much you drink that affects the amount of trouble, but how risky you are." the rest