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March 15, 2010
The Jewish Ethicist By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Father's obligations toward minor children
JWisdom.com Moody, Grumpy, Irritable Children with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes)
Judith Graham: Get the whole picture before a CT
March 12, 2010
Rabbi David Aaron: You CAN have Heaven on Earth
JWisdom.com Manufacturing mediums with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (4 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick: The march of the Red-Green brigades
March 11, 2010
Glenn Garvin: Conspiracy theories, why people believe them and how they spread
JWisdom.com For Yourself, Not By Yourself with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer : Turn leftovers into tasty New England hash
Paul Richter: Biden promises 'viable Palestine' is in the offing
March 10, 2010
Paul Greenberg: Death Checks In
JWisdom.com How To Get A (Real) Life with Rabbi Warren Goldstein ( EXTENDED EPISODE)
Paul Richter: Israel exerts soverign right to its capital as Biden looks on astounded
Richard A. Serrano: 'Jihad Jane' indictment alleges threat from within U.S.
March 9, 2010
Wesley Pruden: Joe's Israeli adventure
JWisdom.com Free To Be (Responsibly) You and Me! with Rabbi Naftali Brawer ( 8 MINUTES)
David G. Savage: Supreme Court to rule on free speech in case of soldier's funeral
March 8, 2010
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Make a fuss about those who cuss?
JWisdom.com Finding or Losing Yourself? Here's How! with Rabbi David Aaron ( 5 MINUTES)
Steven Emerson: America must learn from the UK about the future of Islamist subversion
March 5, 2010
Rabbi Berel Wein: Golden Calf still with us --- except it has multiplied
JWisdom.com The Limits of Eternity with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 4 MINUTES)
Caroline B. Glick: Biden's lost cause
March 4, 2010
Alan M. Dershowitz: How About A Real Campaign Against Abuses?
JWisdom.com Using Things, Loving People with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff ( 7 MINUTES)
Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkel's Everything's Relative
March 3, 2010
JWisdom.com Grasping The Name of Your Life Game with Rabbi Warren Goldstein ( 8 MINUTES)
The Kosher Gourmet by Marialisa Calta : A cowboy's recipes for really good grub
March 2, 2010
Rabbi Avi Shafran: Someone's there
Diane Toroian Keaggy : Have we misunderstood Michelangelo?
March 1, 2010
JWisdom.com Whole in One with Rabbi David Aaron ( 5 MINUTES)
Michael Muskal: Hillary meets with Israeli official, discusses gefilte fish dispute
Feb. 26, 2010
Rabbi Francis Nataf: The Megilla of Spring
JWisdom.com A Biblical Secret for a More Powerful You with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 MINUTES)
Caroline B. Glick: When rhetoric rules the roost
Feb. 25, 2010
The Jewish Ethicist By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: When walking away from your mortgage is both economically sound and makes ethical sense
JWisdom.com The Second Most Important Question in Your Life with Rabbi Yehoshua Karsh ( 5 MINUTES)
Seema Mehta : U.S.-Israel relations raised in California's Senate race --- by conservatives
Feb. 24, 2010
Rabbi Avi Shafran: The gift of the ‘prayer bomber’
Steven Emerson: Why Religious Freedom Commission is under attack
Feb. 23, 2010
Dennis Prager: Government, Yes! The Divine and Parents, No!
JWisdom.com The Last Laugh of Enlightenment with Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair ( 5 MINUTES)
Anne Applebaum: Prepare for war with Iran --- in case Israel strikes
Feb. 22, 2010
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Is it not refreshing Tiger Woods' career has crashed and burned so dramatically?
JWisdom.com Esther and the third Truth with Rabbi David Aaron ( 9 MINUTES)
Kelly Brewington: Going smoke-free may raise diabetes risk
Feb. 19, 2010
Rabbi David Aaron: Is the Divine beyond us or within us?
JWisdom.com Olympic Faith with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 MINUTES)
Caroline B. Glick: Israel and the West are perpetrators of a myth that endangers the Jewish State
Feb. 18, 2010
Cal Thomas: Who is Rashad Hussain?
JWisdom.com A Wedding Disaster to Remember with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein ( 3 MINUTES)
Feb. 17, 2010
JWisdom.com Think your life is messed up? with Rabbi David Aaron ( 11 MINUTES)
Greg Logan: 'Greatest Jewish sporting event of all time since David versus Goliath' may be postponed because of bar mitzvah
Feb. 16, 2010
Anya Martin : Boy's 'cerebral palsy' fixed with diet
JWisdom.com Feet On The Street Spirituality with Gavriel Aryeh Sanders ( 8 MINUTES)
Marty Peretz: Let Europe Mind Its Own Business. It Brings Nothing To The Table Save For Mischief
Feb. 15, 2010
Herb Geduld: Lincoln and the Jews
JWisdom.com Are Our Children Really Ours? with Rabbi Mordechai Becher ( 5 MINUTES)
Susan King: 'Wolf Man' reflected writer's wartime Jewish experience

Jewish World Review Sept. 7, 2007 / 24 Elul, 5767

News flash: Some students want no part of binge drinking

By Lori Borgman

Lori Borgman
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Hey there, college freshman. Could I have a minute of your time? This is your mother speaking. There's something you need to know as you settle in and acclimate to college life: Not everybody is doing it — drinking to get drunk.


You've probably already seen the pamphlets, posters in the hall, and colorful flyers on the tables in the dining hall on responsible drinking. You may even be on a campus that conducts a "social norm" campaign. They try to use peer pressure to influence drinking by giving away Frisbees and freebies with messages like "30 percent of all students drink less than 3 drinks at a time." Sometimes when students know their peers drink less than they think they do, they're more inclined to drink less as well.


That's fine, but if you're under 21, it's still illegal. So really, the approach is a little bit like targeting known bank robbers with free T-shirts that say "Half of all thieves knock over less than three banks a month." Whatever floats your boat. Or brewery.


You'll also hear a lot about binge drinking. Binge drinking is downing five or more drinks in a row if you're male and four or more if you're female. When a Delaware college student was told that definition, he said, "That's ridiculous. That's like a Tuesday night."


If you were a binge drinker in high school you're likely to be a binge drinker in college. A lot of freshmen do it, because, well, they can. The thing is, you get so much more than drunk.


An on-going Harvard School of Public Health study has determined that binge drinkers are also more likely to be hurt or injured, fall from a height that requires medical treatment, cause an injury or burn to someone else that requires medical treatment, and cause injury in an automobile crash.


More fun than finals, right?


The same study also found that three out of four rapes on campus occurred when the victims were intoxicated.


Oh yes, if you see a binge drinker pass out after drinking, it's a good idea to call 911. When you're that drunk your gag reflex can shut down and you run the risk of choking on your own vomit.


Binge drinking is the easy way to fit in. It allows you to instantly be part of a social group and relieves you of the burden of possessing conversational skills.


Here's what you're not going to hear about drinking: The Harvard study found the number of binge drinkers has risen, but so has the number of students abstaining. They're just not going there. They're not parched freaks and geeks, they're just not going there.


This increase in students not drinking has been noted among Hispanics, Native Americans, students who live in residence halls, among students attending schools located in the Northeast in rural areas, small towns and, almost unbelievably, even in fraternity and sorority houses.


Why doesn't the non-drinking news get the press? Same reason the Boy Scout helping the old lady across the street doesn't get the press. Too tame. Not enough hysteria.


Why do I care if some kid wants to be binge drink? Because I've seen how life can change on a dime. I've been to the funerals.


Yes, a lot of under age students are tossing them back, but a lot of students aren't. Now I said it. I won't mention it again; I'm not going to nag. Just one more thing. Eat your vegetables. They can help ward off that freshman 15.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Lori Borgman is the author of , most recently, "Pass the Faith, Please" (Click HERE to purchase. Sales help fund JWR.) and I Was a Better Mother Before I Had Kids To comment, please click here. To visit her website click here.

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© 2007, Lori Borgman

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