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The Associated Press
July 13, 2007
Freshmen at N.C. State University will have to take a three-hour Internet course on the dangers of drinking alcohol when they arrive on the Raleigh campus this year.
It's the first time that the school has required its 5,000 incoming freshmen to take the course.
AlcoholEdu, which is required for admission, focuses on the science of inebriation, demonstrating how drinking can lead to dangers such as sexual assault and social problems.
More than 500 campuses nationwide use AlcoholEdu and it's required at roughly 100 of the schools, including Duke University.
Some students consider the class a useless chore, but public health advocates say it prepares young students for their new freedom and the drinking culture that marks so many college campuses.
"We didn't create it with the goal for all kids to stop drinking," said Aaron White, a Duke psychiatry professor who helped create AlcoholEdu. "The goal was to create a course that made students aware of the risks, of the science."
At a typical party, surveys at N.C. State have shown that students have up to four alcoholic drinks, said Chris Austin, assistant director of health promotion and substance abuse prevention at N.C. State.
The course was voluntary at N.C. State in the past three years. But this year, the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission offered to cover the $80,000 cost if it went mandatory.
"It's just the realization that on every college campus, their major issue is alcohol," Austin said.
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