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By Mark Abramson
September 25, 2006
Even before incoming Stanford freshmen stepped foot on campus last week, they got homework that the university hopes will decrease their chances of abusing alcohol.
The university for the first time required freshmen to take AlcoholEdu for College, an online program designed to teach students about alcohol and its risks. The program is used by about 350 colleges, including the University of California-Berkeley, Santa Clara University, Princeton and Duke.
The online course requires students to log on for up to three-and-a-half hours, answer questions about themselves and their drinking habits, learn statistics on alcohol-related topics and watch videos. Most of the information is kept confidential from the university, but students must score at least 80 percent on its test, or they will have to retake that exam. Berkeley students need a score of 70 percent to pass.
AlcoholEdu's maker, Needham, Mass.-based Outside The Classroom, claims that 50 percent of the students who took the program in 2003-2004 reported 50 percent fewer health, social and academic problems related to drinking.
Some subjects covered in the four chapters include facts about blood-alcohol concentration, where students can go for help with alcohol abuse and how much alcohol various drinks contain. The program is different for people who abstain from drinking, students who admit to being heavy drinkers and for men and women.
"I think generally when you are looking at college students, whether it is at Stanford or any other school, (alcohol use) is one of the biggest risks," said Ralph Castro, manager of Stanford's substance abuse prevention program and chairman of its alcohol advisory board. ``I think it is a large issue facing college students, in particular freshmen students because of their newfound freedoms.''
Castro said the reviews about the program from other schools were promising.
UC-Berkeley officials say although they don't have enough data to determine how successful AlcoholEdu has been there, they believe it is working. This is the second year Berkeley has required freshmen to take it. Transfer students must also complete the course.
"I think with about 6,000 students coming in, there is just no way with in-person presentations we could reach that many people," said Cathy Kodama, health promotion director for Berkeley's health services.
"One of the other goals is an educational and philosophical message to let students know alcohol is something they will be facing here," she said.
At Stanford, incoming freshmen on campus for orientation activities had mixed feelings about AlcoholEdu.
"It was slightly boring," said Russ Nickel, 18, of San Diego. "The questions you missed afterward, you are annoyed you missed them."
Although students do not have to take the whole program at once, Nickel said he did it in a marathon session.
"It was like four hours. It's mind numbing," he said. "The most important thing (in AlcoholEdu) is I learned how much I can drink if I wanted to."
Nickel got an 85 percent on the test. He said although he does not drink a lot, AlcoholEdu had some good points.
"I thought it was pretty useful," said Phillip Hon, 18, of Stockton.
Hon said he liked the videos, because it broke up the program. The statistics it included focused too much on the dangers of drinking, he said, but called it a "good program."
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