The Effects of Alternative Activities on Alcohol Consumption at Bucknell
Cory Schulte
Nikki Everhart
Kate Conroy
Introduction
While college campuses have traditionally been thought of as havens for alcohol
consumption, recent years have witnessed escalation in problematic drinking. The
Harvard School of Public Health conducted one of the first surveys that examined the
phenomenon of binge drinking in higher education, utilizing over 100 diverse schools
from across the nation. Results from the study were published nationally, revealing the
box indicates the dollars (G*) of income that were earned. Amount (G*) is divided
extent of the irresponsible behavior and the associated costs brought about by the
between medical inputs M and home inputs B, ((G*)-M). The isoquants in the Edgeworth
excessive use of alcohol. Bucknell University was one of the participants in this survey
box are mapped in opposite directions with health investment =0 in the northwest comer
and due to the alarming individual results undertook initiatives to curb the abusive
and home good production =0 in the southeast comer. The contract curve indicates that
student drinking patterns. The 10 Point Plan to Reduce Alcohol Consumption was
any change in the allocation of time and market inputs to the production of the two goods
formulated by Bucknell administrators, faculty and students as a necessary step in
must decrease the production of one of the goods.
remedying the problem. New policies range from increased penalties and sanctions, to a
Student preferences may reflect class obligations, alternate activities, penalties for
reformation of the Greek system, to providing and improving alternate activities on
consumption of alcohol, predisposition to drinking from high school, etc. We
campus.
specifically looked at student preferences for alternate activities correlated to alcohol
Our task is to assess the impact of the changes put forth by the University in the
consumption. Using the Grossman model, we predicted that the marginal cost of
form of the 10 Point Plan; specifically it was the job of our group to discuss the impact of
drinking will increase or that the marginal benefit of consuming alcohol will decrease
alternative activities on consumption of alcohol in the student body. The document
when more alternate activities are available. Changes in the marginal cost and benefit
provided for a 'dry' social space. Uptown, enhancing the role of athletics, and increased
will be reflected in new preference curves in quadrant II. (See attached graph).
recreational options. We hypothesized that an increase in the alternative activities would
The Grossman model assumes rationality. The question whether college students
constitute a decrease in the amount of drinking on campus. With the use of outside
are rational has direct implications for the validity of this model. This may be an
literature and the application of the Grossman model as well as a cost/benefit analysis, we
information case, where students are insulated from costs or gaps and misrepresentations
hoped to validate our theory.
exist with regards to drinking perceptions and costs. If students are not rational then the
model will not hold.
Literature Review
A theoretical extension of the Grossman model that provides further insight into
The basic design of our study is modeled after the Harvard School of Public
student's drinking behaviors and the implementation of Bucknell s Ten-Point Plan is the
Health College Alcohol Study done in 1993. This study measured weekly alcohol
Rational Addiction Model (FGS). In a normal cost-benefit analysis, the marginal benefit
consumption and its associated problems among a national sample of college students,
of consumption decreases as the marginal cost increases. Individuals consume at
separating the students into three categories, frequent bingers, infrequent bingers and
equilibrium when the marginal benefit of consumption equals the marginal cost. The
nondrinkers/nonbingers (Wechsler et al., 1993). Frequent bingers are defined as students
who consumed more than five drinks in one sitting, and drank alcohol at least three nights
per week. Nondrinkers included those who did not drink and the infrequent bingers were
placed between the other two categories. The data demonstrated the varied consumption
patterns and habits of the different colleges included and reflected the amount of problem
drinking that takes place. Bucknell may be one such institution where patterns and
volume of alcohol consumption are extreme.
In order to see if there is a relationship between the amount of extra-curricular
activities on Bucknell's campus and the amount of drinking, it is necessary to find data
from other colleges. In a study done in Princeton Review's The Best 356 Colleges,
California was compared with other colleges across the nation. Because California
colleges are assumed to have a greater amount of activities available, we found the data
to be most relevant to our own research. On average, schools in California are rated as
having a better student life than Bucknell; the average student life rating for California
Rational Addiction Model shows that consumers continue to use harmful substances even
though the marginal cost is increasing because marginal benefit is increasing as well, thus
addiction is that increase in marginal benefit even with increasing marginal costs. Using
the Rational Addiction model, we predicted that without alternative activities marginal
benefit increases even though marginal costs increase as well. After an increase in
alternative activities we predict that at some point the marginal cost will surpass the
increase in marginal benefit, and student will stop alcohol consumption at this point. Or
if the marginal cost of drinking is higher than the marginal benefit from the start, the
student may never start drinking. This is currently the belief of smoking prevention task
forces and anti-smoking ad campaigns. If the marginal cost, via significant cigarette tax
and health awareness, is higher than the marginal benefit from the start, teens will never
be induced to start smoking. (See attached graph).
Which model is the 'correct' model is a question our results will indicate. If there
is a reduction in drinking, then the Grossman model is most likely the more accurate
depiction of student drinking behavior and beliefs. On the other hand, if abstaining is the
result, then the Rational Addiction model probably displays the more accurate depiction
of student drinking behavior and beliefs.
Our second hypothesis is that people who play sports or a member of Greek life
will drink more. We assumed that over the entire school year, the marginal benefit for
drinking for varsity sports athletes is higher than the normal student. Cost-benefit
analysis using the Rational Addiction model predicts that if an athletes' marginal benefit
will usually be higher than the marginal cost, then varsity athletes will drink more. We
speculated that varsity sport teams possess a "Greek" or group mentality that might foster
drinking excessively as a group. Members might feel pressure from other team members
to drink and then continue drinking beyond their limits. We also presumed that hazing
might also be common practice with certain sports teams. All of these would contribute
to a higher marginal benefit to drinking. Cases where the marginal benefit is not higher
may be right before a game or during the season in general. (See attached graph).
In order to test our hypotheses, correlations were done between the number of
usual drinks that a student consumes in an evening and the various activities that are
currently available on the Bucknell campus. A positive significant correlation was found
between the amount of TV that a person watches in a typical week, with a correlation
coefficient of 0.231, which is significant at the 0.01 level. The number hours that a
person spends watching a movie during a typical week are also significantly positively
correlated to the number of drinks in an evening, with a correlation coefficient of 0.153,
which is significant at the 0.05 level.
The hours spent at Greek affiliated parties and off-campus parties are also
significantly positively correlated, with correlation coefficients of 0.456 and 0.461
respectively. Both are significant at the 0.01 level. The amount of time that a person
frequented a bar or another party is also significantly positively correlated to the number
campus. If we have more areas or activities available on campus that were substance free
on Friday and Saturday nights (weekends being the major drinking times), we believe
that drinking would decrease. The only alternative activities that are currently available
on these nights are Uptown and the Weis Center, both linked with a decline in drinking.
Overall, students in the survey feel that there are not many other alternatives on weekend
nights besides a fraternity party, which might explain the strong positive correlation
between drinking and Greek life.
In interpreting the results further we determined that certain other nighttime
events were not included in the survey. Questions concerning other activities such as 7th
Street Cafe concerts. Coffee House performances in the Bison, Bucknell Hall concerts,
Hilltop films, and A cappella concerts. We predict that if these had been included we
would have found correlations and significance levels close to the Weis Center's
significant negative correlation. Again, we do not know if this would hold true because
these events happen to fall on certain nights or whether people who attend these events
have personality traits that make them less likely to drink. If students decide not to drink
because non-alcohol related events take place in the evening then the administration
possesses a potent tool capable of decreasing student drinking. To determine if this was
the case, we conducted a correlation analysis looking at all the night non-alcohol related
activities in the survey and student drinking behavior indicating a strong negative
correlation to drinking and attending these functions.
The other option would be that extra curcular activities have no direct link to
student's drinking behavior. Even though there was a small negative correlation between
additional activities and drinking, this may, as mentioned previously, have something
more to do with the personality of the individuals that participate and those that do not.
Maybe people who do more on campus are more responsible and refrain from consuming
alcohol. It also might be the case that participating in extra-curricular activities results in
people drinking less. Or it might be possible that these people simply have different
goals than people that drink more often. If this is the case then no matter how many
additional activities are provided on campus drinking will remain the same. To more
accurately determine what motivates students to drink or not drink (i.e. personality or
extra activities) a study on the drinking behavior of students before and after Uptown and
the provision of extra activities, would need to be conducted to test this theory.
Additional significant results that might indicate lack of alternative activities on
campus include the positive correlations to watching TV and movies in the number of
drinks consumed in an evening. Both of these are sedentary activities that occur in
environments that might foster drinking. Furthermore each occur in the privacy of a
student's dorm room, mod, gateway or off-campus house or apartment, where drinks may
be readily available (and out of view from RA's or various other authorities).
Worth mentioning is the slightly significant variables that were found in our
results that have the potential to curb drinking at Bucknell. Outdoor activities, time spent
begins if the marginal cost becomes higher than the marginal benefit thus decreasing the
amount of alcohol consumed in a night or week. More alternative activities may cause
students to invest more in their health by participating in physical activities rather than
drinking, which decreases health capital. Therefore we have determined that the
administration has significant evidence to follow through with the initiatives outlined in
the Ten Point Plan relating to increasing alternative activities on campus.
As a final point, it is important to note that there are two main biases in our data.
The first is that our sample might be skewed due to individual characteristics of those that
returned the survey. The possibility exists that the people who returned the survey were
less likely to drink than others who received the survey and did not return it or chose to
discard it. Secondly, correlations cannot tell us whether or not participating in more
activities on campus actually causes people to consume less alcohol.
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