A recent study by the American Council of Education found that first-year college students are especially vulnerable to alcohol-related injuries or death, USA Today reported. The study included student deaths from Jan. 1, 2000 up to the present.
Of the 620 deaths of students who attended four-year colleges and universities since that date, one-third of the students who died were in their freshmen year although on average, freshmen only made up 24 percent of undergraduate students at the institutions studied.
Freshmen are also at high risk of death caused by illnesses, suicides and accidents. Freshmen represent 40 percent of all suicide deaths and 50 percent of deaths caused by falls from windows and rooftops, according to the study.
Overall, the study showed that one in five of all deaths among college students were alcohol-related.
Sara Waldron, associate dean of students, said freshmen require more medical transports related to alcohol than upperclassmen.
Last school year, AU had 23 hospital transports, 10 of which were freshmen, Waldron said. This fall alone, there have been 20 transports - 15 were freshmen, and 10 of those were freshmen women.
"The majority of transports occur during the first month of school," Waldron said.
Amanda Soliman, a freshman in the School of Communication, sees the potential dangers for freshmen when it comes to drinking.
"I don't know anyone who has been really sick because of alcohol, but I think upperclassmen are more experienced when it comes to alcohol and knowing their limits," Soliman said.
Katie Denney, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, said it is important that students know they are able to call for help without getting into trouble.
"I think the strongest thing about AU is that they have provided this safety in that you can't get in trouble for being drunk," said Denney. "I think it's important that people can have the ability to call an ambulance without fear. I've called in people before."
Though freshmen are at risk when alcohol is concerned, a recent survey of AU students showed that a large percentage of the student population on the whole has felt the consequences of drinking. The February 2005 study polled 670 students, and 78.5 percent said they drank alcohol at some point during college. These students also said that they felt consequences, such as getting in trouble with the police or the university, getting into a fight, doing poorly on a test, missing class, or being taken advantage of sexually.
The AU study reported 46 percent of the students who drank did something that they later regretted. Other students reported that their peers' drinking impacted their studying, their living spaces and other activities.
"As you can see, not only does students' alcohol and drug use have negative consequences for them, it also negatively impacts others and the community as a whole," Waldron said. "Add to this vandalism: pulled fire alarms, vomit in residence halls, lounges and rest rooms and noise that wakes people up or interrupts studying, and you get a pretty good sense of how it impacts the campus"
