Press Coverage (2005)

August 29, 2005
Michigan Colleges Look to Curb Binge Drinking
By Judy Putnam, Booth Newspapers (East Lansing Bureau: MLine.com)

As some 400,000 young adults pack up their stuff and head off to Michigan's four-year college campuses, some of the worst advice about alcohol comes from their parents, a researcher at Michigan State University Contends. "I don't want you drinking like everyone else," is the wrong finger-wagging advice to give, according to Dennis Martell, MSU's health education coordinator. That's because surveys show that when it comes to alcohol, students think everyone else is drinking more of it than they really are, Martell said...

August 5, 2005
Six Universities Say Social Norms Approach Helps Them Combat High-Risk Drinking
By Eric Hoover, The Chronicle of Higher Education

Proponents of social norms strategies to reduce high-risk drinking have new data to support their approach. During a teleconference on Thursday that was sponsored by the National Social Norms Resource Center, officials of six colleges discussed the findings of multi-year social norms campaigns. All said the programs were helping them change student's perceptions of drinking on their campuses in an effort to reduce alcohol abuse and its negative effects...

March 1, 2005
Michigan State University Students Don't Fit the 'Party School' Image
By Dennis Martell, Michigan State University

The best kept secret on the campus of Michigan State University is that the reality of alcohol use and abuse differs from the exaggerated perceptions. The truth is that alcohol use and abuse has been trending down for the last 10 years and all indicators are that protective behaviors are up and harmful consequences are down...