Each year, popular culture news outlets such as Maxim magazine often involve the biggest “party” universities in the United States. Many of these universities are located in smaller towns throughout the United States, where the student enrollment numbers match or exceed that of the city population. While these reports make for interesting debates among rival college alumni, there continues to be concern among school administrators, public health officials, policy makers, researchers and the law enforcement community that drug use and problem drinking are large issues facing universities. Collaborative efforts detail the negative side effects of problematic alcohol consumption, including drinking and driving, engaging in a physical altercation, and experiencing unwanted sexual behavior, to name a few.2 This culture is so common that it has even been referred to as a “rite of passage” by some researchers.3 To better understand the prevalence of drug and alcohol behavior in these settings, this study considers official police data in one college town.
