Popular perception portrays students moving from party to party in an alcohol-induced fog.
Media depicts alcohol abuse, often humorously, as a collegiate norm.
Family folklore retells blowout college parties from the past. Graduation cards, advertisements, mugs, and t-shirt slogans perpetuate the association between heavy drinking and the collegiate experience. Sensational stories are noted and remembered, while more typical stories remain untold. Party night annals make no mention of students who spent the evening studying or working a second part-time job. Certainly, don't hold your breath for special reports about the full one-third of American college students who choose to abstain.