Other campuses, such as Arizona and Northern Illinois, have experienced similar drops after adopting the approach. What's more, Perkins says the campaign has resulted in even sharper drops in the consequences of drinking, including property damage, missed classes, unprotected sex, and memory loss. Those who are moderate drinkers back off a little bit. But the most permissive change their behavior more dramatically. Lorraine Siggins says that social-norms education is one part of her department's approach.
Students always perceive that others are drinking more than they really are.
But Weschler is skeptical about trying to suggest that alcohol use on campus is less of a problem than people might think. Skeptics surely will say that nothing will stop the inevitable, age-old undergraduate penchant for testing limits with alcohol. Even Weschler notes that the relationship between college and the bottle was described by Thomas Jefferson as an undergraduate at William and Mary. Still, reformers have a precedent in tobacco that gives them cause for optimism. Only a generation ago, smoking was a ubiquitous habit, practiced with impunity almost anywhere on campus.