As alcohol remains the most abused substance on college campuses, several national surveys show that freshmen students spend more time drinking than studying.

Data from The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University states that each month nearly half of the freshmen population at college campuses across the nation binge drink, and that the percentage of excessive drinkers continues to rise.

A new study by NASPA, Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education and Outside the Classroom found that first-year students who use alcohol spend 10.2 hours a week drinking compared to 8.4 hours studying.

Although there are many factors that contribute to the behavior of freshmen drinkers, a few students think certain factors prevail over others.

‘Freshmen drink because some feel it’s freedom away from home,’ said Taquel Graves, 18, kinesiology major. ‘They also drink because it’s a way to get rid of tension and feel more loose and open.’

Krizabeth Landaverde, 18, freshman kinesiology major said college is a place where freshmen can grow up and be mature. She said freshmen think drinking is a part of that transition.

In the most recent health assessment conducted by the National and American College Health Association (NCHA-ACHA) on CSUN students in spring 2006, 54 percent of students drank alcohol within a week of taking the survey.

The CASA survey says that the number of students who regularly binge drink is up 16 percent. Students who drink on 10 or more occasions within a month is up 25 percent and the proportion of students who were drunk more than three times in the last month is up 26 percent.

The most popular reasons for freshmen drinking are to relax, reduce stress, forget about problems or to fit in socially.

CASA’s statistics also show that freshmen drink just to get drunk. This group has increased by 21 percent.

‘I know a lot of people that drink when they see other people get drunk,’ said Landaverde. ‘In social situations they (freshmen) do drink more, especially when it’s accessible.’

Not only is a sense of freedom a factor, but statistics from the CASA survey say genetics and family history also influence a student’s drinking behavior. Although the survey says students who have a family history of alcohol addiction are more prone to doing the same thing, Landaverde said her father’s drinking habits influenced her not to drink.

‘I see how people act and I don’t respect it,’ she said.

Psychology Professor Dee Shepherd-Look who works with college freshmen said the CASA survey should not be taken as a representation of all freshmen students, but those who do drink deal with a lot of stress.

‘Some students are hard-workers, they work full time and they take on 12 to 16 units,’ she said. ‘Some freshmen are the first generation in their family to go to college, and if you never had a role model, mentor, or parent to go to college the first year is extremely difficult.’

CASA’s survey says that parental involvement during a student’s freshmen year can decrease binge drinking.

‘Parents should be involved during their child’s first year in college because it’s a different experience and sometimes freshmen need people to help them out because college life does get stressful,’ said Landaverde.

Graves said a parent’s style of discipline could affect a student’s college experience.

‘If parents are hard and suffocate their kids who go off to college they will lash out more because their parents are not there to stop them,’ said Graves. ‘My parents let me out in high school so I experienced having fun and didn’t lash out in college. Parents are important in early childhood and college life because if kids are given the opportunity to be themselves and experience life they wouldn’t lash out once they got to college.’