Drinking impacts UGA's reputation, experts say

(Above) Nicole Lackey, bartender at General Beauregard's, serves two students beers Monday night.
(Below) Lackey makes a mixed drink Monday night.

By Lauren Bellamy

Though the University of Georgia is often voted as one of the Princeton Review’s top ten party schools in America, statistics may paint a different picture.

Deanna Walters, the university’s Alcohol and Other Drug prevention coordinator, said data proves the university’s drinking habits aren’t as bad as they are perceived.

“In terms of high-risk or binge drinking behavior, UGA rates are lower than those behaviors reported by students at other universities around the nation,” Walters said.

She also said that the Princeton Review’s annual survey of national party schools creates a “disconnect” between reputation and fact.

“Data for the survey is not necessarily valid or accurate,” Walters said. “Yet people read it, believe it, and it reinforces their perception that everyone around them is drinking heavily and doing so pretty often.”

Although the Princeton Review survey may be inaccurate, it creates a very real perception of the university.

Michael Zimmerman, a university professor who teaches Drug and Alcohol Abuse Issues, even refers to the survey.

“I know we’re in the top ten party schools in the nation,” he said. “I think we’re actually number five.”

Zimmerman said the university is heavily focused on drinking despite what statistics say.

“When I have students tell me that during fall semesters they only take nine credit hours so they can go to football games, I just know where they’re putting their emphasis,’” he said.

“There is a lot of focus on the downtown/music/football scene, and a lot of that involves drinking.”

Walters said she doesn’t believe people in Athens are more likely to binge drink but college towns in general tend to have more prominent bar scenes.

“Athens has a lot of college students and on average, college students engage in riskier drinking behavior,” she said.

And “risky behavior” may be easier in Athens according to Ayaz Virji, a sixth-year housing and consumer economics major from Athens.

Virji said he knew drinking would be a big part of his college life if he came to the University of Georgia.

“It’s just what everyone here does,” Virji said. “People at UGA drink a lot. That’s how it’s always been.”

Virji also said that Athens bars make it easy for underage students to get in.

“Freshman year, almost everyone I knew had a fake ID,” he said. “I know plenty of people — especially girls — that got into bars using paper IDs.”

Nicole Lackey, a bartender at General Beauregard’s in downtown Athens, said the bar has a strict policy on fake IDs.

“Our managers tell the door guys not to let anyone in who looks like they’re using a fake,” she said.

Lackey also said it gets hectic for the bar bouncers.

“Sometimes it gets crazy and people are shoving IDs at them, and I know they’re just trying to get people in as fast as possible,” Lackey said. “But they would never knowingly let in someone with a fake.”

Fake IDs or not, Zimmerman said he doesn’t expect binge drinking at the university to improve anytime soon.

“It’s going to happen no matter what,” he said. “We can address the long-term damage of alcohol all we want, but students are still going to make their own decisions.”

— Edited by Beth Pollak