An American Medical Association survey found that 95 percent of college students' parents consider binge drinking a serious threat to their children's health.
Binge drinking is often defined as four drinks in an hour for women or five for men. According to the study, about 44 percent of college students nationwide admitted to binge drinking.
The survey also found that 85 percent of people consider easy access to alcohol in college towns as a significant contributing factor to underage and binge drinking.
Dr. J. Edward Hill, AMA chairman-elect, stated in a press release that it was time for medical and college officials to take binge drinking more seriously.
"We can no longer treat binge drinking as a rite of passage," he stated in the release. "It's a major health threat not only to binge drinkers but also to the people around them."
Sennai Habtes, a UNC junior from the U.S. Virgin Islands, said he does not think there is a serious binge drinking problem on campus but added that he has seen people drinking heavily on Franklin Street.
"A lot of people here drink a lot for no other reason than to drink," Habtes said, pointing out that people in the Virgin Islands tend to drink more for social reasons than people in the United States.
He also said that bars closing at a set time contributes to excessive drinking.
"That encourages people to drink as much as they can until closing time," Habtes said, adding that bars in the Virgin Islands remain open until customers are gone.
