[TSteven]

Originally Posted by IrishLake

You know... I don't know what it is about SW Ohio recently... but it's making me wonder. Is this behavior nothing new, and it's just making public news now? Has it gotten this out of hand because GLOs haven't been punished enough in the past for similar things? Is it a geographical thing? I've noticed high school parties around here make high school parties in Columbus and northern Ohio look like Friday night bingo at the church hall. Or is it a new trend? Or is it the dates that are taking advantage of the situation (it's not THEIR organization, after all)? Or is it just a lack of alcohol education and lessons in responsibility? Is it like this everywhere else in the US?

These pieces from the article point to some of the issues. Not just for southwest Ohio, but nationwide.

Why the recent rash of “Greeks Gone Wild” debauchery has focused on sororities rather than fraternities is something of a mystery to college officials, but Sister Annette Schmeling, UD’s vice president for student development and dean of students, offered one possible explanation.

“If you look at national trends in alcohol consumption, women are catching up to men,” Schmeling said.

Research from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis published last year in the “Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry” showed rates of binge drinking in male college students remained steady, while the rates in female college students increased dramatically. For women 21 to 23, binge drinking rose by about 40 percent, according to the study.

And this.

Schmeling said UD officials are exploring ways to cut down or eliminate the practice of “pre-gaming,” or students drinking alcohol, usually hard liquor, before going out to big events, or even for a night out. That seems to be a common thread in the most recent rash of destructive behavior...