MU suggests ways to end 'Thirsty Thursday'

Other universities nationwide are changing their schedules to help curb drinking.

By Brad Fischer

Published Oct. 5, 2007

Students across the country could see "Thirsty Thursday" turned into a study night due to of a study released by MU researchers.

The July study, "College Student Alcohol Consumption, Day of the Week, and Class Schedule," states there is a link between students' class schedules and binge drinking. MU psychology professor Phillip Wood led the research team with Kenneth Sher and Patricia Rutledge of the Midwest Alcoholism Research Center, based at MU. It surveyed 3,341 MU undergraduates over the course of four years on their drinking behavior and compared them with students' class schedules.

The study suggests that universities shift more classes to Friday mornings along with taking attendance and administering exams on Fridays to decrease Thursday-night binge drinking.

"It could reduce the amount of alcohol consumed," Wood said. "It's not a magic pill, but it could have a very dramatic effect. It's a way to reduce drinking that doesn't cost a lot of money."

MU spokesman Christian Basi said implementing more Friday morning classes at MU is not an option.

"We are using as nearly much classroom space on Friday at 8 a.m. as we are on Monday and Wednesday," Basi said. "At 9 a.m., we are using about 90 percent of classroom space."

Basi said he could not provide enrollment figures on those 8 and 9 a.m. Friday classes.

The lack of classroom availability is not reflected in the percentage of student participants taking Friday morning classes.

Of the study participants, 288 percent more of them did not have class on Fridays than those without class on Wednesdays. On Mondays and Wednesdays, 22.6 percent more students had their first class scheduled to start at 8 or 9 a.m. than students' whose first class was scheduled to start at one of those times on Fridays, Wood said.

Campus Bar and Grill thrives on its Thursday night business, co-owner Mike Geiss said.

"Thursday night is one of our two biggest nights of the week, if not the biggest," he said. "It's that way all over town. Everybody goes out on Thursday nights in Columbia."

The researchers also found that students who drink on a Thursday night are likely to binge drink, which means consuming five or more drinks for men and four or more for women. Also, students who did not drink on Thursday night consumed two less drinks per week than those who did drink on Thursday night.

Wellness Resource Center Director Kim Dude said encouraging a Friday morning class would help decrease binge drinking.

"Our research does say that the No. 1 reason that a student would not drink on any given night would be academic obligations," Dude said.

The University of Iowa plans to implement scheduling changes to curb Thursday night drinking, beginning in 2008.

Senior Associate Provost Thomas Rocklin said in an e-mail that Iowa will not require students to take a Friday class but will schedule more Friday classes and implement attendance requirements in those classes. He said the MU study played a role in the decision-making process.

"We've talked about this for some time, but the research made it clear that such a change could have a positive effect on student success at The University of Iowa," Rocklin said.

Wood said some other schools - such as Pennsylvania State University, the University of Maryland and The University of Mississippi - have shown interest in altering their schedules.

University of Mississippi spokesman Mitchell Diggs said an alcohol task force reported similar findings to the MU study but that the university could not change the schedule to take any of the suggestions.

"We have a lot of Monday, Wednesday, Friday classes that meet at 8 or 9 a.m.," Diggs said. "Accommodating any more classes would require more classroom space. We are basically bursting at the seams. We can't add any more classes."

Wood will speak at 7 p.m. on Oct. 23 in Memorial Union about the study and its findings. He said he wants to warn students of the risks of alcohol.

"There is a view that five drinks a night is not that much," Wood said. "I want to underscore that it's not all just harmless alcohol and the magnitude of the effect."