Colleges Curtail Campus Alcohol Marketing

Colleges in Florida and elsewhere in the U.S. have restricted alcohol marketing on campus in an effort to curb student binge drinking and underage drinking, the Miami Herald reported Dec. 12.

The University of Miami is phasing out alcohol posters at its football stadium, while the University of Florida has dropped alcohol radio ads during football games. Fliers touting liquor promotions have been prohibited at Florida State University (FSU).

"Alcohol has been an issue in intercollegiate athletics," said University of Miami athletic director Paul Dee said. "We thought it would be best to phase out advertising."

The decision by the University of Florida to ban radio ads for alcohol during Gators' games cost about $200,000 in revenue initially, but new advertisers have now stepped in.

Michael Smith, director of FSU's Florida Center for Prevention Research, said eliminating alcohol flyers helped cut high-risk student drinking by 22 percent and made for a cleaner campus, to boot. "These handbills littered the campus uncontrollably in 1999-2000," said Smith.

"Universities have finally got past the 'bad apple' theory -- that it's just a few students," said Laurie Leiber, spokeswoman for the Marin Institute. "They're trying to get away from an alcohol-saturated environment."