Although Wechsler and Mary Rohman, research associate at the Medical Foundation, Inc., conducted the study eight years ago, Wechsler says that more recent research indicates that the numbers have remained relatively unchanged.

The College Life Survey conducted last spring at Harvard found that 59 percent of students responding said they had one to four drinks when they drink. Twenty-one percent report having five to nine drinks at a time, while 3 percent have 10 or more. The survey found that 29 percent of those responding felt that Harvard students drink too much.

"Think of any problem on a college campus--a date rape, a racial incident or a brawl. Most of the time, this will be [related to] drinking," Wechsler says. "This is not strictly cause and effect. We cannot conclude that alcohol causes these problems. It could be that the same type of person who drinks gets into this type of trouble," Wechsler says. "But it certainly contributes."

Robert A. Matano, the director of the Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center at Stanford University says that the problem with excessive college drinking is two-fold.

The first and most obvious set of difficulties arises as an immediate result of alcohol abuse. These short-term problems include conflicts in social relationships at home or at school, poor performance in the classroom, alcohol-related injuries and legal or disciplinary trouble resulting from acts committed under the influence.

The second, less prominent set of difficulties may not become visible for another 10 to 20 years after college. Excessive drinking may continue after the college years and result in serious health or social problems. "Patterns that are not really problematic now may become problematic later because of the constant use of alcohol," Matano says.

"It's just like smoking," says George E. Valliant, author of the book, The Natural History of Alcoholism, and a researcher at Dartmouth Medical School. "If you smoke two packs of cigarettes a day in college, you'll have a much greater chance of smoking more later."

"People in college do not [necessarily] get addicted, but they develop habits," added Valliant.

A report issued by UHS says that approximately 7 percent of Americans suffer from alcoholism--the most serious of these long-term problems.

Alcoholism is defined by the report as a chronic, potentially fatal disease.

Although the disease is very difficult to diagnose at the college level, researchers including Valle say that many drinkers develop traits characteristic of an alcoholic while in college. "I think that a number of people here are alcoholics and just don't know it," Valle says.

Valle says that there are a number of signals that may be indicating the presence of a drinking problem. She cites as symptomatic many of the same problems Matano identifies as day-to-day results of drinking: tensions at home, school, and the workplace, health complications and legal and financial trouble.

"Usually, problems will begin in relationships and work down, but they can appear in any of these," Valle says. Health problems can range from injuries incurred while intoxicted to gastro-intestinal problems and weight gain, she says.

The quantity of alcohol that an individual consumes can also be a sign that a dangerous drinking pattern is taking shape, Valle says. "You certainly want to consider quantity," she says, because high tolerance is a natural symptom of alcoholism. Valle says, however, that a person who gets "out of control" once or twice is not necessarily an alcoholic.

Matano cites a family history of alcoholism as another warning signal of increased risk for developing problems. While the rate of alcoholism is 7 percent for the general population, the rate is five to seven times higher among adult children of alcoholics, says the report put out by UHS.