Bart:: There's a new resurgence in binge drinking (聚眾飲酒作樂)among American college students.

Lisa: Yes, I've head about it. So what?.

Bart: Unfortunately, college women are gaining ground on (追上，接近，逼近...) men for the title of campus drunk.(校園酒鬼的稱號(hào))

Lisa: Really? Drinking among college students has been going on for decades. Why are women drinking more now?

Bart: I don't know, but the percentage of college women drinking to get drunk has more than tripled over the past 15 years, says a new report from Columbia University.

Lisa: I guess that's really not that surprising. Women are beginning to assert themselves more in every aspect of society.

Bart: I know a lot of people are shrugging this off (對(duì)某事聽之任知，不予重視)as just a teenage rite of passage, but it's more serious than that. I read in USA TODAY that alcohol is involved in 90% of all rapes, 80% of all vandalism (蓄意破壞公物或他人私有財(cái)產(chǎn)的行經(jīng))cases, 40% of all academic problems and 28% of all dropout (輟學(xué))problems.

Lisa: I have to admit, that is shocking! I never realized that booze (酒，痛飲)was so connected with crime.

Bart: What's even worse is that as many as 360,000 of today's undergraduates ultimately will die from alcohol-related causes - more than will get advanced degrees.

Lisa: That's downright (徹底地，十分地))depressing. I'll bet that fraternities (大學(xué)男生聯(lián)誼會(huì))and sororities (大學(xué)女生聯(lián)誼會(huì))have a lot to do with that.

Bart: You're right. Students in frats (fraternities 的縮寫)report drinking three times as much as the average student. Also studies show that 25% of freshmen admit to binge drinking in comparison to 20% of seniors.

Lisa: Aren't there any campuses that are trying to do anything about this problem?

Bart: Yes, as a matter of fact, the University of Maryland found that 30% of its students actually preferred alcohol-free social events. Officials offered cash awards fro groups sponsoring the best alcohol-free party. hey, would you like something to drink.

Lisa: Yeah, just as long as it's doesn't have any alcohol, sugar or caffeine in it!