The more standard definition of binge drinking is the consumption of five or more alcoholic beverages in one sitting for a man and four or more for a woman, said Carolyn Johnson, human development and family studies instructor.

"One drink can include a 12-ounce beer, a four-ounce glass of wine or a one-ounce shot of hard liquor," she said.

Sarah Kluesener (sophomore-accounting) defines binge drinking as drinking enough alcohol to get drunk. She knows several people who practice binge drinking and said their behavior varies after drinking so much.

"Some people get funny and out of control," she said. "Others get violent."

The lack of alternative entertainment might be a reason why students spend a lot of their free time drinking, Kluesener said.

Students also might be inclined to binge drink more in college because there is less adult supervision, Johnson said, and it eases difficult social situations in which students may find themselves.

Hanzel said he drinks because it is a source of entertainment for him. He doesn't have classes on Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays, so he spends Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday nights at bars and drinking with his roommates in their off-campus apartment.

Hanzel said he has maxed out three credit cards on alcohol so far and has two or three more to go. He said he enjoys blacking out and doesn't worry about his drunken actions the next day.

One of Hanzel's roommates, Brad Guckert (junior-marketing), also has experienced binge drinking firsthand, but he thinks the amount of alcohol consumption is much higher when it comes to a technical definition of binge drinking.

Guckert said he drank about 11 Long Island iced teas at Cafe 210 one night and was thrown out of the bar. He was arrested later for public drunkenness and doesn't remember anything else that happened that night -- he had blacked out. He said he couldn't remember giving his credit card to a waiter at Cafe 210 to pay for his drinks until the waiter returned the card to him the next day.

For students who may think they have a drinking problem, help is available on campus in many ways, Johnson said. For starters, students need to educate themselves on the dangers of alcohol abuse, form new friendships with students who do not drink as much and realize drinking heavily can lead to serious alcoholism later in life.

Hanzel said his grades have not suffered from his drinking and he still carries a 3.0 overall grade point average. He plans on slowing down his consumption of alcohol once he begins his job in financing after graduating in May.