According to a survey completed by the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), the three-county Norfolk area was dubbed No. 8 nationally for binge drinking, beating out both Grand Island (No. 11) and Omaha (No. 10) per capita. In Nebraska, only the two-county Lincoln Metropolitan area of Lancaster and Seward has a higher rate of binge drinking, coming in at No. 3 in the same survey.
Though many people locally see this as a good thing, others think it means that Norfolk, and the rest of Nebraska by extension are headed down a dangerous path that can only mean more death.
“It sounds really bad,” said Stephanie Mundil, Health and Wellness Coordinator and Instructor. “When I heard that, I thought that part of those [were] destination cities, spring break and/or vacation cities, [so] you know that it’s not just underage drinking.”
To be a little more specific on what the CDC is taking a count of, binge drinking is defined as having five or more drinks in one sitting. Even some students on the Northeast Community College aren’t completely pleased with the results of the CDC’s work.
“I think drinking is okay if it’s social, but its ridiculous to go overboard, to binge drink and [make stupid choices],” said Brandy Hinkel, a first-year Business and Entrepreneur study from Hartington.
To add a little perspective to that last statement, in 2009, NECC, with the help of the CORE survey from the NCC (Nebraska Collegiate Consortium) surveyed the student body to find out how they felt about drinking in general. From that, a statistic was formed (among others) based on the question, “How would your friends feel about you consuming five or more drinks in one sitting.” The corresponding answers were: 34.2 percent strongly disagreed with the decision, 24.6 percent would disapprove, and 41.2 wouldn’t disapprove of binge drinking at all. The survey went on to find out a wide array of student habits and beliefs about alcohol. They found, that like most extensive surveys, there is quite a bit of gray area to be navigated.