"college students" news and stories

Never heard of Four Loko? Try hitting the nearest college campus. The carbonated drink -- a potent combination of alcohol and caffeine designed several years ago by three college kids -- is available in teen-friendly flavors like Fruit Punch, Lemonade, and Blue Raspberry. Called "caffeinated booze," it may sound like an oxymoron, but it's a bona fide trend -- the Food and Drug Administration lists 30 similar products. It's also been referred to as a "blackout in a can," but for some kids the results are far worse -- they're ending up in the hospital.

Despite the old folk remedy of using coffee to sober up a drunk, the combination of caffeine and alcohol can have a disastrous effect. "When you put all these things together, it's a nightmare," Harris Stratyner, a vice president at the Caron Treatment Center and an addiction specialist, told Good Morning America today. "The caffeine may make you feel like you're not getting drunk as quickly, so you may ingest more." In other words, you don't feel the usual hallmarks of overdoing it -- until you've way, way overdone it. And given how much alcohol each can contains -- around 12 percent, equal to four beers -- this can be potentially deadly. In the past month, more than two dozen college students at Central Washington University and Ramapo College in New Jersey have been hospitalized after drinking Four Loko.

• Bluefish is an acquired taste.
• Where are the best places to eat in Boston for under $20? College students know the best places.
• It's summer, and the grilling tips just keep coming.
• Add some burgundy beets to your summer salads.
• Ask The Cook: a good recipe for lemon chicken.
• More of this week's recipes: Monkfish Chowder with Yellow Potatoes, Sauteed Spinach with Scallions and Cream, Buttermilk Biscuits, and Peach Cobbler.

Yup, it's true, according to this survey from Student Monitor.

Now, my first reaction was to say "oh, please, come on!" But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. We can have stories about drinking a lot in college and partying and all that, but I think what this survey is saying is that students value "music" more than "drinking beer." We also have to realize that iPods got a 73% vote as being "in" compared to the 71% that iPods got, so it's not like they're choosing one completely over the other and the other isn't even on their radar. The surprising thing is the lame quote in the article from the guy at Student Monitor.

Now, I wonder if they included sex in the survey? Let's see where that shows up with college students.