Customer Reviews

Binge: What Your College Student Won't Tell You

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As a college professor myself, with more than thirty-five years "at university," the super title caught my eye: "Campus life in an age of disconnection and excess." What will likely grab more people is the title, "Binge." And what will sell this book to some worried parents is the subtitle, "What your college student won't tell you." Good hooks, all three of them, but the book doesn't really do justice to any of them.

Seaman is a retired Time reporter, an alum of Hamilton, and a member of their Board of Trustees. His chapters, including "Hooking up," "Emotional troubles," "Is diversity working?" and "Fraternities and sororities under siege" offer some insight that comes together in the final chapter ("Improving the undergraduate experience"), but by then it is too late to make this book of real value or substance. The dust cover blurb from Hamilton's retired president should have offered me a hint of the superficial tone of the book, as Hamilton seems to be the real touch point for Seaman, not national college life. He briefly cites Indiana's Murray Sperber, who has done a much better job of illustrating the beer-and-circus mentality of rah-rah, big-name schools. As to a personal glimpse, while Seaman tried to live out the student role (tough to do when you're almost old enough to be their grandfather), Tom Wolfe's "I am Charlotte Simmons" covers much of the same ground - sex, frats, jocks, pressures - and brings it to life much better than does Seaman.

The first weakness if not outright bias of the book is the selection of great colleges (including Harvard, Dartmouth, Indiana, Wisconsin, California-Berkeley, and Virginia), but not representative of the nation's 15 million college students. Seaman slips into some mention of "second- and third-rate colleges" with little appreciation of the role they play in American university life. There is the smug conceit that Harvard is the leader for institutional change, but Seaman's work only reminded me of the adage, "You can always tell a Harvard man, you just can't tell him much."

The second weakness stems from the selection of elite public and private schools. Seaman slips in a comment from a "third-rate" college president who notes that his students are too busy working part-time to get as drunk as the students at the elite schools. Seaman does apply some healthy skepticism to the Harvard "binge drinking" studies, but doesn't really offer useful analysis. What he seems to leave out of the equation is that these elite students have way too much time and money on their hands. The students he profiles come across as spoiled rich kids, chafing under the scourge of the twenty-one year old drinking age. Seaman does note that Hamilton's three-person student life staff from his day has been replaced by a twenty-person professional corps, but he fails to realize that these elite schools have become extended summer camp for some of these students, a pleasant four-year holiday en route to careers on Wall Street. Yes, he does show some evidence that we'd be better off with a lowered age for drinking legally, but that is not the entire solution.

Praising somewhat Middlebury's "quad" living arrangement plans only made me see that this has all been done before. What Middlebury seems to be considering is exactly what my alma mater did thirty-five years ago. Again, the problem is that Seaman and others look to and expect leadership and innovation to come from these elite schools, when there is an even better argument for the opposite: small, troubled, financially stretched schools are more likely to be the most creative.

In the end, there is little about binge drinking or other excessive lifestyles in this book, and there is little here that a student is likely to hide from his or her parents. And, in fact, this may be the most "connected" student cohort we've ever had, given the plethora of technology on campus (again, another topic given some but not much attention here), but connected to what is the real question. Or, perhaps a better question: What are these parents who pay $40,000 a year for this holiday camp really think that their sons and daughters are learning? And do they really care? "Helicopter" parents or not, there are still too many parents who cough up the cash and then act surprised when they find that students slouch sleepily in 2000-seat lecture hall classes, sleep until noon, get arrested for all sorts of crimes and misdemeanors, and never have a conversation with a professor. The disconnection appears to be between parents and well-publicized college realities.

"Binge" may bring back some memories for aging alums and startle some naïve parents, but, like Oakland, there is not much "there" there.

Having read some of the reviews on this page I felt like I needed to give my take on the book. I'm currently a student at Northwestern and I can say that Seaman's coverage and description of American University life is very accurate and exposing. At times the book is a bit dry and slow moving but overall it flows fairly well.

This book is perfect for prospective college students, their parents, and anyone concerned about policy effecting America's youth. There are serious problems on college campuses especially with drinking.

I read a review titled "Sincere but sadly unsatisfying" saying that the students he covers are "elite students [who] have way too much time and money on their hands." In my experience (mainly from attending national meetings for my fraternity) it doesn't matter whether you are at Dartmouth or South Eastern Mississippi State, there is major binge drinking and excess. Perhaps being an "elite" student makes it worse, but it does not change the underlying reality.

The book is worth reading if you are interested in the subject of how college life functions now a days. It's the best book out on the subject and the most accurate. Pregaming and other social phenomena were not around 30 years ago, this is the kind of thing the book brings to light. But even if you are well aware of the "age of excess" that we live in, "Binge" is still an entertaining and informative read.

My son is a senior at Linfield College this year, so I was interested as to whether the author's observations were in line with his experiences and those of his friends, or at least those I was aware of. On the whole they are. Be aware though that the author's observations were mainly at "top tier" colleges, which I feel really skews the information a bit. There are many kids at these "top tier" colleges, whose parents are footing that fancy tuition bill, who are less interested in the education of a college than the experience of a college. While my observations are that this holds true for most college students (both now and in the olden days) it is dramatically less true when the college kids are footing the bill themselves, or at least helping to foot the bill. My observation (and personal knowledge) is that the disconnections between faculty and students he speaks of, as well as the drinking and drug use, is also less true at smaller colleges, where the faculty frequently is still engaged in personal interactions with students, and where many kids don't have quite as much time on their hands to spend three days in school and four days partying every week. Also, there are a few inherent biases which really pop out at you - especially his references to the good old days of the 18 year old drinking age when the professors went to have a beer with their students, and the joys of fraternity life (Seaman admits to being a frat boy). Although I am well aware that every author has his or her personal biases, I really felt that a more balanced portrayal of these issues would have been helpful. Having said that, I would still recommend this book to parents of college students, and to the faculty and administrators of most colleges. As long as you read it with the author's biases and limitations in mind, it is an interesting account of some of the issues faced by today's colleges and their students.

As a college student myself, I was at first very skeptical that some guy who attended college in the 1960s could even come close to getting what is my current undergraduate experience.....but he does! I was brought up on a college campus and now attend a liberal arts college. My parents have lived and worked in the college world for all their lives, and they were still suprised by the findings in the book. I saw this book as more of a starting point, introducing my parents to the idea of college life, as a way to get a real conversation going. (With the obvious idea that they would listen with an open mind. This book read like something I've had in my mind. Mr. Seaman never claimed to have been a perfect college student. As for the non-college students, trust me, if you are like 90% of my friends, there will be things that college students do that you would never ever be told. So if you are currently a college student or want to read with an open mind about what goes on, then this book is amazing.

Anyone interested in residential college life will enjoy this book. It would appear that much has changed on college campuses relative to decades ago. For example, the "supposed" minimum drinking age of 21 appears to be ignored by everyone except the colleges who, rightfully, fear lawsuits. Mr. Seaman boldly discusses the notion that restrictive drinking laws may actually do more harm than good. Equally interesting subjects include athletics, affirmative action, grade inflation and other topical issues. Every parent, professor and administrator should read this book and be prepared to defend personal views on these controversial trends. Overall, a very well written piece.

This book should be required reading for any parents or family that has a college student or one that's looking at colleges-it gives a thorough review of college culture and current issues on campus as they effect students.

Guess what: college kids drink gallons of beer, take copious amounts of drugs, have sex, and rarely go to class. Unfortunately, I summed the the entire book in that one sentence.

If you have graduated from college within the last ten years, you are hardly shocked by what you will read. If you have not graduated from college within the last ten years and are surprised by what you read, you must have your head in the sand.

A must for every college parent. Seaman does an excellent job of informing students and parent what to expect at today's institutions. Parents - read this book!

Insightful, well organized, and thought provoking. A book for every parent of a teenager or college student. Public policy and academic leadership this is a must read.

The author's investigative methodology is impeccable. In each chapter, the author proficiently combines a historical background related to the issue with his own firsthand experience based on having lived on each of the many campuses he investigated. Additionally, he refers to related studies with extensive endnotes.

Each chapter is self-contained focused on specific subjects such as Dormitories, Mating, Studying, Emotional troubles, Alcohol, Fraternities, Drugs, etc... These read like stand-alone reports. You don't have to read the book in a chronological order but can jump right to the subject that interest you.

After reading this book you will conclude that the college scene has radically changed since the 60s. And, unfortunately it is not for the better. That's despite his focusing mainly on elite colleges. The coed bathroom with little privacy is just the beginning.

Drinking has become often lethal. Beer is out. Hard liquor is in, often mixed with anti-depressants and other prescription or illegal drugs. Deaths from lethal alcohol intoxication happen far more often. It was pretty difficult killing oneself with beer. It is not when mixing prescription drugs and vodka. Women are sadly more vulnerable to becoming such casualties because they now drink as hard as men not accounting for their much less alcohol tolerant constitution.

Why do women drink like men? It's about mating. Dating is out. Hooking up is in. Mating has become an anonymous transaction. Women in groups get drunk in the strategic presence of drunken men. Nature runs its course. The next day brains are fried. Emotions are numb. The author calls it the equality of the sexes. Behavior of males and females are not differentiable anymore.

The drug scene is mixed. Cocaine, heroin, and Ecstasy are fading. Students have recognized they may do permanent brain damage. But, marijuana is everywhere. The reason is that students understand that marijuana is much less dangerous than Vodka mixed with Paxil. However, the potency of marijuana today is two to ten times stronger than in the sixties. And, that is a concern in increasing the risk of both lung cancer and impairment of neurotransmitters.

Studying seems definitely out. The start of the weekend is officially Thursday night with no Friday classes. At these elite colleges, most students are super smart and have figured how to game the system by doing the minimal. If they do close to nothing, they get Bs. If they work like maniacs, they get As. Most opt for the B route.

Grade inflation reinforces intellectual laziness. Professors get offended by this concept, and prefer the concept of grade compression. The A to F scale has essentially been replaced by the A to B- one, hence the compression and the weakening studying ethic.

Fraternities are dying. Because of the abusive behaviors of brothers, including drunkenness, loudness, vandalism, date rape, and sexual harassments many of the frats are in a loosing battle over increasingly frat-hostile campus policies.

Chapter 11, "What's the Right Drinking Age?" is excellent. It concludes with the perplexing fact that McGill, the leading large Canadian university had a far lower rate of alcohol related hospitalization than Dartmouth. And, that's despite the fact that the drinking age is only 18 in Canada vs. 21 in the U.S. What gives?

The last chapter is interesting, as it questions the mission of colleges. In yesteryears "higher learning" was the goal. Today, it is codling and treating young adults as kids rather than adults in part to prevent lawsuit liabilities. The chapter also studies the change in expectations of college students. Idealism is out. Financial security is in. This is the flip side of the 60s values. The author addresses the efforts that elite schools have taken to improve the experience of college education. Much has to do with housing professors within or nearby students' residence halls to strengthen rapport with students. Many professors resist the changes and prefer their quiet lifestyle. After reading this book, you can understand them.

If you are interested in this subject, I strongly recommend "Inside the Top Colleges" by Howard and Mathew Greene. It is another fascinating reality check on the elite colleges.