The Pullman community has an ongoing stigma, and is having a problem getting rid of it. What is the stigma you ask? Well if you have to ask that question you must not live here. The answer is alcohol abuse among minors, not only among students at WSU but the entire community. Alcohol abuse still runs rampant in the community of Pullman, Washington despite what people have heard about the new image of WSU. Minors and adults" not attending school and attending WSU and Pullman High schools were interviewed and asked questions about their drinking habits and beliefs.
Abusing alcohol is a wide spread term, not many people even know what a drink is. One 4 oz. glass of wine, 1.5 oz. of 80 proof liquor, and one 12 oz. beer are technically classified as a standard drink (Colliers Encyclopedia). On campus though students say they are drinking 16 oz. beers called tall boys, 40 oz. beers called forties (interview 1, 2, 4). Alcoholism does not depend on age or race (Oneter). What is alcoholism? Alcoholism: An addiction to excessive drinking of alcoholic beverages (Webster Dictionary). But what is excessive drinking? That is based on a community standard, what is socially acceptable to the people your around. In the eyes of students excessive may be 2 days a week or it may be everyday of the week. To tell what was happening in the Pullman community I went out and found students and non-students to compare what some would think was excessive and what is acceptable. Non-students in Pullman on average consider 2 nights a week or less to be an acceptable amount of drinking during any given week and 3-8 drinks a night would be a responsible amount (Interview 3, 5, 6). Students however believed that 3 nights a week or less would be acceptable and that 6-11 drinks would be a responsible amount (Interview 1, 2, 4, 7). On average in Pullman students will drink 3 more drinks a night and one more night of the week than non-students.