Md. College Chief Joins Alcohol Awareness Panel

FROSTBURG, Md. (AP) -- The president of Frostburg State University is joining a national panel charged with raising awareness about the dangers of binge drinking on college campuses.

The university said Wednesday that Jonathan Gibralter has been invited to join the 10-member College Presidents Working Group of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Gibralter received national attention from a coalition of higher-education groups in 2008 for promoting an intellectual and social climate that downplays the role of alcohol.

School officials say the share of Frostburg State students who acknowledge high-risk drinking fell from 59 percent in 1997 to 43 percent in 2008.

They say more than half of Frostburg State students now say they abstain from alcohol compared with 40 percent in 1997.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)