Did you know that 83 percent of NIU students have gotten drunk, wild and just plain crazy before the age of 21?

I know it’s contrary to all of the informative fliers around campus, but based on the six people who replied to my question, this statistic is true.

However, it’s not in any way, shape or form representative of reality, just as the fliers aren’t.

It may be cute to slap together a poster with a few zebras and label it with reassuring-sounding statistics, but it’s certainly not fooling anyone.

These surveys are conducted using a random sample size of 392 student respondents. This is an issue with a campus of over 23,000 students because it provides no real insight into the complexities of college drinking and its consequences.

If we use an even 23,000 as an enrollment estimate, then 392 is 1.7 percent of the population; not to mention it’s the 1.7 percent of the population who thought the survey was worth filling out and sending back and had the spare time to do so. Results further depend on access to resources like mail or Internet in order to complete it and respondents have to be honest and forthcoming.

One flier touted that 93.7 percent of students did not get in trouble with the police as a result of alcohol consumption (although they curiously made it into the campus or city police blotter), 80.7 percent didn’t have unprotected sex (which is easy to recall after a night of sex and drinking), 86.7 percent did not injure themselves and 97.9 percent didn’t injure another. Right.

Another study displayed similar statistics on two different good-feeling posters: 74 percent of NIU students take three or more protective steps, such as monitoring their drinking, making sure to eat food beforehand or during their partying, avoiding drinking and not participating in drinking games. Four words: beer pong, flippy cup.

I’ve been a poor college student for four years and throughout this time have known countless people, including myself, who either save their dinner money to spend on booze or purposely don’t eat so they can get drunk quicker.

According to NIU’s annual security report, from 2008-2010 there were 178 liquor violation arrests and 43 forcible sexual assault charges on campus or campus-sanctioned housing.

Illinois law states that there is no “implied consent,” meaning people cannot engage in consensual sexual activity without an explicit “yes” or “no.” Health Enhancement, Health Services and other NIU-sanctioned resources all agree drinking strongly inhibits your ability to make informed decisions; however, if we reject the notion that more students than are reported are engaged in drinking and sex, we too fail to address any occurrences of the varying shades of rape and sexual assault.

The denial of the reality, whether it be to boost the confidence of parents or of the university or both, is actively contributing to ongoing issues with date rape, alcoholism and violence.

These surveys make me laugh 100 percent of the time.