Although some researchers said increasing the number of early Friday classes may curb "thirsty Thursday" night drinking, Duke officials said they don't intend to test the hypothesis in the Gothic Wonderland.
The study, which was recently produced by a researcher at the University of Missouri-Columbia, found that students with late or no Friday classes consume about twice as much alcohol as those with Friday classes beginning before 10 a.m.
"Although Friday classes are no magic bullet to the nose, the magnitude [of their effect] was very large," said Dr. Philip Wood, a co-author of the study who is also a professor of quantitative psychology at MU.
He noted that of the students who consumed alcoholic beverages on Thursday nights, approximately two-thirds of them drank a binge amount-five drinks for men and four drinks for women.
Since the study's release, the University of Iowa began offering academic departments $20 for every student enrolled in early Friday morning classes in an effort to curb their Thursday drinking.
But some students said scheduling more Friday morning classes may have a different effect at Duke.
"I think it prevents [students] from going to class on Friday," junior Andrew Stevens said.
Emma Rasiel, director of undergraduate studies and associate professor of the practice in the economics department, said she and her colleagues have noticed that Friday attendance is weaker than on any other day.
"My understanding is that Thursday is more of a party night, whereas Friday isn't," she said. "Another reason why Friday attendance may be lower is that students may be going away for a long weekend. There is always a struggle for setting a class on a Friday because attendance will always be lower."
At Duke, Friday classes are implemented as a way of offering students more selection with course timings, Provost Peter Lange said. He noted, however, that it is not used as a way to reduce Thursday night drinking.
Several students said their peers often do not attend Friday classes if they go out the night before, adding that the flexibility given in designing schedules allows students to avoid early Friday classes.
In contrast, several other students said having end-of-the-week courses does discourage students from going out.
"Generally I think it does," freshman Ji Won Yeom said. "Especially when it's a seminar class, as opposed to a lecture where you don't have to go."
In the Missouri study, researchers traced the drinking habits of 3,341 undergraduate students over a four-year period. Pre-college and Web-based surveys given in each of the eight semesters were merged with student academic transcripts and schedules. The students also supplied a weekly self report on their drinking habits for each semester.
According to the study, students who had late or no Friday classes were more likely to be male, more likely to take part in greek activities and more likely to have begun drinking prior to entering college. The study also found that classes had to be scheduled significantly earlier if they were to be effective in curbing binge drinking among greek men.
For example, in order to have a notable effect in reducing male alcohol consumption on Thursday nights, Friday classes had to start earlier than 11 a.m. for nonparticipants in greek activities, before 10 a.m. for occasional participants and before 9 a.m. for frequent participants or members.
The researchers also found that students did not partake in "catch-up" drinking on Fridays or Saturdays to make up for the missed debauchery the preceding Thursday. In fact, Wood said students with early Friday classes drank less over the weekend than those who had no Friday classes scheduled.
"Some of the people are getting assignments on Friday and they have to get them done," he said. "If you don't have any Friday classes, it becomes a nice long three day weekend."
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