An MSU group recently received a $175,000 grant to publicize its findings regarding alcohol consumption by college students.

The idea behind the group's research is that students enter college with misconceptions about their peers' drinking habits. The U.S. Department of Education awarded the MSU Social Norms Project, comprised of MSU faculty, staff and health educators, after the group worked to create a model to reduce alcohol use on campus.

The group's research indicates most students behave in responsible and harm-free ways but still overestimate the degree to which their peers drink, smoke or use drugs. The group's goal is to clear up these misconceptions and encourage everybody to practice safer behavior.

The group, a collaborative effort between East Lansing, Olin Health Center and different academic departments, found drinking trends to be decreasing in the last six years - students consume fewer drinks at parties, and students believe other students consume fewer drinks at parties. Also, from 2000-06, the percentage of people who said they have driven after consuming five or more alcoholic drinks decreased from 8.5 percent to 3.8 percent.

It's hard to pinpoint whether such trends are the result of this group's efforts or not, but the group's idea likely is the best approach to such a mission.

The group never claims to be against drinking, and it isn't attempting to force its ideas on students or push some moral agenda, which is great.

MSU is a large, diverse school with plenty of partiers and one group of researchers, armed with only statistics and flyers, isn't going to change that.

Instead, this group wants to educate students about the difference between drinking myths and realities, and has done so with posters, fliers, presentations and in-class discussions about different health topics.

MSU will use the grant money to supply other schools with the information it found and to advance its core concentration of student education.

Dennis Martell, director of health education at Olin Health Center and a leader in the project, called the project a wellness approach to reduce high-risk drinking that reports the information they receive from the students.

Hopefully, the group will succeed in its mission and reduce the amount of risky and irresponsible drinking around campus. The group never will end drinking in East Lansing altogether and doesn't aim to. Instead, it only wants to make drinking and partying safe for everyone - if this happens, both students and MSU's image and reputation will benefit accordingly.