(U-WIRE) BERKELEY, Calif. – University of California-Berkeley health officials received a federal grant last week to combat binge drinking around campus, a trend health officials say is getting out of hand.

Alameda County, Calif., is routing part of a $900,000 grant to UC-Berkeley’s Tang Center, which will use the extra cash to create a plan to reduce binge drinking, said Cathy Kodama, health promotional director at University Health Services.

Alcohol abuse has turned into a daily occurrence on college campuses, where binge drinking is accepted by students, said Joan Kiley, founder of the Alcohol Policy Network, one of the groups working on the grant from the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs.

“It’s not just that young people are going to go out and crash their cars,” Kiley said. “It’s that we are literally stunting the growth of our young people by ignoring the damage that alcohol does.”

Binge drinking surged to the spotlight when UC-Berkeley junior Steve Saucedo died after a night of binge drinking in his apartment last March.

This will be the first time Alameda County has worked with city and campus organizations in a concerted effort to prevent binge drinking, said Gail Greenberg, project director of Behavioral Health Care Services, a county health department.

Nearly 39 percent of 18- to 25-years-olds are binge drinkers, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The department defines binge drinking as consuming five drinks in one sitting for a man and four for a woman.

The new federal grant money comes on top of a $50,000 state grant used by Berkeley police and UC-Berkeley earlier this year to fight underage drinking at campus fraternities.

– Josh Keller & Rachel King