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On the tree-lined streets of Oxford, students sprawl on lawns on Saturday afternoons, throwing back beers. As night falls, parties followed by bar-hopping turns up the volume.

Jessica Jones, a 22-year-old senior at Miami University, looks at student drinking as a relaxing way to socialize.

"I think student drinking is portrayed as careless drinking – the one time, extreme events," she said. "In most cases, it's people making smart choices even if they're drunk. It's not intentionally reckless."

Michael Shastid, a 23-year-old graduate student at Miami, sat on the patio at Skipper's Pub on a Thursday afternoon after finishing classes, conversing over a pitcher of beer.

"It's a great way to get out and spend the last couple weeks with friends," he said. "It can definitely be a problem for some people. But as your college career progresses, people usually calm down a bit more, and even if they're getting drunk, they're not out of control."

Oxford police Sgt. Jim Squance estimates that 1 percent to 2 percent of the Miami University population gets in trouble for drinking, while "the vast majority of students are drinking responsibly."

However, the April 24 death of Kevin Piskura, 24, a 2006 Miami University graduate who died from complications after being shocked with a stun gun in Oxford, has brought the topic back to the forefront. According to police, Piskura got in an altercation with an officer after leaving a bar.

Piskura was visiting Oxford on April 19, when police say he tried to interfere during the arrest of a friend fighting at a bar on High Street. An officer used the Taser stun device to stop Piskura.

The incident followed other drinking related tragedies in Oxford: A Miami student was struck by a train and killed while walking drunk in August 2007. Another student was driving drunk when his car collided with a train in March 2005. Alcohol also was involved in the death of three Miami students in an April 2005 house fire.

Today, the JournalNews presents a package written by Miami University journalism students studying the issue of drinking at college.

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