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[Note: This material is copyright by The Gazette, and is reproduced here as a matter of "fair use" for non-commercial, educational purposes only. Any other use may require the prior approval of The Gazette.]

  That was one of several recommendations (see list below) made with the hope of renewing discussion on ways to limit underage access to alcohol, reducing binge drinking and enhancing educational programs about alcohol abuse.

  ‘‘There is certainly an issue, I think common sense would tell you that,’’ said Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz, a member of the alcohol awareness working group that has met the past year to discuss ways of reducing binge drinking.

  "Change does not happen quickly sometimes, it’s going to be a process, but we’re in agreement that further dialogue is needed for this.’’

  The group based its recommendations in part on data showing the percentage of binge drinkers at the UI significantly exceeds the national average and on discussions with police, bar owners and health care workers and community knowledge.

  ‘‘We’re an intelligent community, but on this issue, we haven’t had a lot of common sense,’’ Rev. Mark Martin, the pastor of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, said of how the community has approached binge drinking.

  A coordinated effort involving the UI, local governments and the private sector is necessary to work on binge  Drinking/ Community effort needed to solve problem drinking, rather than simply shifting the problem to one community, Johnson County Supervisor Sally Stutsman, a group member, said Monday. ‘‘It has to be an effort that is coordinated and all moving in the same direction,’’ Stutsman said. ‘‘It’s not going to be real effective if we have stricter restrictions in one community and not in the other community. The problem would just shift.’’

  Donna Katen- Bahensky, CEO of University Hospitals, said the binge drinking problem should not be an issue left to university administrators to solve but should be something that students and staff try to reduce together.

  ‘‘Everybody has to take the lead together,’’ she said. ‘‘All of us have a role to play in trying to solve the problem.’’ While there has been no shortage of previous efforts and recommendations on how to combat binge drinking in recent years, group members said it’s time to push for the coordinated effort against binge drinking.

  ‘‘The time has come to stop winking at this problem while the lives of our young people hang in the balance,’’ Katen-Bahensky said.

 • Implement ordinances countywide restricting bar access to those over 21 years old.
 • Public and private sector cooperation in developing non-alcoholic venues appealing to young people.
 • Intensifying education efforts of parents, high school and college students.
 • The UI must continue to play a leading role to educate students on excessive drinking and work with community to develop non-alcoholic venues.
 • Change the way bars and restaurants are taxed and insured to alcohol sales volume instead of revenue to discourage low pricing.
 • Implement mandatory server training and make it harder for servers who violate existing laws to get rehired.
 • Enforce laws that prohibit people from turning their apartments into unlicensed bars, which encourages alcohol abuse.