The rules of beer pong and other college drinking games could be changing because of H1NI flu fears.
Beer pong, a game that involves drinking from communal cups of beer, has been the subject of warnings and bans this fall at U.S. college campuses, including Cornell University and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, both in New York, due to H1N1 virus concerns.
Nearly 8,900 new cases of flulike illness were reported at 270 U.S. colleges and universities for the week of Oct. 17-23, according to the American College Health Association. The ACHA has observed nearly 56,000 cases of flulike illness this year among 3 million college students.
Some students, however, are ignoring the warnings.
"There's a lot of sharing and consumption," said Dan Phillips, a University of Dayton (Ohio) senior from Cleveland. "No one really pays that much attention to it."
Other students, however, are taking precautions such as using cups of water for beer pong.
"Then, when somebody scores, they'll just take a sip of the beer that they're drinking," said Anthony LoPresti, a University of Dayton junior from Cleveland and member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.
"We're trying to stay away from anybody sharing any sort of cups," said Charlie Hank, a Dayton fifth-year student from Columbus and Phi Kappa Psi member. "Even here at the house, we're trying to keep things as clean as possible."
Phi Kappa Psi has 43 members at the University of Dayton, five of whom live in the fraternity facility. It is one of 12 Greek fraternities and seven sororities on campus, according to Edel Jesse, Dayton's director of communications and community relations for student development. About 1,115 students participate in Greek chapters, she said.
The University of Dayton did not curtail Greek chapter recruiting activities this fall because of H1N1 fears, Jesse said. Recruitment typically involves large, open parties.
"We don't have any alcohol in any of our pledge events, so we don't really have to worry about people sharing community cups," LoPresti said.
Miami University of Ohio and Ohio State's Greek chapters hold rush week during winter class sessions, according to school officials.
About 3,500 students are involved in Greek chapters at Miami of Ohio, which saw more than 330 students with flulike illness during the first five weeks of fall classes.
Miami of Ohio will have a heightened awareness about the spread of germs during rush week, said April Robles, university director and adviser to the Interfraternity Council.
"We'll have to monitor the contact and how well people are doing and how much rest they're getting during that busy time of recruitment," Robles said.
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