Colleges are trying to prevent underage drinkers from hitting the bottle before heading out to clubs or parties where they are officially banned from drinking, the Boston Globe reported April 9.

Such 'pregaming' has become popular on the college party circuit, with predictable consequences; for example, a number of students were found to be dangerously drunk at Brandeis University's Modfest last year because they had been drinking before the event kicked off. This year's Modfest, a popular outdoor party, has been canceled as a result.

Wellesley University has banned all parties with over 1,000 participants, and even tried giving each legal drinker at a recent party two beers to try to prevent 'pregaming.' Drinking games and groups of 10 or more drinkers have been banned from dorm rooms at UMass Amherst.

"It's a very difficult thing for universities to deal with," said David Greene, vice president for campus life at Brown University. "You don't want to put students at greater risk (by pushing the drinking behind closed doors), but you need to enforce the law and have reasonable standards of behavior."

But Edgar Ndjatou, director of social affairs for the Brandeis student government, said, "Unless you impose some kind of martial law on campus, there's no way you can stop pregaming."

Schools have tried to take the edge off of 'pregaming' by serving more food at events, so students don't drink on an empty stomach.