The mission of PartySafe@Cal is to reduce harm associated with drinking in the campus area. While the scope and nature of this harm are often underestimated, its unchangeable character is often overestimated. PartySafe@Cal is moving away from the "one size fits all" approach for reducing alcohol problems and along with an array of city and campus collaborators we are putting our resources into successful, evidence-based approaches. Early indicators show that we are having an impact on the culture and harm of college drinking in Berkeley.

Traditional alcohol prevention efforts to target individual and/or high risk drinkers with information-based approaches have met with little resistance but have produced few or no results (Weitzman and Nelson, 2004). Binge drinking seems to be increasing. The Prevention Paradox does not suggest that we should forego treatment efforts or all "high-risk" approaches. Within the college setting and population, these high-risk students typically come to the attention of authorities such as the Office for Student Affairs or the campus and local police departments. (Weitzman, Nelson, 2004) and they may best be reached using individually based secondary or tertiary (treatment-based) approaches. The Prevention Paradox only suggests that by itself, the individual and/or high risk drinker approach is not sufficient to yield community-wide reductions in harm or change in the ongoing college drinking culture. (Nelson, Toben, 2005).

The population or environmental approach to prevention has received less attention in college health settings. A review of the evidence shows that using environmental interventions to target all members of a population, including low to moderate drinkers, achieves maximum-alcohol-related harm reduction. (Weitzman, 2004)