Utah's public colleges and universities have announced they are sharing a $2.2 million federal grant aimed at reducing the amount of alcohol being consumed on their campuses.

It's a worthy cause, and the schools are rightfully pleased about the extra funds, which will be administered by the state Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health in ways that are proven to work.

Still, any effort aimed at curbing alcohol abuse among college-aged people has to swim upstream against a current of irresponsible behavior by the alcohol industry. In Utah, prevailing cultural winds may serve to push hard against that current, but it is a formidable force nonetheless.

Recent studies have shown that the alcohol industry is not letting up in its efforts to lure new customers, and that those new customers tend to come mainly from the ranks of the young. A recent study by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at Georgetown University, for example, found that ads for alcoholic drinks are being placed primarily in magazines that appeal to underage readers, such as those dealing with sports and music.

In 2002, the study found, underage youths were exposed to 45 percent more beer and ale ads and 65 percent more ads for low-alcohol "refresher" drinks than were adults. For underage girls, the exposure to ads for "refresher" drinks increased by a whopping 216 percent between 2001 and 2002.

Meanwhile, the industry keeps coming up with more of these drinks, also known as alco-pop. Generally, these take the form of hard lemonade and other flavors with sweet tastes more reminiscent of Kool Aid. Meanwhile, alcohol ads have become almost synonymous with major sporting events, an obvious effort to connect youthful energy and good looks with consumption.

No wonder officials say many kids already are experienced drinkers by the time they show up for the first day of college.

It's all eerily similar to what the cigarette industry was doing before it became tangled in an endless web of lawsuits and government regulations.

Utah's schools aren't the only ones wrestling with the problem. Some colleges and universities have gone so far as to forbid alcohol on their campuses, or to create alcohol-free dormitories. Not all of these are private schools similar to Brigham Young University. The University of Kentucky, for example, allows alcohol only in married student housing and at certain places restricted to faculty and staff. Responsible schools may have to go that route if they truly want to impact the problem, but some students would simply go off campus to engage in binge drinking.

We applaud the federal grants to tackle this problem. We also support the new STOP Underaged Drinking Act introduced recently in Congress. It would finally provide some public monitoring of alcohol ads targeting youths. Ultimately, the industry must be held accountable for what it is doing.