Tuesday, October 16, 2001

Groups call for stricter drinking penalties
By Kerry Miller
Brown Daily Herald

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (U-WIRE) — In recent decades, alcohol-related deaths on college campuses have resulted in immediate pressures on the nation’s schools by groups far and wide — the government, the American Medical Association and organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

A study by the American Medical Association released in September showed that 95 percent of parents of college students believe excessive alcohol consumption to be a serious risk to their children.

This pressure has led universities to create special alcohol abuse task forces, appoint specialists and reevaluate their policies. Yet for the most part, very little research has been completed showing the effectiveness of various strategies at reducing high-risk drinking on campus. Evidence for the most part has been only anecdotal.

Alcohol policies and the degree to which they are enforced vary widely across college campuses — as do the nature of what constitutes an alcohol-related offense and its consequences.

Data from the Harvard College Alcohol Study, which analyzed drinking behavior at 119 of the nation’s schools, showed that the “binge” drinking rate fell only slightly, from 44 to 43 percent, between 1993 and 1997. Data from 1999 show the rate held fairly steady at 44 percent.

Helen Stubbs, communications manager for the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention, said traditional alcohol education programs, which aim to educate students about the risks of drinking, are not bad but “haven’t been shown to be particularly effective.”

The HRC, a contract service of the U.S. Department of Education Safe and Drug Free Schools Program, was created to help post-secondary institutions comply with a 1986 federal law requiring campuses to have prevention policies, programs and periodic assessments — all conditions of eligibility for federal financial assistance.

The Higher Education Center, backed by research from the Harvard School of Public Health, advocates environmental management — a broad-based group of strategies growing in popularity across college campuses.

These include offering alcohol-free social and recreational options, limiting alcohol availability on and near campus and restricting the marketing and promotion of alcohol to students.

Also included in this group of strategies is “social norms marketing,” a strategy being instituted at a number of campuses. Based on findings that high-risk drinkers are in the minority among students but that others overestimate the level of drinking among their peers, this strategy uses survey data to educate students about the actual level of drinking on campus.

Evidence suggests that once students’ misperceptions of the norm are corrected through public awareness campaigns, drinking levels appear to decline.

Another recommended strategy is increasing enforcement of existing state and university laws regarding underage drinking. Previous research by the Harvard School of Public Health has shown that the under-21 law is laxly enforced on most campuses.

“There’s a growing awareness of the fact that loosening or not enforcing policies can lead to high-risk alcohol use and disturbances,” Stubbs said.

Two particularly controversial issues deal with consequences for alcohol-related offenses.

Several schools, including the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Delaware, have adopted “three strikes” and parental notification policies. Both schools have shown higher-than-average rates of binge drinking in the Harvard Alcohol Study.

At Colorado, the first alcohol-related offense results in a $100 fine and a referral to a substance abuse prevention program. The student’s parents are notified upon the second offense and the student is suspended for at least one semester on the third offense.

Robert Maust, project director for Colorado’s alcohol prevention program, said last year only 14 students were cited for three or more alcohol-related offenses.