Univ. Presidents thoughts on combating alcohol use...

[DeltAlum]

From the Ohio University Post. Some interesting stuff on alcohol, without mentioning GLO's...

College presidents vow to curb drinking

by Jennifer Lash
Scripps Howard Foundation Wire



Students buy more booze than books

The average college student on a typical campus spends more money annually on alcohol - $466 - than on books, soda, coffee, juice and milk combined, according to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Web site.

While college students are busy drinking an estimated 4 billion cans of beer each year, 42 Ohio college and university presidents pledged their support of the Ohio College Initiative to Reduce High Risk Drinking in November.

"It is very difficult to combat peer pressure among young people," said Ohio University President Robert Glidden, chair of the Ohio College Initiative. "Obviously there is no easy answer. Someone comes up with a good idea, and then it is good to share it among universities."

Glidden said he hates to take a get-tough attitude with students.

"Preaching to people doesn't really do it," Glidden said. "You have to prevail on their good sense and their wanting to be responsible and to not make fools of themselves."

Ohio Parents for Drug Free Youth, a non-profit organization, started the statewide initiative in 1996 with 19 colleges.

The U.S. Department of Education's Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention is working with 45 states to develop similar initiatives, said Jerry Anderson, the center's statewide initiatives coordinator.

"Ohio is considered to be the pioneer of that type of statewide initiative," Anderson said.

The center has a list of five strategies that many schools, including OU, look at when starting programs: offering alcohol-free social and recreational options, convincing students they don't have to be drunk to have fun, limiting alcohol availability, restricting marketing and promotion of alcohol and increasing enforcement.

Holly Zweizig, assistant director of Ohio Parents for Drug Free Youth, said a case study of universities in Ohio found that strong leaders were key.

"There are a lot of variables that play into high-risk drinking on a campus, and their support for environmental changes really does make a difference," Zweizig said. "The problem is very individual to each campus and community, which is part of the difficulty in developing a one-size-fits-all approach to this issue."

Anderson said the convergence of college presidents is significant and "says loud and clear this isn't a problem that's just on my campus; it's a public health concern."

Alcohol use on college campuses is a problem all over the country, not just at Ohio, Glidden said. He said factors other than the number of bars on Court Street near the campus or events such as the university's rowdy Halloween weekend are responsible for alcohol-related problems.

In Oxford, Ohio, home to Miami University, the city council passed a nuisance party ordinance that says police may break up "a party or social gathering that is or becomes a nuisance party" and force everyone to leave.

Thayer Talbott, administrative assistant to the police chief, said six nuisance party citations have been issued since March. She said the department thinks the law has been effective.

Glidden said he is working with Mayor Ric Abel to form a university-community task force. But he said something similar to the Oxford ordinance is needed because "you can't react with a riot squad every time a group gathers in the street."

Any thoughts?

[Rudey]

Wow, most students have cheap books.

-Rudey
--I probably spent around $400/quarter on books alone except for the quarter I took golf.

[DeltAlum]

That's true. Our son has been spending about $500/semester on books.

[James]

I don't understand. If they want to stop drinking all they have to do is walk up and down the apartments and dorms and slap every person they catch drinking or has alcohol on their breathe with a legal charge.

After the lawyer costs and all it will be a nightmare to the student. After a while students will get so paranoid about getting busted that drinking will decrease. It doesn't take a genius to see what needs to be done to decrease drinking.

Also pull more students over and start writing a lot more underage DUI's.

[kappaloo]

This seems a little drastic... we don't have such issues with alchohol here and we're far more open (not to mention it's legal at 19).

Instead of taking a prohibitionist approach - why not:
* teach students about the dangers of binge drinking
* signs of alchohol poisioning
* how to drink responcibility.
* give people some place to drink legally!

Then again, I'm becoming more and more against legal ages. The people I know who are the most responcible with alchohol are the ones whose parents let them drink in high school.

[DeltAlum]

Actually, my impression of Dr. Glidden's approach is to get away from the "heavy handed" measures used by some others, and appeal to the student's intelligence. Which is somewhat of a breath air, I think.

It's also interesting, that there is no mention whatsoever of fraternities or the Greek System which generally takes the brunt of any discussion of campus drinking.

Glidden is not a great supporter of the Greek System, but I think a pretty fair guy.

And, as usual, I appreciate your subtlety, James. Glidden is leaving the university, maybe I'll nominate you for his replacement.

[GeekyPenguin]

Originally posted by Rudey
Wow, most students have cheap books.

-Rudey
--I probably spent around $400/quarter on books alone except for the quarter I took golf.

I was just thinking that - if I spent more on alcohol than on books, I'd be drinking Kristal or however that's spelled every night!

[aephi alum]

Originally posted by GeekyPenguin
I was just thinking that - if I spent more on alcohol than on books, I'd be drinking Kristal or however that's spelled every night!

Seriously. If I'd spent on alcohol what I spent on books, I'd have been polishing off a bottle of Veuve Clicquot every night!

[shadokat]

Hmmm, I'm trying to get a rough estimate on the alcohol expenditure. If you go out Thursday, Friday and Saturday and spend $20 each night, times 15 weeks in the semester, that's about $900 a semester! WOW! I did spend a lot.

[GeekyPenguin]

Granted I'm underage, so I don't drink. But if I ever did, I would NOT spend more than $5 a night. And I'd only go out 2-3 nights a week. So assuming I spend $10 a week on alcohol which is REALLY HIGH that's still nowhere near their average.

Maybe it's just because I went to a school with no girls, but I never would have had to pay for alcohol, if I wanted it.

[aephi alum]

Originally posted by GeekyPenguin
Granted I'm underage, so I don't drink. But if I ever did, I would NOT spend more than $5 a night.

If that's your spending limit, I suggest you avoid the bars in Manhattan. You can easily drop $10-12 on one drink at some places...

[sugar and spice]

Originally posted by aephi alum
If that's your spending limit, I suggest you avoid the bars in Manhattan. You can easily drop $10-12 on one drink at some places...

Up here in Wisconsin:

(1) It's too cold to go out and unless you're one of those picky drinkers, you end staying in splitting a $12 bottle of vodka four ways; it'll probably last you a couple weeks.
(2) You buy a couple kegs and throw a party for all the alcohol-seeking freshman and you actually make money off of your drinking (note: this is probably not such a good idea if you live in a sorority house, ditto for #1).
(3) We go to the frat parties, which are free
(4) You go to the bars and make the guys pay.

I'll probably end up spending more on alcohol once I reach legal drinking age, but I drank a LOT last year and would be surprised if I topped $100. This is counting drinking at least twice a week during the school year, and once a week in the summer, sometimes (maybe often?) more.

[madmax]

The numbers listed sound like bullsht..

$466 annually for books, soda, coffee, juice and milk??? Books alone can cost way more than that.

Whatever the numbers are I would like to see the numbers for the rest of the population. The profs and administrators probably spend a few grand each year on alcohol and drugs.

[ISUKappa]

Originally posted by GeekyPenguin
Granted I'm underage, so I don't drink. But if I ever did, I would NOT spend more than $5 a night. And I'd only go out 2-3 nights a week. So assuming I spend $10 a week on alcohol which is REALLY HIGH that's still nowhere near their average.

Maybe it's just because I went to a school with no girls, but I never would have had to pay for alcohol, if I wanted it.

It's cheaper here than in Manhattan, but when I went to the bars when I was in school, I could drop $10-20 a night, easy, even when there were specials-which was pretty much every night. That doesn't include cover price, though, which quite a few bars charged. And I agree you definitely spend more once you've hit the magic age.

Bottle of beer=$2.50-3.50 (unless it was $1 bottles)
Draw beer=$2.00-4.00
Mixed drink=$2.00-5.00
shot=$2.00-5.00

It adds up quickly! (And it doesn't help when there are 3 ATMs strategically placed up and down Welch Ave where all the bars are located).

[DeltAlum]

Remember that the costs and numbers are an averages -- meaning the many costs would be over and many under.