UOregon prez may ban alcohol in chapters in '01-'02

[hoosier]

If he does this, how can he make rules for private groups in private houses on private land?

May 10, 2002
UO, OSU take different approaches to underage drinking

PORTLAND, ORE. (AP) - More students are getting arrested for underage drinking on their campuses, but Oregon's two largest public universities have different solutions.

University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer is expected to order all 15 fraternities to go dry next school year, in part because officials have noticed more unregistered parties involving underage students who binge drink.

At Oregon State University, officials aren't sure forcing fraternities to go dry is the answer, even though they concede some fraternities are magnets for problem drinking. Two OSU students died in alcohol-related accidents at fraternity gatherings in the past year.

Student drinking at OSU is "part of a typical college or university behavior pattern," says Larry Roper, vice provost of student affairs. "Sometimes it's really hard to know how to come at it."

According to a review of Corvallis and Eugene police department reports, Corvallis police issued 72 misdemeanor citations for underage drinking from 1997 through 2001. Six fraternities or fraternity council members were cited for furnishing alcohol to minors.

During that time, Corvallis police investigated 10 alleged sexual assaults at fraternities - alcohol being a common thread in each investigation. Two resulted in arrests.

At the University of Oregon, 136 students were cited for underage drinking at its 15 fraternities from 1997 through 2001, Eugene police records show. Nineteen people were cited at fraternities for furnishing alcohol to a minor or permitting a minor to drink at the fraternity.

Eugene police also investigated five alleged sexual assaults at fraternities, although no arrests were made.

Drinking arrests on campus are up, too.

At UO, liquor law violations were up from 70 in 1999 to 318 last year.

At OSU, during the same period, liquor violations more than doubled, from 85 to 197.

UO administrators anticipate that alcohol violations at the school's fraternities should plummet once Frohnmayer mandates alcohol-free chapters.

"It's not a response to an egregious incident or a series of incidents," said Gregg Lobisser, UO director of student activities. "It really is an effort to work with the Greek community to help them be successful."

Many students, though, are critical of the move.

Rachel Pilliod, a 20-year-old sophomore who is the incoming University of Oregon student body president, said many students question the wisdom of the alcohol ban, saying it would move parties farther off-campus.

That could lead students to drive drunk or cause others to injure themselves while walking home from parties, she said.