Impaired judgement

Part 5 - The right response

by Jason Gay

Universities and colleges are getting better at addressing the issue of student drinking. Many institutions already have counseling programs in place. For the most part, the days of administrators holding their breath on Friday night and not exhaling until Monday morning are over.

In the wake of Krueger's death, MIT has reassessed its alcohol policy, hosting meetings with students and parents and even creating an online forum for drinking discussion. The university has also pledged to construct more undergraduate dormitory space so fewer freshmen are forced to turn to fraternities and other off-campus housing options.

But no single measure can serve as a cure-all. "The [college drinking] issue is so complex and intertwined in our culture that change is difficult," says Iddo Gilon, the president of MIT's interfraternity council. "For change to happen, you can't just put a policy on paper. You have to reach out into the entire community."

That's why outreach is the most important element in the fight against college alcohol abuse. Ensure that every student knows how much alcohol it takes to impair judgment, or cause intoxication or death, and enlist students to convey this information. When these risks are made clear, campus tolerance for alcohol abusers will shrink even further. If getting too drunk becomes uncool, then responsible students will patrol the others.

Students can also play a role in other preventive measures. For 10 years, Boston College has sponsored a program called Community Assistant Patrol (CAP), in which graduate assistants regularly monitor problematic off-campus party areas. If students spot an out-of-control party, they have the authority to confiscate fake IDs. But mostly, they warn students to break up the festivities before the police arrive and trouble starts.

Compared to run-ins with cops, BC students don't seem to mind the CAP service. "If you're off-campus, you don't want to deal with the Boston police," senior Anthony Martino told BU's Daily Free Press. "You'd rather deal with a [CAP] who just tells you to get out."

Even if a college's ultimate goal is getting rid of alcohol completely, it's better to work with students. A growing number of institutions, including Brandeis University, in Waltham, provide students with the option of living in a "dry" dormitory. It's a smaller-scale version of the type of alcohol ban Cellucci proposed for state schools.

The difference is that Brandeis didn't ram its policy past all its students in reaction to a tragedy. Its dry-dorm initiative was implemented gradually, and -- more important -- participation in the alcohol-free zone is the choice of students, not administrators.

The dry dorms have helped Brandeis minimize its drinking problems on campus by changing student attitudes. Students who apply to the university today don't come expecting a party-hearty campus lifestyle. Likewise, they don't feel obligated to continue a tradition of uncontrolled drinking once they get there.

Again, the point is cooperation, not combat. "You have to change the culture," says Dwight Heath. "And you do that by educating people."

Back to part 4 - On to part 6

Jason Gay can be reached at jgay[a]phx.com.