Answering to alcohol

Education or legal enforcement?

Spare the rod, spoil the child.

In light of the recent crackdown on underage drinking by the Ann Arbor Police Department, the University community is wondering whether enforcement or education is the better way to stop irresponsible and underage drinking on campus.

"Enforcement is one element of approaches of substance and substance abuse," said Associate Dean of Students Frank Cianciola. "Is enforcement the only thing that is going to make a change? I don't think so."

An LSA first-year student who received a minor in possession of alcohol citation earlier this year said the experience has not deterred him from drinking.

The University Health Services providesstudents with alcohol awareness materials.

"It's something I want to do ... I'm not harming anyone," said the student, who asked to remain anonymous.

Within the past month, four fraternities and several house parties have been cited for either supplying alcohol to minors or knowingly allowing minors to drink on their premises.

Last Tuesday, some University students appeared in court to offer pleas for the minor in possession tickets they received from the AAPD.

"The thing that motivates change most is pointing out any discrepancy between behaviors now and long-term goals. What you do now has the potential to destroy your long term goals," said Deborah Kraus, a psychologist with University's Counseling and Psychological Services. "That's one of the most powerful motivators that there is. So that if in fact somebody having something on their record would hurt them in some way, it would be a motivator."

Although retaining the MIP on their driving record was a possibility if they did not pay a $100 fee and attend a two-hour alcohol awareness class, many of the underage students who appeared in court last Tuesday expressed apathy toward the ordeal.

"Education is always better than heavy-handed enforcement," Psychology Prof. Chris Peterson said.

He added that enforcement by the police or parents makes the issue of drinking more enticing to minors.

He said minors might change their attitudes toward alcohol when they or someone close to them have a tragic experience, citing the increasing amount of alcohol-related tragedies across the country.

"It takes a long time to change things," AAPD Officer Alicia Green said.

Green added that although it may seem that the AAPD is issuing numerous MIPs to college students recently, officers already had issued 300 for the year before the undercover operations began.

Psychology assistant Prof. Veronica Benet-Martinez said education is the most effective way to curb underage drinking.

"The police should keep doing it, but it is not going to do anything," Benet-Martinez said.

Benet-Martinez added that in order for minors to understand the risks of alcohol, society must stress education rather than glamorizing alcohol.

"Alcohol should not be glorified the way this culture glorifies it." Benet-Martinez said. "Something is wrong when people feel the only way they can be expressive is when they drink."

Kathy Klykylo, a coordinator with the Drinkwise program, said it is necessary to use both education and enforcement to prevent future alcohol tragedies.

"The two go hand in hand," Klykylo said. "One without the other won't work."

Klykylo added that society talks about alcohol, but fails to promote "low-risk usage," noting that anything outside of the recommended guidelines is high-risk drinking.

"A can of beer has the same amount of alcohol as a shot of hard liquor," she said.

Twelve drinks for a man and nine drinks for a woman is the maximum amount men and a woman respectively should drink, Klykylo said.

Within one day, a woman should not have more than two or three drinks and a man should not go beyond three or four.

Klykylo said that although Drinkwise is a counseling program, "we don't preach, but we teach that alcohol is a strong substance."

A four-year University study conducted two years ago by the Institute for Social Research found that out of a 9,945 sample of 18-to 24-year-olds, 7 percent of those studied became binge drinkers between high school graduation and their early 20s.

Binge drinking is defined as consuming four or more drinks in a single sitting, depending on the person's sex.

For the study, researchers interviewed the 18- to 24-year-olds four times during the four years. According to the study, 14 percent of the men and 7 percent of the women binge drank more frequently over the four years.

Through such programs as the Substance Abuse Education Network and the Binge Drinking Task Force, the University tries to combat binge drinking each year.

Marsha Benz, a University Health Services educator and chair of the Binge Drinking Task Force, said the University focuses on binge drinking because it results in more accidents and sexual assaults than occasional drinking.

"We are focusing on students in the residence halls because they are the students with the highest risks for problems," Benz said.

Benz added the task force tries to correct the images students enter the University with about alcohol.

"We want students to make better choices and shift culture in places where drinking is the really cool thing to do," University spokesperson Julie Peterson said.

DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily Many students who received minor in possession of alcohol citations during undercover Ann Arbor Police Department party busts have visited the Washtenaw County Courthouse.

Drinking truths:

o Binge drinking

consists of consuming more than four drinks in on sitting.

o A woman should not have more than two or three drinks a day.

- Statistics from the Institute for Social Research study

11-30-98