Chico, Berkeley require alcohol class; Fresno
State satisfied with voluntary program
By Douglas Sulenta
The Collegian
This fall two California universities
are requiring all new incoming students to take an online alcohol awareness
class in their first semester on campus.
Both UC Berkeley and CSU Chico have had high-profile alcohol-related incidents
over the past several years.
A fight broke out at a UC Berkeley fraternity-sponsored boat party earlier
this year. Another Berkeley alcohol-related event involved a fraternity
member being shot 30 times with a pellet gun.
Chico, currently number two on Playboy Magazine’s list of hottest
party campuses, lost a student to alcohol in a fraternity’s initiation
ceremony in 2000. Earlier this year a Chico student slipped into a coma
after drinking vodka. He lived.
The class these schools are requiring, AlcoholEdu for College, consists
of an initial two-hour session, which had to be completed by the students
prior to August 19, before classes even started. The program asks the
students a series of questions regarding their own and their families’
drinking habits, and then designs an online course patterned for that
students specific needs. Later in the semester the student must take a
follow-up course, which takes about 15 minutes.
Fresno State administration said Thursday that it is satisfied with the
alcohol awareness programs the school has, and has no plans to require
students to take a course. AlcoholEdu for College is already used on a
partially voluntary basis at Fresno State.
Paul Oliaro, Vice President of Student Affairs at Fresno State, spoke
about the importance of making students aware of the legal implications
of underage drinking and said he encourages students not to break the
law. Oliaro said he could not speculate at this time whether this program
could be implemented at Fresno State, he said programs currently in place
on campus are very effective.
“We have a committee of people including students, faculty, staff,
law enforcement officials and community members,” Oliaro said. “That
group collectively identifies a lot of different ways in which we could
keep the issue of responsible alcohol use in front of students.”
Oliaro said most Fresno State students choose to drink responsibly, and
that 45 percent of students say they haven’t had an alcoholic beverage
in the last 30 days. This figure, he said, is below the national average.
“Our students tend to be more moderate drinkers than their peers
around the country, and when they do drink they tend to drink less,”
Oliaro said.
He also said Fresno State students tend to use more preventative measures
when drinking, such as counting drinks, eating and finding a designated
driver.
Oliaro said peer education is an essential part of helping students make
informed decisions about drinking, “because it’s a lot easier
for a student to accept information from another student than from an
administrator or teacher.”
He said the AlcoholEdu program in place at Fresno State is mostly voluntary,
but when in some cases it is “done in conjunction with judiciary
action, it’s not voluntary; it’s a required part of the disciplinary
action.”
According to Oliaro, the responsibility for student safety is a joint
effort.
“Most of our students are legal adults, so they need to take responsibility
for themselves and their choices,” he said. “At the same time,
this is an educational institution, a learning environment, so part of
our responsibility is to provide information help students make good choices
in all aspects of their lives.”
Perry Angle, a director with the CSU Alcohol and Traffic Safety Department
on campus, commended the actions that these schools are taking.
“College administrators should take drastic steps if the safety
of their students is in jeopardy. Perhaps the alcohol abuse prevention
course won’t change the lives of all the students there, but it
certainly won’t hurt, and it might just save a life.”
Angle said that he admires what administrators at Chico are trying to
do, because “this online class certainly won’t be popular
with the students there.”
He said what Fresno State administrators are trying to do is inform first-time
students about drinking.
“The misconception that incoming freshmen have about college life
is that everybody goes out and parties and that everyone going to these
parties is drinking,” Angle said.
Some Fresno State students expressed skepticism about making the program
mandatory.
“It seems like a waste of time,” second-year student Anna
Stepanian said. “Especially since I don’t drink.”
First-semester student Susan Owen agreed.
“One could see where the intention and purpose of the class is valid,”
she said. “However, the reality of the situation is that no class
is going to be able to change the mind of any college student on the subject
of drinking.
“Such a class at Fresno State would be a complete waste of money
that would lead to tuition rising yet again.”
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