Monday, October 25, 1999
Alcohol-free events offer choices
Binge drinking on campuses a growing concern
BY DIONNE BRADDIX
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Caroline Schwan, a senior at the University of Cincinnati, dances at an alcohol-free function at Tangeman University Center.
(Jeff Swinger photo)
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Amid concerns about drinking-related problems on campus, there's a growing student movement promoting alcohol-free socializing and peer education.
Students are trained to tell others about alcohol abuse and subjects that can be related to drinking — such as date rape and sexually transmitted diseases.
“It's really effective,” said Kim Vance, assistant director of residence life at Northern Kentucky University. “It changes the participants' attitudes because it makes them think about what decisions they are making. The students are very responsive, I think, because the program is an open discussion done by other students. They see it in a nonthreatening way.”
NKU's Peers Educating Peers, or PEP, program is in its third year of helping freshmen learn about choices in alcohol consumption.
Similar programs are under way at Miami University and the University of Cincinnati.
“Students are always going to drink, but if you have nonalcoholic programs they do come and they do have fun,” said Stephanie Corcoran, a senior at Miami University in Oxford. “You can't stop people from drinking totally, but by having these programs they have a choice.”
Friday and Saturday night nonalcoholic activities ranging from free movies to dancing lessons are arranged by students.
“Our biggest program, which just started this fall, is called Friday Night Live,” said Kirsten Lupinski, director of the UC Wellness Center. “It's on campus from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., is nonalcoholic, and has movies; a comedy caravan is coming, swing night.”
Ms. Lupinski said Friday Night Live attracts 300 to 400 students and numbers are increasing. Binge drinking isn't as widespread as the excesses of a few “high-risk” students suggest, she added.
Miami University junior Kerri Rebresh disagrees. “People going out to drink are intending to get drunk. Four or five drinks in one night are not going to do it for most.”
Ms. Rebresh was skeptical about campus anti-alcohol abuse programs and said students' upbringing has more impact on the choices they make in alcohol consumption.
“I don't think the anti-binge drinking events that we have at Miami are effective at all,” she said. “The only people that won't drink are the ones who wouldn't drink anyway.”
The problem persists despite Ohio law, which makes it illegal for anyone under age 21 to consume alcoholic beverages. That includes dorms, fraternity houses and off-campus bars.
Most undergraduates — the focus of drinking concerns — are too young to drink alcohol legally.
Dr. Phillip Shriver, president emeritus at Miami, said alcohol always has been a problem on college campuses and is a form of drug abuse.
“Society has tolerated alcohol use but not extreme alcohol use,” he said. “Having a drink was a social event, and when someone had one too many, it was looked down upon badly.”
Bob Ethridge, former vice president of student affairs and dean of students for Miami University from 1959-1989, said every generation seems to have its drug of choice.
“It's just a subtle change,” Mr. Ethridge said. “In the '60s and '70s, the drug culture was confined to marijuana and more exotic drugs like LSD. Binge drinking wasn't prevalent. Today, students go out with an attitude of "If I can remember being put to bed, I didn't have a good time!'”
Mr. Ethridge also said peer education is not new. Student anti-drug movements in the '60s and '70s are models for today's programs.
“Then peer education came in and began in the middle '70s,” he said. “Students told other students that they didn't have to do everything they saw in Playboy. Teaching self-responsibility is the basis of it. If you can't withstand peer pressure, then you won't be able to withstand binge drinking.”
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