Friday, November 20.1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 3
Campus housing revokes 'freebie in alcohol policy
By Sarah Hale
Kansan staff writer
Fifty percent of students surveyed who live in University of Kansas housing think the department is doing a good job enforcing the no-alcohol policy.
In order to raise the students' perceptions concerning the consequences of having alcohol in the residence halls, the housing department has decided not to give warnings.
"The survey we gave students just told us that they think they get a freebie," said Ken Stoner, director of student housing. "We were giving warnings so that we could make sure everyone knew the rules. Now we know that they do understand the policy."
Stoner said that the "Core Drug and Alcohol Survey" reported that 87 percent of the residents knew about the policy.
At least 848 residents took the survey, which was part of a city-wide task force report.
A letter outlining the rules and consequences was sent by the housing department yesterday to residents.
The final paragraph stated the option that students could be asked to move out depending on the circumstances.
The policy states, "Effective immediately, residents violating the alcohol policy will always receive a formal sanction associated with the infraction. Sanctions available include termination of contract."
Emily Joseph, Wichita freshman, who lives in Gertrude Sellards Pearson-Corbin Hall, said that she
HOUSING ALCOHOL POLICY
Residents caught with alcohol will no longer be given verbal warninas.
Every incident will be reported, and the resident will be written up.
- Punishments include probation, counselor meetings, alcohol treatment advice or terminations of the housing contract.
Individual consequences will depend on each incident.
thought stronger policy enforcement was a good idea.
"If people are going to break the rules, then they need to be prepared to deal with the consequences," Joseph said. "That's just part of living in University housing."
Brooks Johnson, Overland Park freshman and McCollum resident, said that the letter sounded like a good idea, but he questioned how well it could be implemented.
"I just wonder how they will be able to control drinking," he said. "Students come to college to drink, so they're going to do it anyway. If the department tries to tell them to get treatment or attend meetings, it might just be taken as a joke."
Stoner said that the ultimate goal of the letter was to inform students that they would not get any second chances.
Alcohol is prohibited in the KU residence halls and scholarship halls. Violation of this policy will result in punishment.
"The rule has always been there," Stoner said. "Now, we're just eliminating the warnings. It was a wasted step."
Grants to help combat binge drinking
Kansas universities may receive money from health agency
By Jason Pearce
Kansas staff writer
Three universities in Kansas will receive a total of $1.5 million in grants from the Kansas Health Foundation to implement a social-norms approach to curb the number of students who binge drink.
The University of Kansas applied for the grant yesterday — which gives money and assistance for five years in order to establish the program — in response to an alcohol survey that detailed students' alcohol use and abuse.
The recipients of the grants will not be known until early in 1999.
The survey stated that 85 percent of students surveyed said they had used alcohol in the last 30 days. It also said that 58 percent had participated in binge drinking during the last two weeks. The survey classified binge drinking as the consumption of five or more drinks in one sitting.
Greg Meissen, co-project director for the Kansas Health Foundation's Social Norms Project, said that the project had been successful in lowering binge drinking rates at universities across the nation. Meissen works at Wichita State University as a director of the self-help network.
He said that the program took a positive approach to deterrence by pointing out that a majority of students were not binge drinkers or drunk drivers. It includes the use of a positive-media campaign and professionals who assist students with drinking problems.
"It communicates on a regular basis what students are doing right," Meissen said.
He said the program created a positive atmosphere for students and also acknowledged that alcohol-related problems exist.
"The don't-do it approach just doesn't work, he said. "We are trying
- Most Northern Illinois men do not drink or have less than 5 drinks when they "party."
STUDENTS SPEAK...
Most Northern Illinois women do not drink or have less than 3 drinks when they "narty."
84 percent of Northern Illinois students reported that they drank alcohol in the last year.
1 percent of Northern Illinois students were arrested for DUI
1. percent of northern illinois students were arrested for DUI.
84 percent of Northern Illinois students did not hurt themselves, and 93 percent did not hurt anyone else when they drank last year.
Jason Benavides/KANSAN
to change people's attitudes towards alcohol use."
The program was developed at Northern Illinois University in 1990.
Michael Haines, co-project director and faculty member at Northern Illinois University, said binge-drinking rates have declined by 44 percent since 1990.
"The program is based on the idea that college students are a lot healthier than the whole university community realizes." Haines said.
According to Haines, other schools across the nation have adopted this program and seen positive results. The University of Arizona saw a 26 percent reduction in binge drinking during the last three years. Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, N.Y., recorded a decrease of 12 percent during two years and Western Washington University saw an 8 percent decrease in one year.
He said that most universities were working to decrease binge drinking under a false norm — that most students get drunk constantly and cause physical and emotional harm.
"Instead of focusing on a few problems, the program focuses on a real solution." Haines said.
No alcohol-related surveys ever have suggested that alcohol prohibition on college campuses results in lower drinking rates, he said.
"This is something where college administrators can be part of the solution by supporting those people doing the right thing." Haines said.
Senate broadens discrimination protection
By Carolyn Mollett Kansan staff writer
A session of Student Senate rule amending brought an unexpected change in the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities on Wednesday evening.
The Senate added "gender identity or expression" into three articles of the code as a trait for which students cannot be discriminated against. Other categories mentioned in the articles for which discrimination is prohibited include sex, race, color, national origin, religion, ancestry, sexual orientation and disability.
Lisa Braun, Queers and Allies student senator, said there was a difference between the meaning of sexual orientation and gender
identity or expression. Sexual orientation has to do with to whom a person is sexually attracted, and gender identity or expression is how a person expresses society's interpretation of gender. Braun said.
She said the new wording would prohibit a woman from being discriminated against because she seemed too masculine or too feminine.
She said that because the committee's other amend-
Christine Robinson, member of Gay and Lesbian Academic and Staff Advocates and Queers and Allies, said, "It has to do with how you express masculinity, femininity and/or androgyny."
Braun said the addition of the phrase to the code was the next step in a movement toward acceptance of diversity.
AMENDMENTS
Article Two, Section C
The articles of the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities that were amended are:
Article 1. True Section A
The right of students to be free from harassment or discrimination based on sex, race, color, national origin, religion, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, or as specified by law, age, or veteran status, marital or parental status shall not be abridged. Such rights are further enumerated in the University policies on Sexual Harassment, Racial and Ethnic Harassment and the Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Grievance Procedures.
Under no circumstances shall an applicant for
admission to the University be denied admission because of race, religion, sex, color, disability national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation gender identity or expression, political affiliation, marital or parental status, and to the extent specified by law, age or veteran status.
Article 10, Section C
ments were being proposed at the Student Senate meeting, she decided to propose these changes as well. She said she had been discussing it with members of Queers and Allies.
A student may not be denied the rights of access to and participation in any University-sponsored or University-approved activity because of race, religion, sex, color, disability, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, political affiliation, marital or parental status, and to the extent specified by law, age or veteran status.
"It's something we've been talking about since September," Braun said.
The addition of the phrase will make other policy changes easier to accomplish in the future, Braun said.
And prospective University of Kansas students could be more comfortable knowing that they are more protected.
"They might feel a little bit safer at the University," Braun said.
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