-= NMSU PANORAMA - Summer 2005 =- Helping Students Make Smart Choices

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Helping Students Make Smart Choices

By Mary Benanti '84

University, community team up to fight binge drinking

NMSU sponsored a community forum in May to address the problem of alcohol abuse among young people.

Panelists at the forum included Las Cruces Mayor William Mattiace and Claudia Montoya '04 (above);

President Michael Martin and Christine Berry, mother of Christopher Berry;

and student-athlete Cameron Wright and Ed Kellum from the Interfraternity Council.

Steven Judd was a bright young man with everything to live for.

Just before Thanks-giving 2004, the NMSU junior went out with friends to celebrate his 21st birthday in Las Cruces bars. The next day he lay dead - his future snuffed out by alcohol poisoning.

His parents were devastated; his fraternity brothers in shock. And the issue of binge drinking on college campuses once again rose to the top of the day's newscasts, once again stood out in bold headlines in newspapers across the nation.

A sense of mourning enveloped the campus and NMSU launched an alcohol awareness campaign that included students, faculty members, administrators and staff. And a program already under way to help students make smarter, healthier choices following the off-campus deaths of three NMSU women students in six years kicked into higher gear.

At a memorial service for their son, the grief-stricken Judds issued this plea:

"Please realize that even the best young people make mistakes . Our hope is that something positive may come from the tragedy of our son's death. Just as Steven wanted to make the world better, we want his life to make a difference."

Nonetheless, just four months later, another NMSU student, Christopher Berry, lay comatose in the hospital after binge drinking - this time after a party celebrating his 22nd birthday. He died just days later. It was a week before the beginning of spring break.

At a memorial service following his death, his grieving parents also urged his friends to learn from the tragedy, take responsibility for themselves and each other and prevent another senseless death.

NMSU President Michael Martin reiterated their words. Practice moderation and take care of each other, he urged students as they prepared to leave campus for the annual break.

A student peer counseling group - Wellness, Alcohol and Violence Education - sent out an e-mail right before the break to every student at the university. It too cautioned students to be careful, make smart choices and come back safe and well after the break.

No. 1 Issue Facing Campuses

Most students do drink responsibly, says Counseling Director John Irvine. NMSU students track with statistics from across the country that show 59 percent of students reported having four or fewer drinks per week. The majority reported having no drinks in the week prior to the survey.

But there are those who do drink and those who drink heavily. They seem to be reflected in one student's response to the pre-spring break e-mail saying he was 21 and that he would drink as much as he pleased.

Some of the students who participated in NMSU's pilot Web-based program on making healthy choices regarding alcohol reported that they already knew some of the information being presented. But they also said that students who want to drink will do it anyway. Many believe it to be a rite of passage, the expected thing to do. The tradition. And therein lies the problem.

Binge drinking and other alcohol and substance abuse issues are hardly new to the nation's campuses. In 1999, Graham Spanier, president of Penn State University, said it was the number one issue facing U.S. campuses.

Now six years later, it seems to have reached epidemic proportions as communities across the country grapple with the problem. And media reports from Great Britain and Australia indicate the problem is similar in those countries.

According to the latest figures from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1,700 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die annually from some form of alcohol-related event. Many more are injured because of alcohol abuse, some from drunken driving and others because of alcohol-related sexual assaults.

With these statistics in mind, NMSU began a wrenching process of examining the programs it offers students on such topics.

Choices Confront Students

"Today's students face and must make choices and judgments about issues many of us didn't face," says Rebecca Dukes, vice president of advancement. This is "not by design, but by evolution."

At the time of Chris Berry's death, the pilot Web program, "Healthy Choices," was well under way in three pre-selected classes. It had two goals. One was teaching new students how to use Web tools; the other was helping students make wise choices concerning alcohol and personal safety.

Following the pilot program, a decision was made to integrate the information into a segment of English 111, a course that reaches 85 to 90 percent of students. That means reshaping the English course curriculum to include a project in which students will read, reflect and write on the issues of alcohol use, date rape and personal safety, says Cheryl Nims, assistant professor of English. It will include a visit from a peer counselor to interact face-to-face with students in the class. With 60 to 70 sections of English 111 each semester, this means a significant commitment for all involved. And it creates a need for more staff and funding devoted to the program.

English Professor Stuart Brown says his students who participated in the pilot program told him "the alcohol situation is more serious than we adults perceive."

The program is meant to encourage critical thinking and dialogue, to "help make them more alert to potential dangers and to look out for each other. If we do that, I will feel good about it," Brown says.

The Sociology and Anthropology Department joined in the education effort. Christine Eber, Berry's professor, is establishing a course on Drugs and Society. She did her research and doctoral dissertation on the topic.

Theater Department Head Ruth Cantrell reached out to her students before spring break to seek input from them on how they could use their art to be part of the effort.

But even as this groundswell continues from varying parts of the campus, President Martin says it's only part of the solution.

A Community Issue

"This problem cries out for a much more involved conversation than those we are having on campus," Martin says. "It has to extend beyond the university's boundaries. The conversation must involve community, business and government leaders; faculty and staff members; students and parents."

His call for a community summit on binge drinking drew almost immediate response. The result was a May forum on alcohol abuse prevention that was attended by more than 150 business, civic, church and education leaders. The forum discussed a variety of topics, including the fact that many students from southern New Mexico arrive at college already in the habit of heavy drinking,

"Ames, Iowa, doesn't have a Juárez 40 miles down the road," Martin says, referring to the ability of young teens to cross the border into Mexico to consume alcohol. It's a daunting challenge to those concerned about underage drinking. Representatives from California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas met recently to discuss the problems of underage drinking and the presence of the Juárez influence. And groups in neighboring El Paso have suggested going to the border in person to try to deter young people from crossing and drinking.

Another issue that must be considered is the question of why students feel the need to drink. Pressure, finances, long hours, balancing school and work are part of the problem. But so are problems like low self-esteem. More students are coming to campus with issues such as mental illness and substance addiction and family problems, Irvine says.

A report by Harvard University from its College Alcohol Study showed that students with poor mental health/depression were more likely than their peers to have trouble with alcohol abuse. While the CAS said 5 percent of students surveyed self-reported having mental health/depression issues, Irvine says the figure is much higher.

And then there are the outside influences. The Harvard study reported that advertising and proximity of bars to campuses significantly influence the amount of drinking by college students.

"The drinking lifestyle is a well-advertised and low-budget form of entertainment on college campuses," wrote study author Henry Wechsler. "Our study confirms that the lower the prices and the more extensive the specials, the more heavy the drinking."

This is where community involvement and town and gown partnerships come into play, Irvine says. Some communities have been successful in limiting such advertising. The Harvard study also reported that there has been some success in "town-gown partnerships to reduce high-risk college drinking" - a positive sign to Martin. He plans to hold a follow-up community forum in the fall.

NMSU a Role ModelSystemwide Collaborative

Recent incidents of alcohol deaths, date rape and violence, and even suicide are a departure from what he experienced three decades ago when he began teaching, Martin says.

"I began teaching in Wisconsin in 1971. We lowered the drinking age from 21 to 18. It seemed there was a heavy party scene, but somehow it was more benign," Martin says. "Maybe things are just reported more today. I'm not sure if there is a fundamental change in the condition, but there is more reporting and the public is less accepting of that behavior. The university is seen as responsible for a much wider set of programs. And that stretches resources and adds a new dimension universities are not well prepared for.

"For a variety of reasons universities have expanded above and beyond the traditional role of educating students. Now we are into personal development and growth opportunities. Even the dormitories have moved from the Soviet-style architecture of two to a room to a variety of styles accommodating different student needs."

Martin says today's colleges and universities are all trying to do the same thing. "We want to get better at helping students make better choices and we want to get better at responding when they don't," he says. "And we need to get better at knowing when it's appropriate to intervene when they aren't making those smart choices."

As difficult as it seems, Martin says we must treat these tragedies as opportunities to learn and grow. "We must develop a response, determine whether it works and then make it a model for other universities to follow," he says.

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