CPUC investigates drinking problems

At a meeting of the Council of the Princeton University Community yesterday, University administrators presented a report on initiatives to curtail University alcohol consumption in 2003.

The report included current statistics on problematic binge drinking among undergraduates. The Trustee Committee on Student Life, Health and Athletic's (SLHA) proposed solutions to these problems.

Of the many topics discussed, the one most thoroughly explored was undergraduate alcohol consumption.

In a slide presentation titled "A Report to the Council of the Princeton University Community on Alcohol Initiatives at Princeton 2003," Vice President for Campus Life Janet Dickerson, Chief Medical Officer Daniel Silverman and Dean of Undergraduate Students Kathleen Deignan displayed statistics about the problem of underage drinking at the University.

Many of the University's statistics, which show that 45 percent of Princeton undergraduates binge drink and 77 percent drank prior to enrollment, reflect national trends. Others however, such as the rise to 88 alcohol-related admissions to McCosh Health Center in the springs of 2001 and 2002 from only 56 in 1998, are increases exclusive to the University.

Some students have been admitted to McCosh and Princeton Medical Center with blood alcohol levels over 0.40, Silverman said.

Statistically, for every 100 people with levels that high, there should be one death, Silverman said. He said that the University is lucky not to have suffered such a tragedy.

Sophomores usually have the highest number of legal violations for serving, possession and other alcohol-related infractions among all classes. Last year they accounted for 280 reported incidents, or 40 percent of the total.

All statistical data were gathered by the Core Survey, a national survey taken by 1000 universities in 1998, and the Health Survey, which was administered to University students last year.

The two top priorities of SLHA are to reduce the incidents of binge drinking and drinking games that often put students at risk, and to provide a safer residential environment for students who are not participating in these activities themselves, Dickerson said.

She said that drinking, like smoking, produces unwanted "secondhand" effects on those around binge drinkers. These effects include disruption of sleep and study habits, concern for friends, time spent caring for friends who drink to excess and unwanted sexual advances made by drunk individuals.

The presentation outlined the SLHA's "next step" strategy for dealing with these issues.

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The strategy placed emphasis on student leaders taking the initiative to mold their peers' behavior. The committee may create a student leadership council to achieve this purpose in the near future, Dickerson said.

Another possible solution to the problem of binge drinking is to reevaluate the roles of the residential college staffs and RAs regarding alcohol-related issues. Dickerson said the committee wanted to encourage RAs to take a more active role in guiding their advisees and discouraging them from risky behavior. Younger students often admire older students, and this "role model" relationship could be used to steer underclassmen clear of situations that could get them in trouble, Silverman said.

Dickerson emphasized that the administration did not want to jeopardize the trust and openness existing between RAs and their "zees."

"We don't want to change the roles of the RAs so much that they no longer have the trustworthy relationship with their 'zees.' [The RAs] aren't the narcs," Dickerson added.

Another proposed solution is substance-free housing, a project now called the "Rockefeller College Pilot Program." The experiment, beginning next fall, will reserve some hallways in Rocky for students who elect to live in this type of housing.

There was some concern, however, that this type of housing will ostracize students from their peers, though this is not its intent, Deignan said.

The University's problems with drinking can be attributed to a number of sources, Silverman said. These include what the committee called "ingrained social patterns," including campus culture, students' desire to explore their identities and sexualities and find a sense of belonging and community within the college environment.

Silverman also pointed out that studies have proven that schools located in the northeast with major athletic programs and large club or Greek life are more prone to heavy drinking scenes.

He said the University is not alone in its alcohol problems.

"We're very similar to the institutions we tend to compare ourselves to," he said.

Students and faculty also discussed housing for postdoctoral graduate students, inquiries into records of international students after the tragedies of Sept. 11 and introduced the new USG president Pettus Randall '04.