FSEC tackles issue of student drinking
Black convenes informal panel to update FSEC following recent death of teen

By DONNA LONGENECKER
Reporter Assistant Editor

The university is taking a tough, but proactive stance on the problem of alcohol abuse by students, Dennis Black, vice-president of Student Affairs, reported to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee during a discussion on the topic at the body's March 6 meeting.

Black organized the discussion for FSEC members to address the recent events—which involved a UB fraternity—that resulted in the alcohol-related death of a teenager.

Describing the problem of alcohol abuse at UB as one that "continues to grow dramatically and depressingly," Black told senators that "from the beginning to the end of the student process, this is an issue we are forced to deal with because of the world in which we live and the students we work with. We have standards. We enforce those standards and expect people to comply with those standards," he added.

Moreover, Black said he has no regrets about temporarily suspending Greek activities at UB after a car crash in February in which one teenager died. The two teens involved in the crash, one of whom was a UB student, reportedly had been served alcohol at a UB fraternity party, then continued drinking at a Main Street bar. Three UB students were charged with serving alcohol to minors at the party and subsequently were suspended from the university. The fraternity, Alpha Sigma Phi, also was suspended, pending completion of the university's investigation into the incident.

"I called a time-out in the activities to get the facts on the incident," Black said, calling his action appropriate in light of the teen's death and because UB's fraternities and sororities were involved in rush activities at the time.

Black; Joseph Krakowiak, director of administrative services for residence halls; Madison Boyce, director of judicial affairs and university ombudsman; Laurie Krupski, director of the Living Well Center, and Frank Carnevale, director of Student Health, detailed for the senators the university's multi-pronged approach to dealing with alcohol and substance abuse among students. The panel also reaffirmed "an absolute zero tolerance" policy regarding underage and binge drinking.

"This is obviously a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week issue," Krakowiak said of drinking in the residence halls. "We dismiss people from residence halls on a regular basis," with about 20 students being evicted every year, he added. In 2001 in the Ellicott Complex alone, 39 percent of all reported incidents were alcohol-related, he said.

Black said that enforcement of and compliance with UB's policy on alcohol and substance abuse is geared toward those who serve alcohol to minors or are a danger to themselves and others.

"The first offense we often refer to as the 'death penalty,'" he said of the tough stance on enforcement. "We're not going to let you take others down and we're not going to allow you to hurt someone else," he said. "It's not our goal to use criminal arrest as a form of punitive punishment," Black said, making clear that everything that can be done to take advantage of programs on campus designed to deal with substance-abuse issues will be made available to students who are identified as having a problem.

A parental notification policy is now in place—the student is asked to make the call to his/her parents in front of an administrator involved in the judicial or referral process—and is not considered a punitive measure but, is done to encourage the student to take responsibility for his or her behavior and to enlist the active support of parents for measures the university is taking to deal with the problem. "We use it (parental notification) when the student's behavior presents a clear and present danger to him/herself and others," Black said.

Krupski reported that mandatory participation in the SEPAD (Student Educational Awareness for Alcohol and Drugs) program for students who have violated university policies is having an impact because recidivism rates are low. Part of SEPAD's focus is to offer students alternative "healthy highs" that increase mind-body awareness and self-respect, as well as awareness of the consequences, both mentally and physically, of binge drinking, she said.

Boyce said that as freshmen arrive on campus for orientation, they are made aware of the campus code of conduct, which is reinforced through programs carried out regularly in the residence halls and apartments. The Student Wide Judiciary (SWJ) is a group that comes into the picture after a violation has occurred and campus charges are filed against the student, Boyce said. The SWJ is working more and more with the Department of Public Safety, "who enforce in the wee hours of the morning DWI situations" that occur when students return from off-campus bars or parties," he said, adding that campus police logged 22 driving-while-intoxicated incidents last year.

A fairly new program, Boyce noted, is the Dean's Intervention Program in which students who have been identified as using or abusing alcohol, but who may not have been charged with a violation of university policy, report to the dean of students—Barbara Ricotta—and are asked to account for their behavior. Appropriate referrals are made to any number of health organizations on campus. Boyce in particular cited the involvement of the counseling center, which has created a program for anger management. Students frequently are referred to the program, he pointed out, because anger often is found to be an underlying issue in a student's substance abuse.

Krakowiak noted that with about 3,800 students in the residence halls being under the age of 21, a primary way of intervening when a problem occurs is through the resident advisor system.

"There is a direct correlation between how many freshmen are in the building and the amount of alcohol used in that building," Krakowiak said.

"Obviously, we attempt to put our finest and best-trained RAs—'Attila the Hun and Mrs. Attila the Hun'—in those buildings, if we can. RAs are charged with creating programming, and hearings take place in front of professional staff. "We intervene in an educational sense and we also use all the services that the campus has to offer, as well as off-campus services as appropriate.

"And when we can't do something appropriately, we will dismiss someone," he said.