Minors, alcohol raise concerns
Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series about alcohol use on the Utah State University campus. The series will conclude in Friday’s paper.
Alcohol abuse among Utah State University students is a concern, and some students feel those who are misusing alcohol are reflecting negatively on those who are drinking responsibly.
About 650 students at USU are estimated to be addicted to alcohol, according to a study conducted on campus last year by the Utah Department of Human Services.
While the use of alcohol by Utah State University students is much lower than that of their peers nationally, of those students who do drink, the percentage who drink in a dangerous way is actually higher than the national average, said Jana Carling, prevention specialist from the Student Health and Wellness Center.
And while instances involving alcohol are not as numerous at USU as other campuses, Lt. Milne, USU Police, said, the majority of arrests involving alcohol at USU are of minors.
? MIP’s
In 2003, the USU Police arrested 56 people for minor in possession violations. The majority of arrests were men ages 18-20, Milne said.
Lt. Milne said anyone under the age of 21 who purchases, consumes or possesses alcohol can be cited for being in violation of the law. The fine for an MIP (minor in possession) is $492.
Megan Werely, a junior in environmental studies, said she thinks the fines for MIP’s are outrageously high, especially for those minors who are using alcohol responsibly.
“I think laws should punish those who drink in an unsafe manner – those drinking and driving, drinking in public or exhibiting absolutely unacceptable behaviors,” she said. “I think $500 is super steep for a minor, who in a safe manor, is consuming alcohol.”
Riley Brown, a 21-year-old Logan resident, said he thinks the police are definitely too aggressive.
“I think if they handled it better, were nicer, and let kids know what they’re doing is illegal, kids would have more respect for what officers are doing,” Brown said. “They treat kids like they are committing the worst kind of crime and causing destruction and mayhem.”
Brown said he has run into some cops who were nice here in Logan, but he said in general, the cops he has gotten in trouble with in Montana were “much more willing to work with you and your situation.”
“I think USU Police do a great job,” Carling said, “I’ve been very impressed with them.”
Werely said she has lived in two different places on campus for three years and hasn’t witnessed residents abusing alcohol and said she doesn’t feel that excessive use of alcohol by minors is a problem on campus.
“I understand why they have [the law]. I understand why it’s a dry campus,” Werely said. “I just don’t understand why it’s enforced the way it is.”
Traffic stops and complaints called into the police are the two biggest way police are lead to arrests, Milne said.
Rumors that the USU Police have plain-clothed officers or “student spies” attending parties are absolutely untrue, he said.
Milne said it is expected to see an increase in MIP arrests the beginning of fall semester compared to other times of the year.
“Students are away from mom and dad and this is a time when they push the boundaries,” he said. “Plus each year brings its own trend.”
Carling agreed saying the Wellness Center also expects to see an increase in alcohol abuse at the beginning of each school year.
“It’s the first time for students away from parental control,” she said. “You have a lot of students choosing to do things they didn’t do at home because they have the freedom to.”
Some students don’t successfully balance that responsibility and freedom, especially at first, she said, leading not only to arrests but dependency and addiction.
“The number who abuse [alcohol] and are potentially addicted is lower on our campus than would be at other universities. However the concern side of that is that about half of our population that uses alcohol uses it in a way that is dangerous,” she said.
Carling said she believes there are two main reasons more students who drink at USU are doing so in an unsafe manner.
“Number one, you have a group that was never around alcohol growing up. They never had anyone modeling responsible alcohol use,” she said. “They never saw that it was normal to drink one or two drinks, which is what is normal for most adults throughout the country. They come to college and don’t realize there are boundaries for what is responsible and what is not.”
The second group of students, Carling said she believes, is a group that is willing to go to extremes in an effort to be visibly different from the majority of students at USU, a majority that is white and LDS, she said.
? Responsible vs. irresponsible use
The amount of alcohol considered responsible will vary from person to person based on gender and body size, Carling said.
In general, however, responsible alcohol use is no more than two drinks for men and no more than one drink for women a day.
“Research shows when men drink five or more drinks in one evening, women four or more, they are much more likely to suffer from negative consequences,” she said. “Those negative consequences range from having a hang over to getting in physical fights, being sexually assaulted or being the perpetrator of a sexual assault, an impact on their studies, doing poorly in class, or being involved in drunk driving.
“The more people drink over that five for men and four for women, the more likely they are to suffer from one or more of those negative consequences.”
Carling says suffering from a negative consequence like a hangover on a one time basis is no big deal, but if a person is repeatedly drinking excessive amounts those consequences will compound and work, school and relationships will suffer.
Students who drink those excessive amounts every weekend, or even every other weekend, are at a high risk for developing a dependence, Carling said.
And while two drinks for men, and one for women in one day is considered safe, Carling said, those who have to drink that amount every day are also at high risk for developing a dependency.
“Alcohol, one of the things it does, is distorts your ability to make judgments,” Milne said, saying alcohol plays apart in many sexual assault and vandalism arrests.
Andrew Dilley, a senior in history, said knowing your limits is the key to responsible drinking.
“Responsible drinking is not getting tanked,” he said. “It’s knowing your limits, knowing when to say no. It’s not drinking and driving, and not letting those around you drink and drive.”
The current amount for bail in a DUI (driving under the influence arrest) in Logan is $1,332.
? Legal drinking age
The legal drinking age is set at 21 largely because of maturity, Milne said.
“I suspect it has a lot to do with the maturity of being able to handle alcohol. For awhile it was dropped to the age of 18 and they saw far more accidents and stuff like that so they raised it back up to 21,” he said.
The legal age to drink is set at 21, Carling said, largely in part because of brain development.
“There used to be this theory — its ok, let them drink — they’re young they’ll bounce back, their brain’s young, it can handle it. What they’ve discovered is the opposite is true,” she said. “Young people up to age 24 and 26 are much more likely to develop a dependence then adults above that age who start drinking and that’s because the brain is still developing.”
Many thought brain development was complete by age 21, one reason for the drinking age to be set where it is, Carling said, but now researchers are finding the brain isn’t fully developed until 24 or 26.
“One of the last areas of the brain to fully develop is the frontal cortex. That’s the area of your brain where you have
decision making, judgment, reasoning, memory, as well as learning to interact socially,” she said.
The effects of alcohol on a young brain are detrimental to a person’s future, Carling said, because it effects the development of social skills, reasoning and judgment.
“You need to be able to make good choices and see the future consequences of those choices and the adolescent brain really doesn’t have those capabilities,” she said. “And then when you add alcohol into that it slows down the brain’s development, prolonging the time period to be making poor choices.”
Among the population of Utah students who drink, the survey by the Human Services Division found the average age to begin drinking was 16 and a half.
“A part of our society, we have this unsaid social norm that drinking in college is a rite of passage, it’s what we do to get into adulthood, basically,” she said. “We as a society have this norm that its ok for students to drink underage instead of really recognizing the social problems it creates for our society and ignoring all of those negatives.”
Wereley says it is unfair to label all minors as irresponsible drinkers.
“I think part of the reason minors use alcohol is the rebellion factor,” she said, saying even though students drink underage most accept the responsibilities that go with drinking.
Werely said she comes from Canada where the legal drinking age is 18.
“We’d have parties and choose to drink on the weekends, and on the weekends we did it responsibly. Once you’re given a power, you take the responsibility that goes with that power,” Werely said.
When it comes to the drinking age, Dilley said, it’s not an issue of morals, but of choice.
“This is about someone’s ability to choose,” he said. “If I can get drafted to die for my country, I sure as hell better be able to take a drink before I die, and do it legally.”
The same goes for voting, he said.
“I come from a country where if you can vote and die in a war you should be able to drink,” Wereley said. “If you can die in a war and vote for a president then you should be able to consume alcohol. It is a law [here] though, and we should be upright citizens and uphold that law.”
The continuation of this article on Friday will look at perceptions that revolve around alcohol at USU as well as alcohol education and treatment options.
-bnelson@cc.usu.edu