Alcohol illnesses double this year
By Megan O'Connor
More than twice as many students have required transport to hospitals for alcohol poisoning and over 100 more students have been cited for alcohol use compared to the same time period last year.
Twelve students have been taken to the hospital for alcohol poisoning since the start of the quarter -- one less than the 13 total in all of fall 2005. From the start of the 2005 school year to Nov. 1, five students had been taken to the hospital for alcohol poisoning. In fall of 2004, seven had been transported by Nov. 1.
According to Matthew Duncan, associate dean for student life, as of Oct. 20, 246 students had been cited for alcohol related incidents. By contrast, as of Nov. 1 last year, only 140 students were involved in similar alcohol related incidents.
"We are seeing consistent indicators that indicate an increase of alcohol abuse by our students," Duncan said.
Duncan cited The College Lifestyle and Attitude Survey, administered by the Office of Student Life to incoming freshmen for the past two years, that was designed to give the Office of Student Life a feeling for what students' patterns of alcohol and drug usage were before entering Santa Clara. Duncan said this year is the first time the Office of Student Life has administered a follow-up survey, which investigates the impact of life at Santa Clara on student's drug and alcohol exposure. Data from the survey was not available because it is still being administered.
"Students are showing up with more experience with alcohol," said Duncan.
Duncan confirms there has been an increase in alcohol related problems at Santa Clara, but noted that sometimes multiple students are involved in the same incident, which could account for this large number.
The increase in alcohol use by students has resulted in vandalism in residence halls, conflicts and disorderly conduct, according to Duncan. In addition, Duncan said that alcohol consumption has an effect on the community surrounding Santa Clara, with issues such as noise problems.
While the large freshman class at Santa Clara has placed 125 students in overload housing, which includes triple rooms and converted lounge spaces, Duncan does not blame the crowding in the dorms for the increase in alcohol-related incidents.
Although the number of students living in the dorms has increased, the number of Community Facilitators has remained the same, according to Scott Strawn, director of residence life.
Duncan said the university is concerned with students' reckless use of alcohol. Several programs are currently in place to educate students about safe usage of alcohol. Freshmen this year are the first to complete a program called "My Student Body" instead of AlcoholEdu, which was the required program for incoming freshmen for the past four years.
According to Duncan, the university switched to My Student Body because of the array of health information it offers, educating freshmen about tobacco use, stress and sexually transmitted diseases, in addition to alcohol use. Duncan also said the program was less expensive to administer than AlcoholEdu.
"We are concerned with the high-risk use of alcohol in which students put their personal safety at risk," Duncan said. "We are interested in reducing the high risk use of alcohol."
This week is also the annual Alcohol Awareness Week, sponsored by the Wellness Center, designed to coincide with the Halloween festivities on and off campus.
"Our goal is not to tell people not to drink, but to make better choices when they do drink," said Wendy Baumbach of the Wellness Center.
Events during the week include tabling in Benson by peer health educators, who aim to educate students about how to drink or go to parties without putting themselves in danger.
Today at 7 p.m. the Wellness Center is hosting beer goggle Olympics, where students can try on a pair of beer goggles and test what their coordination would be under the influence of various amounts of alcohol.
Contact Megan O'Connor at (408) 554-4546 or moconnor@scu.edu.