Violations fewer, with sanctions stricter
By Lindsey Hart
The number of alcohol violations last fall was down in comparison to recent years, according to a summary of last quarter's judicial sanctions released by the Office of Student Life.
This drop comes after stricter punishments for violating the Student Conduct Code were implemented this school year.
From Sept. 1 to Dec. 12, 2004, the Office of Student Life reported 142 alcohol violations on campus. Forty additional allegations from fall quarter have yet to be reviewed by judicial hearing officers.
Matthew Duncan, assistant dean for student life, estimates that about one half to two-thirds of these allegations will be found to be in violation of the Student Conduct Code.
If all 40 unheard allegations are confirmed as violations, approximately 8.25 percent of on-campus students will have violated the alcohol policy.
This figure is lower than in past years. Conor Roycroft of Santa Clara's institutional research department reported approximately 11 out of 100 students committed violations in 2001, 10 in 2002 and 13 in 2003.
While numbers may suggest alcohol violations in the residence halls have decreased nearly 5 percent from 2003-04 since the introduction of increased sanctions earlier this year, Duncan is hesitant to conclude that the new sanctions may have played a role.
"I think it's played a factor, but to what degree, I don't know," he said. "We're not going to know until more time passes."
The university now mandates stricter punishments for violations of the Student Conduct Code, with higher fines.
With the implementation of new sanctions, hearing officers are now responsible for allocating universal sanctions to all students according to the violations, whereas in the past they had more freedom to determine the punishments.
In order to make the new policy effective, the university made an effort early in the academic year to educate both current and incoming students about the rules and their sanctions.
"Our CF told us about it at the beginning of the year," said sophomore Dunne resident Erin Kunse about the new punishments. "The new punishment is pricey, so I guess it's kind of a deterrent."
Ngoc Nguyen, a hearing officer in and resident director of Sobrato Hall, said in her experience that students are more aware of punishments this year, and what is at risk if they decide to violate the Student Conduct Code.
"We, as a university, have a responsibility to uphold the law. We can't turn our eye to the underage drinking," Duncan said.
Increasing sanctions on alcohol and drug violations in the residence halls is just one measure administration has taken to decrease underage and high-risk drinking.
"We don't expect just the sanctions to address this issue," Duncan said. "It's just a piece of the pie."
Others include Alcohol EDU, an online science-based course required of all first year students, and issues of PottyTalk taped to bathroom stalls that advise students about substance abuse. Peer Health Educators also promote responsible drinking, the university says.
The administration cannot know for sure if the new sanctions are the driving force behind the decrease in alcohol violations, but they can use sources like the National College Health Assessment, conducted every two years, to draw tentative conclusions.
Duncan believes that the results of this survey will reveal whether or not alcohol consumption among students has changed in amount or even location.
"It's not realistic to expect that we're going to eliminate the use of alcohol at the university," Duncan said.
"But we do want to reduce high risk drinking that leads to (medical) transports and those types of things and also reduce the illegal use of alcohol and minimize it as best we can."
* Contact Lindsey Hart at (408)554-4546 or lmhart@scu.edu.