Hall staff report less alcohol in the dorms, more students off campus
By KATE NAGENGAST
Senior Staff Writer
Rectors and resident assistants campus-wide agree that the alcohol policy introduced last spring changed Notre Dame dorm life and reduced the presence of alcohol on campus, but they still worry about students drinking off campus.
There has been a drastic decline in the number of reported cases of alcohol poisoning since hard alcohol was banned from the residence halls – only 20 incidents occurred during the fall of 2002 versus 51 cases in the fall of 2001, according to the University Office of Alcohol and Drug Education.
Father George Rozum, who has been rector of Alumni Hall for more than 20 years, said residence hall life this year has been the best he has ever experienced.
"Generally, [the alcohol policy changes] have made a positive difference," Rozum said. "There have been fewer incidents of excessive drinking. I'm not claiming that there's no drinking going on, but … the only time we had an ambulance run it was for hard alcohol. That seems to be the big thing when [students] get sick, they seem to be able to handle much better wine and beer."
McGlinn Hall's rector Elizabeth Bright also credited the University's hard alcohol ban with reducing the number of alcohol-related hospital visits the residents of her hall have required.
"We've had four ambulance transports so far this year," Bright said. "That was fairly average for a month in the past – and each of those four incidents involved hard alcohol." Bright became rector of McGlinn in August when the alcohol policy changes first went into effect. Though she had no prior experience in Notre Dame residence halls, she said her own college experience at Marquette University and her time in the "real world" gave her a broader perspective on college drinking as a part of human nature. Bright said the college years are typically a time when people test their feelings of invincibility and also experience their own vulnerability.
"Drinking on college campuses is not unique to Notre Dame, but the positive thing is that Notre Dame is taking a proactive step," Bright said. "In this particular case, especially with hard alcohol it's really, really needed – morally it's the right thing to do for sure."
According to Kelly Lawrence, assistant director of the Office of Alcohol and Drug Education, the number of referrals his office has received from the Office of Residence Life has also dropped this year. During the 2001-02 school year, ResLife required roughly 400 students to visit the office for alcohol assessment, Lawrence said. So far this year the office has handled 209 cases and Lawrence expects to finish the year around 340 cases, he said. However, Lawrence added, this year's case number includes a majority of the 213 students who were issued minor in a tavern citations during the Jan. 24 bust of The Boat Club, a popular South Bend bar. Although not all of the students cited in the raid were sent to Alcohol and Drug Education by ResLife, Lawrence said many rectors made the decision to require alcohol assessment for their residents.
Incidents such as The Boat Club bust, other off-campus crime and Chad Sharon's death still have some members of the campus community concerned that the alcohol policy has curbed the number of incidents of abusive drinking that get reported, but not the activity itself.
Lawrence admitted that because of the policy changes on campus, more students are going off campus to drink where hard alcohol is available.
"I think some students, this is probably true more with females, feel that they are too intoxicated to return to the dorms and walk past security monitors, so they end up not going back, which is a safety risk as well," Lawrence said. "The policy might have changed, but the drinking culture and the drinking habits haven't changed entirely yet, it may have just moved somewhere else."
Some RAs also worry that cracking down on drinking in the dorms may have pushed students to drink off campus where it is more difficult to find help should problems arise.
"When I became an RA I considered taking care of drunk people to be a part of my job," said Steve Holte, an RA in Siegfried Hall. "I would rather take care of people who are drinking in the dorms than those who come back drunk from off campus. We deal with it either way, but I would much rather know what's going on and be able to monitor it than have someone return out of the blue with alcohol poisoning and not know what happened."
Carroll Hall rector Father James Lewis, who also works as an assessment counselor in the Office of Alcohol and Drug Education, said he believes the policy changes are a "prudent and practical upgrade to hall and campus life" and "necessary responses to a lot of the practices on campus," but he also worries about students' safety off campus.
"There is a significant lowering in the amount of alcohol in my dorm and on campus, but an unwelcome effect of the policies has been an increase in movement off campus for access to hard alcohol," Lewis said.
Most RAs said there have been fewer parties held in the dorms this year and attribute the decline in dorm parties to both the alcohol policy and a new attitude among underclassmen.
"I think it's been a gradual change since [seniors'] freshman year with admissions standards, too," Holte said. "I think they're bringing in a different kind of student, someone more tame."
This year, however, as in the past a little more than 1/3 of the cases referred to the Office of Alcohol and Drug Education are freshmen, Lawrence said.
An Alumni Hall RA said he has noticed a definite change in the hall community where focus has shifted away from alcohol this year. He said there have been considerably fewer social gatherings in the dorm and a decrease in dorm pride as a result.
"A lot of guys have spent a little more time off campus and taken chances with South Bend authorities … but on the whole, freshmen don't place the same importance on alcohol," he said. "This is sometimes reflected in the amount of video games they play and the amount of time they spend in their own dorm rooms."
RAs in female dorms said, similar to past years, the majority of alcohol-related problems they encounter revolve around hall dances.
Angie Gubana, a Lewis Hall RA, and Andrea Johnson, an RA in Cavanaugh Hall, both said they have only confiscated hard alcohol from parties before hall dances. Generally, RAs agreed that under the new alcohol policy they are not required to search rooms for hard alcohol, but only to enter parties that draw attention and confiscate obvious violations.
"I have talked to the girls one-on-one and the freshmen who drink are pretty responsible about it," said Johnson. "I would say the majority of my freshmen are not drinkers, and if they are … they're not only responsible for themselves, but for each other. They take good care of each other off campus."
Rectors and RAs agreed that overall drinking on or off campus is a matter of individual responsibility.
"I think people are making choice and I don't think it's tied to the policy," said Lewis. "High risk drinking is not a result of a University policy any more than it is the result of a broken relationship, a bad grade or even a 21st birthday. It's the result of an individual choice."
All News Stories for Thursday, March 20, 2003
