page 2 - The Behrend College Beacon - October 22,1998 Drinking- continued from page 1 fee, students must meet with either Sue Daley or Allison Parr-Plasha, who are both personal counselors, for four one on one sessions. At these confi dential sessions students are encour aged to moderate their drinking, change their lifestyles, and set goals for themselves. A Moderation Sup port Group is also offered at this level where students can meet with a group Underage drinking a national problem among college students By Angela Rush staff writer Prosecutors recently took the ex traordinary step of charging a Mas sachusetts Institute of Technology fraternity with manslaughter in the case of Scott Krueger, eighteen, who drank himself to death at a party last year. Suffolk County District Attor ney Ralph Martin decided not to pros ecute individuals because he said, “the fraternity promoted and orches trated activities that led to Krueger’s death.” Krueger was a new pledge of the MIT fraternity. Scott Krueger died on September 29,1997, two days after he was found unconscious fol lowing the night of the party. Krueger apparently had an alcohol level four times over the legal limit. MIT shut down the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity after Krueger died of an overdose of alcohol. Charges were brought up against the MIT fraternity and they face fines for manslaughter and hazing. The trial is set to take place soon. The gov ernment is pushing for a change that will help people come to the realiza tion of what binge drinking can do to a person. They are making laws that will enforce and crack down on fra ternities and other groups as well. However, cracking down seems to be causing more problems then it is solv ing. The Boston licensing board voted to ban alcohol at another MIT frater nity, on August 19, 1998, because party-goers pelted police officers with beer bottles during the summer. That fraternity will not be allowed to have haunted of peers on a weekly basis to talk about their substance use concerns. About underage drinking, Peggy Molnar, 05 Communications, said, "most people start drinking before col lege, so they will continue once they are here. Police and Safety should concentrate more on safety than pun ishment." Rob Lingo, 05 History, said, “if students were allowed to drink on alcohol on the premises until 2001. The members of that fraternity claimed that it was summer residents, not fraternity brothers that held the party. The city officials say that the fra ternity should take responsibly regard less of who was there. A university police officer was seriously injured after being hit with a beer bottle, and MIT was outraged that the officer was assaulted. But it is still unknown who the perpetrators were, and the frater nity is willing to cooperate with all parties to bring justice to the guilty party. Binge drinking, as well as abusing alcohol is a serious issue and problem in our nation. An American Medical Association survey showed the dan gers of binge drinking. It reported that 15% of people consume six or more drinks in one session, and another 13% consume four or five drinks. One in five respondents who drink admit to occasional drunken driving, while 5% say they drive every time they con sume alcoholic beverages. On occa sions 13% of those who drink and drive say that they have been in a car accident. The survey revealed that 7% binge drink regularly, while 19% do so frequently. Ken Miller, Acting Dean of Stu dent Affairs, said, “Binge drinking is an interesting concept because of the data I have seen; there is a group of students that binge drink and> then there is the other group that drinks re sponsibly.” Studies have shown that college stu dents are one of the biggest abusers of alcohol. There is a lot of pressure to be socially accepted especially if you Wesievvllle's Public improvement Area Itemed in Itatlin loid «•« Te Conn™ Ftlr ParUai Available at iastway Plaza • SlrattlaOnsPrevldad Tickets: $2.00 chimren 12 and under • $4.00 adults campus, then they wouldn’t drink off campus and get into accidents.” Brooke Rhodes, 03 DUS, said, “something should be done to make fraternity houses closer to campus so people wouldn’t have to drive.” Erin Baker, 04 Management, said, “it’s part of the R.A.’s job to watch out for underage drinkers, and they need to be respected for that.” are new to the group. There are a lot of programs that help make someone aware of alco hol use and what they can do to help themselves. The universities and colleges have classes that discuss these issues and help you deal with the problem at hand. Miller said, “The awareness campaign for under age drinking and driving for instance has come a long way to raising stu dent awareness, but it comes down to a personal choice.” Miller stated, “If you choose to violate the law you are running a risk.” Everyone knows that when you are caught you have to take re sponsibility for your own actions. When someone is caught they have to talk with a staff member about what happened and depending on the situation it is dealt with. Some stu dents have to take an alcohol and drug awareness management pro gram that lasts for three weeks. It is used to examine and help the student understand what they have done, “It is a program to give you a better sense of who you are and what you are doing as it relates to alcohol,” said Miller. There is now a new bill that is in the US Senate, and if it is passed it will give a university the option of whether to contact the student’s guardian if the student has been in volved in a situation involving alco hol. As of now, one’s discipline records cannot be released to a third party without the written permission of the student. Miller adds, “alcohol is not a problem specific to Behrend., it is a problem nationwide.” News 10/13/98 Complainant requested access to a storage closet in Hammermill. Vats were needed for chemical dumping for the photo labs. 10/14/98 Complainant was at station for fingerprinting. Officer did so 10/14/98 Complainant called to report a urinal overflowing. Upon arrival it was found to have generated an inch of water in two classrooms, the hall and leaking into labs below. 10/15/98 Father called concerned about the well being of his son, who he hasn’t been able to reach for several days. Officers went to room and found that student had left on flight to Puerto Rico. Father was notified. 10/17/98 Student called from her apartment to have Academic 42 opened. The building was unlocked for her. She called 20 minutes later rather indignant, from Reed. Officer was able to open the building by simply turning the handle. 10/18/98 Shotgun for storage in the lost and found room SGA continued from Page 1 hrend has been a “collaborative pro cess.” Input from students, faculty and staff have influenced the plans of Behrend’s development. The de velopment of Behrend is a continu ous process, and students will witness changes that will ultimately be to the advantage of the entire Behrend com munity. Miller will again present Behrend’s master plan to the entire student body at the upcoming SGA student forum on Wednesday, No vember 04. Other business at the SGA meeting included the final election of freshman senator Chris Buchanan. Buchanan, 01 Political Science, stated “I want to put Behrend on the map, I care a lot about students’ wants and needs. I am here for the students and whatever the students want, I’ll try my best to give it to them.” Students have opportunity to study England for the summer By Christina Salizzoni staff writer Studentsinterested in spending a summer studying in a foreign country now have another op tion. Behrend has just estab lished a student exchange pro gram with The University Col lege of Northampton, England. Dean Baldwin, Acting Direc tor of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, was ap proached about a year aga by The University College of Northampton to establish a link with Behrend. A number of other colleges in the surround ing area were also approached, including Gannon and Edinboro, plus a few colleges in Ohio and Florida. On October 8, four represen tatives from Northampton vis ited Behrend to discuss the de tails of the program. They in cluded Cliff Dedynski, director of the program, Paul Phillips, en vironmental sciences, lan Buchanan, social sciences, and Patrick Quinn with the English program. Quinn grew up in Erie and went to Cathedral Prep High School. Baldwin and Quinn had previously worked together on a book in which Baldwin wrote a Folice And Safety chapter and Quinn edited. The exchange program will be developed in three steps. Start ing in the summer of 1999, there will be study abroad. Students from Behrend will go to Northampton. In the Fall of 1999, there will be a full ex change, with students from Northampton also coming to Be hrend. The third step will be a joint faculty research program. This exchange program can be beneficial to a variety of students due to the fact that they are of fering a wide range of study in cluding English, Sociology, Business, and Environmental Science. The credits obtained will most likely fill general edu cation requirements for any stu dent. During the five weeks of the English program, students will visit numerous places. Trips to Oxford, Stratford, London, Cambridge, Warwick and an en tire week in Ireland are all in cluded. Northampton is located north west of London. Although vary far from Behrend, it is very simi lar in appearance and student body. The facilities are fairly new and very updated, though students don’t spend very much Join the Beacon 898-6488 It’s Free! time on campus. The cost is $2,000 for 3 cred its, $2,000 for 6 credits, and $2,900 for 9 credits. Lunches, dinners and airfare to England is not included, though the airfare from England to Ireland is in cluded in the price. Baldwin stated, “this is an ex citing opportunity to get study abroad experience at such a rea sonable price. If you stayed at Behrend and took nine summer school credits, it would cost close to $2,000.” He went on to say, “this program gives the most credits and extracurricular activi ties for the least amount of money I’ve ever seen.” Northampton is hoping for anywhere between 10 to 20 stu dents within a year, from all of the participating schools to be involved with the exchange pro gram. Any student interested in ob taining more information about the program should contact Baldwin. For more information about The University College of Northampton visit their website at http://nene.ac.uk
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