CSU STUDIES SYSTEMWIDE POLICY TO PREVENT ALCOHOL, DRUG TRAGEDIES

California State University has proposed its first systemwide alcohol
policy for its 23 campuses, less than a year after an 18-year-old Palo Alto
freshman died from an overdose of blackberry brandy at a Chico State
fraternity.

If approved in a July vote, the plan could be in place when the system's
370,000 students return to class this fall. It proposes limiting
advertising and sponsorship from the alcohol industry at college events;
creating alcohol advisory groups for each campus; including alcohol-abuse
education in orientations for parents and students; and enforcing drinking
laws more aggressively. In its first year, CSU campuses would split $1.1
million to implement what the chancellor's office calls the first
systemwide alcohol policy in the country.

"I hope this is a big wake-up call for all universities in our country,"
said Edie Heideman, whose son Adrian was found dead Oct. 7 after a
fraternity ritual at California State University-Chico. "It's coming late,
but this gives meaning to my son's unnecessary, premature and horrifying
death."

Heideman's death and two other close calls with student drinking prompted
Chancellor Charles B. Reed to form a group of university presidents,
students, faculty members and alumni to develop an alcohol policy.

"They want to go off and experiment with alcohol as if it were some college
or university rite of passage," Reed said Monday, a day before the
university board first reviews the plan. "We need to do everything we can .
. . to promote healthy choices for students and try to overcome this
culture of college drinking."

The policy would tie together a variety of alcohol policies at state
universities. Banning alcohol won't solve the problem, said Ken Swisher,
the chancellor's spokesman, because students can easily get it off campus.
So the policy aims to downplay beer and liquor trademarks at university
events, post drinking laws and school rules on campus Web sites and develop
treatment programs.

San Jose State University's alcohol policy, published in the student
handbook, allows the sale of beer and wine to students older than 21 at the
Market Cafe on campus. Beer also is sold at Spartan Stadium.

Many students at San Jose State sounded skeptical about drinking policies.

"I think students are going to drink no matter what you do," said junior
Noelle Gysen, 22. "You can throw someone out of the dorms; all it will do
is cause more people to live off campus."

While education and awareness campaigns come with good intentions, many of
the recommendations sound like old news, said San Jose State University's
student body vice president.

"It's all about telling students what they already know," said Akbar
Shetty, a 23-year-old senior who also is president of San Jose State's
residence halls. "It seems like they're going to make students feel guilty
for using alcohol. It's always more exciting for students to break the
rules, especially freshmen."

Shetty said drinking at San Jose State seems to be on the rise in the four
years he's attended the school. He acknowledges drinking as a freshman and
thinks the university should encourage more-responsible drinking and make
students more part of the solution.

San Jose State's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Committee has two
faculty or administrative members for every student, Shetty said, and the
group seems more concerned about keeping the school from getting sued than
engaging students.

Not so, says Oscar Battle, who chairs the committee and is the university's
coordinator of health education. The university makes a concerted effort to
educate students about alcohol and drug abuse and offers resources such as
counseling, psychological and medical help for students with substance
abuse problems, he said.

The committee has been struggling for three years, he said, to get a
consensus on strengthening the drinking policy at San Jose State, which
would include making it a violation to have an open container of alcohol on
campus and enforcing underage drinking laws at tailgate parties.

Jonathan Collaco, 18, says there's little enforcement of drinking laws in
the dorms, where it's OK to drink if you are 21. But the cafe on campus is
strict about checking IDs. Still, some of the ideas could be useful, he added.

"It's worth a try. I have a lot of friends who aren't looking for help, but
if treatment programs are around and more visible, maybe they would stop
drinking so much," Collaco said.

In December, Chico State banned Heideman's fraternity, Pi Kappa Phi, from
its campus. Three of its fraternity members pleaded guilty in February to
misdemeanors for their roles in the fatal event, in which freshman pledges
were introduced to their "big brothers" by drinking beers and other
alcoholic beverages and watching strippers.

An autopsy showed Heideman had close to five times the legal limit of
alcohol in his blood and may have choked to death on his vomit.

His mother said she was pleased with the recommendations, especially the
calls for stricter enforcement of drinking laws. She said she heard some
people -- students mostly -- making jokes about students getting sick from
alcohol.

"I am sick and tired of young men and young women feeling the need to prove
their man-or womanhood through drinking," she said. "Because of that, my
son died on the threshold of his manhood."

Mercury News staff writers Roxanne Stites and Becky Bartindale contributed
to this report.