BOARD WEIGHS POLICY TO TELL PARENTS WHEN STUDENTS DRINK, USE DRUGS

For many college students, living on campus means freedom -- freedom from
their parents knowing about the dumb things they do, such as drinking too much.

This fall, however, parents may start finding out when their children break
alcohol or drug rules on the four campuses of the University of Missouri.

University leaders are considering doing what dozens of other colleges
around the country do -- tell parents when their underage children get in
trouble with alcohol or drugs.

College officials see it as a way to get students help for substance abuse
problems, as well as make students think twice before they drink when they
are underage or use drugs in their dormitory rooms or on-campus apartments.

Students at the university's four campuses -- Kansas City, Columbia, Rolla
and St. Louis -- are lobbying the governing Board of Curators to reject the
proposed policy.

The curators will take it up at their meeting Thursday on the Kansas City
campus.

The students say that they should be treated like any other adults and that
tattling on them to Mom and Dad will not prevent binge drinking off campus.

Stephen Sugg, a student on the Columbia campus who serves as the student
curator, said student groups on all four campuses opposed the policy.

Administrators have "never shown convincing empirical evidence that
parental notification works," Sugg said.

"This policy only applies to on-campus situations. That's where a very,
very small percentage of binge drinking occurs," Sugg said. "The policy is
subjective and arbitrary, and it also does nothing -- absolutely nothing --
to solve any problems."

According to the student conduct code, students are not supposed to use,
possess or distribute alcohol or other controlled substances on campus.

Paul Steele, president of the Board of Curators, said he supported the
proposed policy, saying parents' involvement could help students make good
decisions.

"We are saying: `Go out and have a good time. If it's your desire to have a
drink, have a drink. Just don't go out and drink 12 beers and abuse someone
else or risk your own well-being or safety. If you do, maybe somebody else
ought to step in and give you a little guidance,"' Steele said.

The proposed policy would let administrators tell the parents of most
students (not those who are married, who are financially independent or
whose parents have chosen not to be notified) when the students are caught
the second time or subsequent times breaking alcohol or drug rules.

Administrators also could tell parents on a first offense if the behavior
endangered the safety of the student or other people, or would affect the
student's housing or student status. Students would have 48 hours to tell
parents on their own first.

If passed, the policy would go into effect in August.

Stephen Lehmkuhle, the university system's vice president for academic
affairs, said if the policy had been in effect last year, the parents of
100 students would have been contacted. The four campuses together have
about 20,000 students under age 21, he said.

More than two-thirds of the notifications (70) would have happened on the
Columbia campus, which has the most students living on campus. Only five
UMKC students' parents would have been notified, Lehmkuhle said.

In 1998 the federal government relaxed privacy provisions to allow parent
notification of college students' drug and alcohol violations.

Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, which is not part of
the University of Missouri system, started notifying parents two years ago.
Administrators there say the number of drug and alcohol violations dropped
from 259 in fall 1998 to 189 last fall.

But they say they are not sure how much of the drop is due to parental
notification or to increased alcohol awareness education efforts.

The University of Kansas does not notify parents.

"I think the jury's still out about its effectiveness," said Jane Tuttle,
assistant to the dean of students at KU.