ALCOHOL, DRUGS PENETRATE CAMPUS

Alcohol and drug use on campus is on the rise, according to officials.

According to the student handbook under the Student Rights and
Responsibilities section, "Use, possession, or being under the
influence of alcoholic beverages on University-owned property" is not
permitted.

Robert Ratchford, chief of campus police said the police department is
currently in the middle of a drug inventory.

"There is a legal process that we have to go through for drug
disposal," Ratchford said in reference to the drugs that the UTC
police collected last year.

Although drugs collected during the year have yet to be accounted for
and the university has not released statistics for drug and alcohol
abuse on campus, Dee Dee Anderson, dean of students, said that the
numbers are on the rise.

"We feel like [use of drugs and alcohol] has gone up," Anderson said,
but under university policy "we are a drug free and alcohol free campus."

According to Ratchford, more students are being caught and arrested
with drugs and alcohol on campus with the newly implemented program,
Officer in Residence program.

With this program, officers live in the dorms and monitor students,
Ratchford said.

According to Ratchford, most alcohol and drug related arrests occur
because of noise violations.

It is not usually just one person involved in an isolated incident,
Ratchford said.

It is usually a large group of people that will cause the noise
complaint, and when the police show up, 10 or more people might be
charged when drugs and alcohol are found, he said.

The most common of these drugs is marijuana, Ratchford said, "but
we've found everything from crack, cocaine, LSD, mushrooms and
prescription pills. Pretty much everything."

Students caught using drugs and alcohol on campus may receive a
multitude of punishments.

"We prefer to defer to student development, but we will and do make
arrests," Ratchford said.

Consequences for students who violate university alcohol and drug
regulations may range from referrals to student development, a new
university-enforced online alcohol and drug program called "The
Judicial Educator" to expulsion from the university.

"It's a duel-edged sword," Ratchford said.

Student will not only have to face punishments from the school for
drug and alcohol violations, but also possibly from the state, ranging
from court costs to jail time depending on the crime, Ratchford said.

Judith Coffey, a Nashville senior said, "I think students will never
stop doing drugs and alcohol, but when school authorities come down
hard, it might slow the use."

"When people are reminded of the consequences of doing drugs and
alcohol, they might choose not to do it on campus," Coffey said.