UNIVERSITIES TO TELL PARENTS OF DRUG USE

Florida universities have agreed not to keep parents in the dark if
their children get in trouble for alcohol or drug abuse.

The Board of Regents, which oversees the 10 state universities, voted
unanimously Friday to make each school develop a policy requiring
parental notification.

No time frame was given for compliance. And each university will
decide how its policy should be applied - stipulating, for example,
whether notices go out for a first or for a repeat offense or only in
cases in which the abuse results in physical injury.

The state policy applies only to students younger than 21 and claimed
as financially dependent by a parent or guardian. But regents also
decided to ask legislators to bring Florida into line with federal
policy that allows notification for substance abuse by any student
under 21.

Educators particularly are concerned about rising instances of binge
drinking on campuses nationwide.

A 1997 Harvard University survey of 14,521 students at 116 colleges
reported that nearly 43 percent - roughly 3 million students - engage
in binge drinking. That's defined as a minimum of five drinks in one
sitting for men and four for women.

``The intent is not to be reactionary or punitive, but to really
protect the health and welfare of students,'' said James Mau, a vice
chancellor with the state university system.

Each school already has substance-abuse counseling and education
programs. Notification would be added to those.

The policy comes on the heels of Florida State University and the
University of Florida recently having gained the dubious rank of Nos.
1 and 2, respectively, among the nation's top ``party schools''
assessed by the Princeton Review.

FSU and UF lead the state in numbers of students under 21 on campus.
USF students are helping to write the new rule, said Patrick Riordan,
a top aide in the office of the school president.

``It's a good policy,'' Riordan said. ``Alcohol abuse is the most
intractable problem we face.''

Also Friday, regents gave pay raises to seven university presidents
ranging from $4,000 to $6,800, or 2.35 percent to 3.78 percent.

In sum, the raises equal the 2.8 percent pay increase given all state
workers in October. Regents put those dollars into one pot for
university system Chancellor Adam Herbert to divide during his yearly
review of job performances.

With the increases, eight of the 10 Florida presidents earn more than
the average pay for colleagues at similar-sized universities
nationwide. The exceptions are USF, which currently pays $227,000 a
year, about $11,350 less than the average for a 35,000-student school;
and the University of North Florida, where $170,000 this year is
$2,100 below average.

UNF's Anne Hopkins won a $5,000 raise to that $170,000 level. Other
raises went to Sandy D'Alemberte at FSU, $6,600 to reach $241,600;
Modesto Maidique at Florida International University, $5,000 to
$197,000; John Hitt at the University of Central Florida, $6,700 to
$196,700; Anthony Catanese at Florida Atlantic University, $6,800 to
$186,800; Frederick Humphries at Florida A&M University, $4,600 to
reach $178,600; and Morris Marx at the University of West Florida,
$4,000 to $174,000.

No raises were given to interim presidents at UF and USF. Those posts
pay $250,000 and $227,000 respectively. There also was no raise for
William Merwin, recently named to lead Florida Gulf Coast University
at $176,000.

Herbert got a 3.76 percent increase of $9,600 to reach
$264,600.

Raises are retroactive to Oct. 1.