STUDENT SENATE CITES MULTIPLE PROBLEMS WITH DRAFT ALCOHOL POLICY

Lack of initial student input, parental notification, choice of
counselors and stiffer penalties are concerns that Student Senate has
with the Alcohol Response Task Force's proposed changes to Ohio
University's alcohol policy.

Student Senate passed a resolution last Wednesday that "condemned"
the lack of student input in the task force's recommended changes.
The resolution asks for the task force's proposal to be sent back to
committee, with the addition of five student representatives.

"Enabling Student Senators to question the policy after its creation
is no substitute for inclusion in the initial development of such a
plan," the resolution declared.

After a debate over whether or not the language used was too "harsh,"
the Senate passed the resolution 19 to 12 with three abstaining. A
copy was to be sent to OU President Roderick McDavis, members of the
task force and others.

McDavis will decide whether the proposal will go back to committee
and what, if any, changes will eventually be made to the proposal.
The effort to strengthen penalties for alcohol offenses stems from
the administration's alarm at a perceived increase in alcohol-fueled
problems on campus and in the community in recent years.

Student Senate President Brian Footer said he had no knowledge of the
task force's proposal until he received a copy after returning from
winter break. The task force was formed last June by Dean of Students
Terry Hogan.

Footer said last week that he doesn't think that the exclusion of
students was intentional but he doesn't understand why Senate would
be invited to be a part of the Vision Ohio committees and not the
Alcohol Response Task Force.

Judy Piercy, assistant vice president for student affairs and interim
director of residence life, serves on the task force that presented
the proposal to Student Senate last Wednesday. She said that it was
always the intention to get student input and that is what is happening now.

"I certainly understand the Senate's concern; I do and it depends
where you view your input," she said. "Obviously, they would liked to
have been involved right from day one. The committee wanted to get
people's input after we got a recommendation together, which is what
we are doing now."

The task force presented the finished proposal to three student
organizations: Student Senate, the Council of Student Leaders and the
Resident Life Council. The proposal was also given to OU's Review and
Standards Committee on which four students sit.

Student Senate has formed the Special Committee on Alcohol Response
to examine the alcohol proposal and make recommendations for changes
that will be given to McDavis.

Footer said that one concern is the stiffer penalty of suspension
that would be associated with probation violation. A student on
probation for an alcohol violation who then violates the alcohol
policy again would be automatically suspended. It is unclear in the
proposal whether a student on probation for a non-alcohol related
violation could still be suspended for an alcohol violation.

"If we suspend them are we staying true to the academic educational
basis?" asked Footer. "Because once they're gone, you have no way to
teach them anymore; they are no longer physically here."

Piercy said that more severe consequences will act as a deterrent and
provide a more consistent approach to sentencing, which has not been
the case in the past.

Another part of the proposal that the senate president is concerned
about is the notification of the parents of students who are under 21
and violate OU's alcohol policy.

"What kind of respect do we have of students when we kind of
undermine them by going straight to their parents and telling them
how bad they've been?" asked Footer.

There have been requests by parents for earlier notification, said
Piercy. She also said that the point of notifying parents is to
provide more support for the student.

Tom Angell, campaigns director for Students for Sensible Drug
Policies in Washington, DC, said that although universities have the
right to notify parents SSDP believes they should choose not to. SSDP
is a group that advocates changes to current laws and regulations
that address drug abuse among college students.

An OU chapter of the group several years ago successfully protested
the university's proposed stiffening of penalties for possession and
use of small quantities of marijuana. OU ultimately rejected the
proposed changes.

"These policies are treating students like children instead of the
adults that they are," said Angell of the alcohol rule changes at OU.

The university already puts some students who are arrested by the
Athens Police Department through the judiciary process. However, the
proposal calls for all students who are arrested to go through campus
judiciaries. This is an area that both Footer and Angell expressed
concern about.

"Young people who get into trouble with the law are going to see
serious punishment," said Angell. "These are young people who are
trying to become productive, successful, tax-paying citizens by
earning a college degree. There is no reason to look for extra
reasons to punish them to prevent them from moving on with their
lives and being successful in school."

PIERCY SAID THAT BECAUSE OU and Athens are connected on so many
levels, it is important to have the Athens Police Department share
this information with OU so "that we can assist the larger Athens
community in having a favorable, positive city."

Another member of the task force, Mac Stricklen, assistant director
of university judiciaries, described APD referrals of arrested
students to OU judiciaries as "overlapping circles of expectations."

"If I had a job where part of my job expectation was to have a clean
driving record and then I had X number of moving violations, I am
accountable to traffic court but I'm also accountable to my employer
because both expected something from me," said Stricklen. "It just
happened that those expectations both met in the same behavior."

Theoretically, the power of OU to send students arrested by law
enforcement through the judiciary process does not stop at the Athens
city limits, though in practice it does in most cases. According to
the OU student code of conduct, students represent the university
wherever they go and if they are arrested in their hometown, in
theory they could be subject to OU judicial action.

"There is usually not a reporting relationship there," acknowledged
Stricklen, however. "If for some reason the Detroit Police Department
decided to start screening their arrest list for OU students and
informing us, sending us narratives of police reports, we could very
well begin to respond to that."

Under the proposed system, students who violate OU's alcohol policy
would be given an "alcohol audit." The results of the audit, which is
designed as a questionnaire, would act as a guideline for determining
which educational program the student would be required to take.
These educational programs are the Second Chance Program, Prime for
Life, BASICS, Bridging the Gap, and one-on-one alcohol assessment.

Under the proposal, students would not be permitted to use outside
educational programs in lieu of the university programs, although
they can use outside counselors if they wish for the alcohol assessment.

Stricklen, a member of the alcohol task force, said this is because
parts of the educational program are specific to OU such as Bridging
the Gap, which outlines the code of conduct and the penalties that
are associated with repeat offenses.

"Internal consistency, so that when a student is at stage Y in the
judicial process we have a base line of what they were exposed to
when they were at stage X," explained Stricklen.

Hector Flores, director of Flores and Associates, Inc., offers Court
Alcohol Substance Educational Programs for under-age offenders.
People who are convicted by the court system can take the educational
class and have their record expunged of the arrest, unlike an alcohol
violation given by OU that stays on students' records.

Flores voiced concern that companies might be able to access
student's records and then could use that information to screen for
potential high-risk employees that might be more likely to use the
company's health insurance.

"Companies have also done enough research to realize that between the
ages of 16 to 25, if you have been caught with two minor misdemeanors
with drugs or alcohol, you are six to nine times at greater risk of
using your health insurance," said Flores.

The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act protects access to
student's academic records, which also covers OU judicial records.
This information cannot be accessed unless the student gives permission.

"Companies are not stupid; they are going to ask you to sign waivers
to check your credit reference, to check your medical history. They
are going to check your driver's license," said Flores. "The higher
up in a corporation, the more they are going to check."

Students who rate on the highest end of the alcohol audit would be
sent to OU's Counseling and Psychological Services for alcohol
assessment. While the option is not listed in the proposal, Piercy
said that students could go to a different counselor if they wished.
However they would have to pay for any outside services themselves
while all OU students can receive counseling from OU for free.

"We've let them do that in the past. I'm sure we would again," said Piercy.

Materials and assistants will be needed for the programs as well as a
possible increase in the judiciary staff, said Piercy. The task force
recommended that the educational programs be funded by fines
collected from students who receive alcohol violations.

Piercy said that fines were proposed because they act as a deterrent
to offenders and because they ensure that the money for the programs
will come from the students who have to go through them rather than
from the student body.

The amount of the fines has not yet been determined, said Piercy.