Researchers familiar with reducing alcohol use on campuses nationwide have said the University’s new proposals regarding alcohol might be effective in curbing problems associated with drinking on campus.

The new University Alcohol Task Force, comprised of University administrators, professors and students, has proposed several new policy changes in an effort to avoid alcohol-related problems. The task force was formed because of the deaths of two Unversity students earlier this year.

The task force’s proposals include limiting alcohol advertising on campus, requiring incoming students to take alcohol education courses and deciding whether alcohol should be allowed during tailgating events.

Traci Toomey, associate professor at the University of Minnesota, has researched attempts to decrease alcohol abuse among college students. She said that enacting policies on campus was a good start, but that the areas surrounding the campus must be considered as well.

“What we’re finding in the research literature is that with greater control of alcohol that is in place in campuses and surrounding communities and states, we’re more likely to see reduction in alcohol abuse and related problems,” Toomey said.

Toomey said enforcement of state laws and the regulation of community bars and the ways in which they advertise drink specials are some aspects essential to addressing alcohol use among students.

“One of the reasons this is so hard is there is not one simple answer,” Toomey said. “There are multiple things at multiple levels.”

Ralph Hingson, director of Epidemiology and Prevention Research at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, said he agreed that the community climate must be addressed when preventing alcohol abuse at the college level.

“It’s not just the campus, there is a whole culture of the age group,” Hingson said. “A lot of the problems bubble up into the college community.”

Toomey said campuses could decide to allow alcohol use without causing problems as long as the restrictions were clearly defined and the rules were strictly enforced.

“Each campus needs to look at each exemption and the rules for those exceptions need to be very clear,” Toomey said.

She said sending mixed messages in allowing alcohol on campus in some cases while barring it at others could be counterproductive in preventing abuse.

“If there is no alcohol use on campus, I’d like to see enforcement of that across the board,” Toomey said. “Even at a faculty event, I want to make sure there are some controls in place.”

Robert Voas, a senior research scientist at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Maryland, conducted a study of two college campuses that allowed drinking. He said the study was designed to see if allowing drinking on campus contributed to alcohol-related problems among students. He said at each university, one in Utah and one in San Diego, alcohol was served on campus, but strict rules were enforced to prevent minors from drinking.

“In both cases, the systems seemed well enough controlled that you could not relate drinking on campus to student drinking problems,” Voas said.

Voas said both campuses in the study had a large police presence on and around campus. He said campus policies were effective if the surrounding areas were controlled as well.

“When you sit down a campus in the middle of a bar district, it’s very hard to show differences based on campus rules,” Voas said.

The University Alcohol Task Force has proposed working with the Lawrence community, including bar owners, to avoid student alcohol abuse. The task force is also considering amending the rights of students in residence halls to allow the search of their rooms without a search warrant if there is probable cause to suspect alcohol use inside.

Jack Martin, deputy director of University communications, said the policy had been approved by the Student Housing Advisory Board.

“We worked with students to make sure it was consistent and fair,” Martin said. “The proposal is very similar to policies that exist at other universities.”

Madeline Johnson, Overland Park junior, was a member of the Student Housing Advisory Board last spring when the proposal was made. She said the entire board approved the new search policy.

“Some people were concerned about the wording,” Johnson said. “The residents wanted specific language that said a staff member couldn’t look through drawers or open up closets.”

The proposal only allows residence hall staff to enter a room, but a search warrant would be required to open any drawers, closets or other enclosed areas.

Doug Bonney, legal director for ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri, said universities often allowed searches of residence hall rooms for health and safety purposes. He said it was important for students to know that residence hall officials could search for housing contract violations without a warrant, but that no law enforcement searches could be done without one.

“They are not allowed to circumvent the fourth amendment,” Bonney said.

He said the proper way for residence halls to deal with possible legal violations would be to go through the court to obtain a search warrant. Without a search warrant, Bonney said, a student would likely not face legal ramifications.

Toomey said universities must be careful when proposing policies that deal with students’ rights.

“Enforcement needs to be consistently conducted and legally conducted,” she said. “It should also be respectful and linked together in a systematic approach.”

— — Edited by Justin Hilley