Alcohol policy focuses on reform

Students caught with alcohol on campus face a different system this year. \nThe Office of the Dean of Students has shifted its policy to focus on reforming violators, rather than punishing them, said Dean of Students Richard McKaig. \nThe change was made in an effort both to catch problem drinkers and streamline the discipline system. These new rules apply for all on-campus violations, including those in the dorms and greek houses.\nStudents will now have the chance to skip the campus judicial system's proceedings and go straight to the Alcohol Alternative Intervention Program, a program that allows students to talk to advisers about their drinking and assesses the severity of the students' alcohol problems. By taking advantage of this opportunity, students will also have their violation removed from their campus record. However, if they are caught by the police, they may still face legal consequences, said Walt Keller, the director of alcohol counseling programs at IU. \nThe program's alcohol counseling services have been available to students since spring 2003, but this is the first time they will be used as an alternative response to alcohol violations. Before the change, the campus judicial system often referred students to alcohol counseling programs but never allowed students to skip the judicial program entirely. \n"If you violate the alcohol policy, you come visit us," Keller said. "The difference is whether you come with a campus record or not."\nWhile judicial officers will determine whether students are eligible to go directly into the program based on the details of each case, Keller hopes "75 to 80 percent or more" will be able to enter the program without going through the campus judicial system first.\nThe administration made this change because it had been receiving complaints that the University was more interested in punishing students with alcohol violations rather than helping them, McKaig said.\n"Our intent is to help students who think IU is too punishment-oriented in our efforts to restrict alcohol violations," McKaig said. "(The program) gives them a chance to assess their behavior with a counselor so they don't end up with a record. We hope students will see what role alcohol plays in their lives and reassess their decision."\nFrom statistics, Keller estimated approximately 18,000 students binge drink each weekend, and he wants students to know this program is an effort to let students know IU's administration and students need to work together if a change is to be made. In order for this to happen, he thinks both sides need to realize their personal responsibilities.\n"It's not because of stupid laws or administration that there's a problem. It's because of 18,000 students who are drunk," he said. "Until they realize this, a problem will remain. If we help campus work together and help students take responsibility for themselves, then we can really make a dent on this issue."\nThe program is also designed to help reduce the number of cases the campus judicial system has to handle and, more importantly, to separate students who may really have an alcohol problem from those who may have simply made a bad decision and give them the help they need, McKaig said.\nKeller has noticed the benefits existing alcohol counseling programs have had over the past two years. \n"Lots of students say 'I wouldn't be in school if it weren't for this program'," he said. "We've had a fair number of students cut back on their drinking and an even smaller number quit. Even if they didn't quit or cut back, students have had to think hard about their decisions."\nWhile the change in the policy may seem to give students a less harsh consequence if they break the rules, Keller thinks the new program is actually harder to deal with because it requires "self-scrutiny." If the program is not effective this year, however, the policy will change back to the way it was.\n"We have seen it work very well at other institutions, and we hope to see the same results," McKaig said.