Efforts to Combat High-risk Drinking Target Parties, Bars
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 15, 2005
Joe Wills
530-898-4143
Efforts to Combat High-risk Drinking Target Parties, Bars
California State University, Chico, in coordination with the city of Chico and other entities, is stepping up efforts to combat high-risk drinking by students in the places it is most likely to occur.
Interventions include increased police presence in near-campus neighborhoods, DUI and WUI (Walking Under the Influence) checkpoints, a brochure with guidelines for safe and responsible parties and a new phone line for hazing and other student safety concerns.
Representatives of CSU, Chico’s Campus Alcohol and Drug Education Center (CADEC), University Police Department, Chico Police Department and the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) will discuss the interventions at a news conference tomorrow, Tuesday, Aug. 16, at 11 a.m. in Bell Memorial Union room 210.
The new efforts are being aided in part by a $178,000 grant CSU, Chico has received as part of a federally funded research study to curtail collegiate alcohol abuse.
Shauna Quinn, director of CADEC, said efforts are needed where high-risk drinking most often occurs: off-campus apartments and residences, fraternity parties, and off-campus bars and restaurants. This “risk management” approach, she said, is considered an effective way to prevent alcohol-related problems.
“This is a united effort with community members, since we are all concerned by high-risk drinking that goes on in our town,” Quinn said. “Our goal is interventions that will provide positive change.”
The Chico and University Police Departments plan increased presence in near-campus neighborhoods for the first six weeks of the fall term. DUI and WUI checkpoints will be established on Labor Day, Halloween and other dates to be determined, at locations that students frequent by car or on foot. Officers will have zero tolerance for alcohol related offenses, such as minor in possession and providing alcohol to minors.
In addition, Chico Police will be enforcing the new “Response Cost” ordinance passed by City Council May 3, which states tenants can be liable for police expenses if police are called back to respond to a party within a short time period.
Along with police efforts, Quinn said ABC officers will be in Chico this fall checking on liquor sales to minors.
The new brochure, titled The Ultimate Party Guide, includes tips for how to plan and put on a safe and lawful party, and how to spot and avoid problems. It also contains emergency phone numbers and a list of party- and alcohol-related laws and the penalties for breaking them.
Quinn said 5,000 copies of the brochures have already begun to be distributed to students and property owners who rent to students.
The newly established phone line, 1-800-556-6604, is called the Student Concern Line. Students can call with concerns or reports about hazing, violence, sexual assaults, vandalism, hate crimes and alcohol or drug abuse, Quinn said.
To support its high-risk drinking intervention efforts, the University received a $178,000 grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, which has funded a five-year, California-based college research project. CSU, Chico is collaborating with 14 other CSU and UC campuses, coordinated by the Prevention Research Center at UC Berkeley, to test the effectiveness of the risk management approach to alcohol problem prevention.
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