Photo Illustration by Steven Devine/Argonaut

The University of Idaho has reported little change in the number of substance violations on campus according to recently released 2006-07 statistics — a new program by the UI Counseling and Testing Center is aiming at bringing those numbers down.
UI reported 103 liquor law violations on campus property in 2007, down from 108 in 2006. Drug law violations were nine in 2007 and 15 in 2006. All numbers were released in response to the Jeanne Clery Act — a law requiring colleges to report crime statistics annually.
Data for 2008 has not been published.

According to Valerie Russo, the director for Violence Prevention Programs, this illustrates only part of a problem.
“The Clery Act is strictly on-campus violations,” Russo said. “It is not a good indication of campus culture.”
Excessive drinking is a contributing factor toward injuries, violence and sexual assaults among students. Based on a report from USA Today, alcohol is also the cause of more than 36 deaths among college students annually both from alcohol-related crashes and alcohol poisoning. 
Sharon Fritz, a psychologist at the UI Counseling and Testing Center studies students’ drinking habits.

“It is a fairly significant problem on campus,” Fritz said. “Because of this, all students will need to deal with alcohol in one way or another.”
According to Fritz, a major part of the problem is the misconceptions students have about drinking. Based on a survey from the National College Health Assessment, 45.6 percent of UI students thought the average student used alcohol daily while 0.6 percent actually reported daily use.
In response, the counseling center has created new programs designed to help students make better decisions in regards to drinking and overcoming addictions.

‘Choices” is a two-part class that educates students on risks associated with drinking and decisions that can be made in those situations.
“We use a harm reduction model,” Fritz said. “If you are going to use alcohol, we want you to do so in a way that minimizes risks.”
The class requires students to analyze their own drinking habits in the form of a journal and provides strategies to promote safer drinking.
Students receiving their second alcohol violation on campus are required to attend the class.
Fritz leads other assistance programs designed to help students.

Self Management and Recovery Training is a self-help group that started last semester for students wanting to recover from addiction.
According to Fritz, the group focuses on identifying and changing cognitive behaviors that contribute to an addiction.
“An example is ‘I can’t party without drinking,’” Fritz said, “Our goal is to challenge these notions and replace them with thoughts that are healthier.”
The group is designed to help students with a variety of addictions including drugs, tobacco and gambling by providing a peer support structure in addition to behavior analysis. 

Other examples include “e-chug,” an online survey designed to gauge students’ drinking habits through self-assessment and identifies potential health issues.
The Dean of Students Office uses an alcohol outreach program in order to raise student awareness about drinking.  This program includes a group discussion and a DVD about safe drinking shown to Greek houses across campus.

“The program focuses on extreme drinking,” Russo said, “It is targeted to all ages, and we require at least 80 percent of each house to attend.”
The effort is part of a university initiative to show students the risks and liability issues associated with drinking.
“I am thrilled with the direction that we are going,” Fritz said, “I feel that it is consistent with the University of Idaho’s policies of caring about students.”

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