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PAGE 8 OCTOBER 1992 ALCOHOL ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES by Kelly Parker CANNON STAFF WRITER During the past decade college administrators have become very concerned about the effects of alcohol consumption by college students. As a group, college students are a large proportion of the drinking population. Many view alcohol as a necessity to their college social environment. They often find themselves in situations such as parties, dances, and other college activities where alcohol is the main attraction. Students therefore feel obligated to drink to fit in with peers. Studies have shown that 93% of college students have tried alcohol, 75% drink on a regular basis, and 4% drink daily. The percentage of those students who drank five or more alcoholic beverages at a single sitting is 41%, which is slightly lower than the 45% of the 70's. Surveys also show that college bound students tend to drink less than those who are not planning to attend college. However, by the age of twenty, the same group is drinking just as much, if not more, than their non college peers. Due to problems with alcohol on college campuses, administrators are updating their alcohol policies to adhere to state and local laws. ALCOHOLISM by Kelly Parker CANNON STAFF WRITER Twenty million Americans suffer everyday from the affects of alcoholism. Figures show that our society looses as much as fifteen billion dollars a year through lost time at work, property damage, medical expenses, and health and welfare services due to alcoholism. Approximately one half of the arrests made in the United States are alcohol related. Fifty percent of traffic accidents in which there has been a fatality, involved a driver with a positive alcohol test. Most of these drivers had blood alcohol content twice the amount of the legal limit, which is 0.10% in most states. Violent crimes, such as rape, robbery, child abuse, and assault, in which the offender was under the influence of alcohol, are comparatively high. Children of alcoholics are at a greater risk of suffering from serious depression, failure in school, behavioral problems, anxiety disorders, and themselves becoming alcoholics. In the United States alone there are over seven million children , under the age of twenty, with alcoholic parents. Alcoholism has become the leading health problem in our country. Most people, at some point in their lives, will be affected by it. Ah, The Crisp Smells of Fall... And Burning Joints by John Williams (CPS) - In an age of \Just Say No,\ some college students want to \Just Say Yes\ to loosening up the laws against marijuana and its possession. Indeed, evidence of supporters' enthusiasm was present as thousands of students attended Marijuana Week rallies September 21st through the 26th at or near colleges such as Penn State, the University of Florida, University of Wisconsin and Iowa State University. According to the Independent Florida Alligator, the third annual Gainsville Harvest Festival nearly dissolved in chaos when someone tossed more than 100 marijuana cigarettes into a crowd, sending hundreds of people scrambling for them on their hands and knees. A groups of police officers stood by and watched, fearing that a riot might break out if they interfered. About 3,000 attended the rally sponsored by Cannabis Action Network as part of a national movement to educate and motivate voters to legalize marijuana. Meanwhile, the Penn State University student government officially threw its support to Marijuana Week, September 21st through 26th. Right in the middle of the week, President Bush made a campaign visit to University Park, Pennsylvania, looking for votes. Penn State's Marijuana Week is a first-ever event, said Robert Kampia, the president of Penn State's Undergraduate Student Government. It was co-sponsored by the Penn State chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and Student 1st Step, a campus organization involved in voter registration. A spokeswoman for the university said that the administration would not interfere with the programs. Kampia said that he wants Penn State policy liberalized for students caught with marijuana. \The government shouldn't have that much control over our minds and bodies,\ he said. \Right now, you can't buy marijuana at your local grocery store. People need it for glaucoma, AIDS and cancer, and they can't buy it.\ He wants the school's policy on marijuana to be consistent with its alcohol policy. Currently, minors caught drinking on campus face a maximum one-semester probation, while students violating marijuana policy get a minimum one-semester probation. A \reeferendum\ was held in 1991, and undergraduate students voted in support of making the policies equal in punitive actions. \Marijuana is treated more harshly at Penn State, and alcohol is not treated as seriously,\ said Doug McVay, a volunteer with the student government. Meanwhile, hundereds of miles to the west, a time-honored tradition was held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison: the Midwest Harvest Festival, a 21 -year-old event that began to educate people about marijuana and laws that prohibit marijuana, and vendors sell legal products made out of hemp such as cloth. Wisconsin's Midwest Harvest Festival has been held off and on since 1971, depending on the mood of the university administration, said Bob Kundert, who has worked with the university's student association on planning the event. Kundert, who is 69 years old and calls himself \rather unique in the freedom movement,\ said about 12,000 attended the harvest festival. The festival was held in an area near the University of Wisconsin library. Afterward, participants marched to the state capitol. \Madison is great right now. Sometimes it wasn't great. It depends on the mood,\ Kundert said. Although no one is supposed to smoke pot at the festival, 10 people were arrested for doing so last year. An information booth was set up on Iowa State University's Campus to give students more information about the benefits of legalized hemp. The booth was sponsored by the Ames, Iowa, NORML chapter and the national Help Eliminate Marijuana Prohibition (HEMP). Jack Herer, California author of \The Emperor Wears No Clothes,\ wore a pair of pants made out of hemp to demonstrate the practical uses of marijuana, the Iowa Stae Daily reported. Hemp is four times stronger, more absorbant and 26 times more durable than cotton, he said. It can also be used to produce fuel, ship sails, canvas, paints, medicine, food and building materials. Disputing the opinions of many health experts, Herer said that marijuana is good for people if they use it more moderately and avoid harmful drugs like alcohol and nicotine. \The only thing that you can get from it, and I know, is the munchies,\ Herer said.
