Weighing in on drinking

Most Penn students surveyed said they did not agree with Penn's new alcohol measures. and Aliya Sternstein While the majority of students disagree with the administration's new alcohol policy, a sizeable minority -- 21 percent -- say that banning alcohol from all official undergraduate parties was the correct move to make, according to a survey conducted by The Daily Pennsylvanian. But 94 percent of the students polled said the ban on alcohol and stricter enforcement of underage drinking laws on campus will not cause them to drink less. Undergraduate Assembly Chairperson Bill Conway, a Wharton junior and Phi Kappa Psi brother, said many students may agree with the ban because they believe "we have to step back [after the death March 21 of Penn alumnus Michael Tobin]," and might think the ban is more temporary than it could turn out to be. The survey -- conducted from March 30 until April 1 -- polled 280 randomly selected undergraduates. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 6 percent. Provost Robert Barchi announced the four-part policy on March 25, four days after the death of Tobin, a 1994 College graduate and Phi Gamma Delta brother, outside the FIJI fraternity house. Police concluded that the 26-year-old former lacrosse player fell down a steep set of outdoor steps after a day of heavy drinking. By far the least popular part of the policy -- which incited the biggest rally the campus has seen in at least 10 years -- was the cancellation of the post-Spring Fling block party on Sansom Street. Ninety-seven percent of students said they disagreed with that decision. "What does the administration think students are going to do during that time?" Conway asked. Instead of going to the monitored block party, students will find less-regulated off-campus parties or go into Center City, he said. The survey also showed that a surprisingly large minority of 41 percent of students said they agreed with the University Police's stricter enforcement of state and Penn liquor regulations. That stricter enforcement led to three citations of students the weekend before last for liquor law violations, while several more people were stopped for questioning. There were no reported incidents this past weekend, when the campus was fairly empty because of students' observance of the Passover and Easter holidays. But despite their general disagreement with the policy, most students --E74 percent -- said the University does have a responsibility to curb alcohol abuse among its students. Still, 94 percent say that primary responsibility lies with students themselves in preventing alcohol abuse. Student leaders have frequently said their main concern with the policy was the administration's lack of consultation with students before announcing the changes, rather than the policy itself. And 91 percent of those polled seemed to agree with them, saying that the University has a responsibility to talk with the student body before making such a major change in school policy. UA Vice Chairperson Michael Bassik, a College sophomore and Zeta Beta Tau brother, said students should be upset about the lack of consultation. He added that it is ultimately students' responsibility to prevent alcohol abuse. "If students took responsibility for their actions and did not abuse alcohol, the administration probably would have not decided to go dry," said Bassik, along with Conway a member of the administration's Working Group on Alcohol Abuse, which is working with Barchi to formulate a longer-term alcohol policy. Among other things, the poll also revealed a snapshot of the campus drinking scene. Of the overall student body, 22 percent say they drink often and 54 percent say they have engaged in binge drinking -- defined as five or more drinks in one setting by a male and four or more by a female -- within the past month. Greeks showed a higher tendency to have engaged in binge drinking, and were about 50 percent more likely than non-Greeks to say they drank often. While questioning the validity of the finding, InterFraternity Council President Mark Metzl, a College junior and Tau Epsilon Phi brother, said that Greek organizations are "social bodies," and among college-aged students, "social events often include the consumption of alcohol." IFC Executive Vice President Andrew Exum, a Daily Pennsylvanian columnist, agreed with Metzl that the numbers could indicate a very small difference -- if any -- when "you consider the margin of error." "If anything, Greeks are more likely to drink responsibly because of alcohol education techniques placed recently," the College junior and Sigma Nu brother added. Frequent drinkers were evenly split between the genders and they were much more likely than moderate- or non-drinkers to disagree with the stricter alcohol policies. Thirty-seven percent of frequent drinkers are underage and 37 percent are Greek -- about 10 percentage points higher than their population in the survey. When broken down by class, seniors appear to be heavier drinkers than others. Forty-four percent say they drink often and 74 percent say they have binge drunk in the past month. Only 13 percent of freshman, 20 percent of sophomores and 21 percent of juniors say they drink often. Drug and Alcohol Resource Team President Megan MacDonald, a College senior and member of the administration task force, said that she and the group are well aware of the students' criticism of the ban being used as a tool for decreasing alcohol use. Rather than banning alcohol, the Alpha Chi Omega sister suggested that the University needs to create "different outlets that don't rely solely on alcohol" because there are not enough non-alcoholic social options currently available on campus.

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