MSU: Tell parents about alc. violations?

Administrators are asking for advice from the student assembly on MSU's policy. and Jeremy Steele The Michigan State News EAST LANSING, Mich. (U-WIRE) -- Students may have more than the campus judiciary system to deal with if they have an alcohol or drug violation at Michigan State University. Under changes passed in 1998 to the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, universities can notify parents if students under 21 break university alcohol or drug rules. Previously, colleges and universities could not notify parents of a student's alcohol or drug violations if they were over 18, unless the parents claim the student as a dependent for tax purposes. MSU President M. Peter McPherson has asked ASMSU, MSU's undergraduate student government, to come up with a recommendation to deal with the issue, said ASMSU Student Assembly chairperson Michael Webber. Webber said ever since the act's change was made, McPherson has been receiving pressure to decide whether MSU should adopt a parent notification policy. Webber said he's skeptical about the effectiveness of alerting parents of students' violations. "I don't think the university has to be anybody's parent," Webber said. "Likewise, I think the university doesn't feel it has a parental role." McPherson was unavailable for comment Thursday. MSU spokesperson Terry Denbow said McPherson is eager to know how students feel about a possible policy change. "He wants student leaders to ascertain how their constituents feel," he said. MSU currently notifies parents only if a student is involved in an emergency situation that required the student to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance. Engineering arts sophomore Josh Emery said parental involvement may not curb drug and alcohol use. "For the most part, it would probably be a waste of time for the university," he said. "While there may be some students who would reconsider if they knew their parents could be notified, most people are going to do what they want to do." Instead, students really need to take the responsibility into their own hands, Emery said. "If students want their freedom, they need to prove they're responsible enough to deserve it," he said. Emery's mother -- Ravenna, Mich., resident Barbara Emery -- agrees. "By the time they're out of the house -- even if mom and dad are paying the bills -- they will still do what they want," she said. "You either keep your nose clean or get into a mess." Central Michigan University and Saginaw Valley State University already have policies allowing them to release information to parents. Western Michigan University is considering such a policy. Webber said ASMSU has not determined when it will make a recommendation, but said the issue will probably be taken up by the Student Assembly soon. "The longer we stall, the more pressure there is on the president to do it without us," he said. If universities want to decrease alcohol abuse, officials need to work with students and not against them by telling their parents, said Michael Haines, coordinator of Health Enhancement Services at Northern Illinois University. "It essentially allows universities to take a great step backward from more appropriate interactions with students and parents about alcohol issues," he said. "The universities that are working in partnership [with students] are not experiencing riots and have documented a decrease in use and abuse." Haines is scheduled to speak at MSU today at a conference co-sponsored by the Michigan Department of Community Health and MSU to address alcohol on college campuses. The event will be at the Kellogg Center and is not open to the public. "The university should be interested in finding opportunities of common grounds and support them in education," he said. Bruce Roscoe, CMU dean of students, said the university's policy should reduce the number of violations on campus. Many students who go before the campus judiciary are concerned their parents will find out they broke university rules, he said. "That suggests to us parental involvement would be beneficial," Roscoe said. CMU enacted its policy this summer after spending the spring gathering input from parents and students. Roscoe now sends a letter to parents of students who were found guilty in disciplinary proceedings. Roscoe said he doesn't see the policy as a violation of students' privacy. "This kind of action might communicate to them that we see them as less than adults -- which is not the case," he said. "Even though it may offend some students, we feel it's more important to get participation from the parents." Henry Silverman, president of the Lansing chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said he thinks the Higher Education Act is a disgrace. "The university should have better things to do than act as police informants for its students," he said. "The university should not be actively engaged in doing this kind of thing. Not every student who gets a [minor in possession] is an alcoholic or has a substance abuse problem." Silverman said universities should be educating students, not informing parents that their children may have received a minor in possession violation. "Students already have to answer to the law and the universities should leave it up to the legal system to reprimand them if they do something wrong." Brent Deverman, ASMSU Policy Committee chairperson and College of Engineering Student Assembly representative, said the students should have a bit more of a say in decisions regarding them. "When you turn 18, you should be considered an adult," Deverman said. "It shouldn't be such a gradual process of getting certain privileges." Geophysics junior Nichole Cedillo said she thinks that informing parents about drug or alcohol use is a good idea. "When coming to college, a lot of students just go wild," she said. "And if you had something like this at MSU, it may make people think twice before they do something stupid."