San Francisco Chronicle
Stanford's successful effort to exempt itself from Santa Clara County's new rules on underage drinking has put a focus on the university's growing effort to curb alcohol abuse on campus.
The county's new ordinance, which took effect last year, makes it easier for police to cite anyone hosting a party where underage drinking occurs. It can mean a fine of up to $1,000 plus costs anytime the police are called in.
About 95 percent of Stanford's 6,600 undergraduates, many of them younger than 21, live on campus in university-owned housing. As the landlord, the school could have found itself facing plenty of potential liability under the new county rules.
But the financial question didn't play a role in the university's attempt to persuade county officials to free Stanford from the regulations, said Jean McCown, the school's director of community relations.
"We already have a significant commitment to curbing underage drinking and require that on-campus parties be registered," she said. "We were concerned that the county rules would send those parties underground and out of sight."
The county's new ordinance, which took effect last year, makes it easier for police to cite anyone hosting a party where underage drinking occurs. It can mean a fine of up to $1,000 plus costs anytime the police are called in.
About 95 percent of Stanford's 6,600 undergraduates, many of them younger than 21, live on campus in university-owned housing. As the landlord, the school could have found itself facing plenty of potential liability under the new county rules.
But the financial question didn't play a role in the university's attempt to persuade county officials to free Stanford from the regulations, said Jean McCown, the school's director of community relations.
"We already have a significant commitment to curbing underage drinking and require that on-campus parties be registered," she said. "We were concerned that the county rules would send those parties underground and out of sight."
Student deaths
Campus drinking is a growing concern at universities and colleges across the nation. A study released last year by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism found that there were 1,825 alcohol-related deaths among 18- to 24-year-old students in 2005, the last year with available figures.
Those include not only the rare but widely reported alcohol-poisoning deaths linked to out-of-control parties and fraternity hazing, but also the drunken-driving crashes and falls that claim many more lives.
While Stanford has never had an alcohol-poisoning death on campus, its students aren't immune to the problems that arise from heavy drinking.
"We get students cited on campus every weekend," said Ralph Castro, director of the university's Substance Abuse Prevention Project.
In the 2008-09 academic year, 44 underage students were taken to a hospital emergency room because of alcohol abuse. Seventy-three were arrested for possession of alcohol by a minor, 13 for being drunk in public and five for being a minor driving under the influence.
To combat campus drinking and encourage alcohol rehab at Stanford, university officials have for the past four years required each incoming freshman to take a three-hour online course on alcohol abuse. Groups hosting parties have to register them with the school and provide the name of the person in charge.
"When (the ordinance) came up at the Board of Supervisors last year, we brought them information about our programs," McCown said. "We asked them to watch us for a year and see how it worked."
Stanford received a 12-month stay of the new law last year and then worked with the county to do what was needed for a permanent exemption.
"We already had a program on board that our students understand and believe in," Castro said.
But with the shadow of increased county regulation hanging over the university, Stanford toughened its alcohol policies.
Tighter policies
Move-in day for resident students was moved a week closer to the first day of school, trimming the number of party-hearty nights before classes begin. Stanford police boosted their presence on nights when parties were scheduled. A few on-campus fraternities were temporarily banned from having alcohol at parties because of incidents of underage drinking last year.
The effort worked. Last Tuesday, Santa Clara County supervisors unanimously approved a new version of the ordinance that "explicitly exempts officers and agents of institutions of higher learning."
There's drinking, legal or not, on every college campus, and Stanford is no exception, according to alcoholics anonymous. Students 21 and older are allowed to have alcohol in their rooms and the university cops aren't tossing the rooms of younger students to search for illicit booze, Castro said.
"We treat students as adults," he said. "Our fundamental standard is that students will do the right thing. But if they don't, there are consequences."
Campus drinking is a growing concern at universities and colleges across the nation. A study released last year by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism found that there were 1,825 alcohol-related deaths among 18- to 24-year-old students in 2005, the last year with available figures.
Those include not only the rare but widely reported alcohol-poisoning deaths linked to out-of-control parties and fraternity hazing, but also the drunken-driving crashes and falls that claim many more lives.
While Stanford has never had an alcohol-poisoning death on campus, its students aren't immune to the problems that arise from heavy drinking.
"We get students cited on campus every weekend," said Ralph Castro, director of the university's Substance Abuse Prevention Project.
In the 2008-09 academic year, 44 underage students were taken to a hospital emergency room because of alcohol abuse. Seventy-three were arrested for possession of alcohol by a minor, 13 for being drunk in public and five for being a minor driving under the influence.
To combat campus drinking and encourage alcohol rehab at Stanford, university officials have for the past four years required each incoming freshman to take a three-hour online course on alcohol abuse. Groups hosting parties have to register them with the school and provide the name of the person in charge.
"When (the ordinance) came up at the Board of Supervisors last year, we brought them information about our programs," McCown said. "We asked them to watch us for a year and see how it worked."
Stanford received a 12-month stay of the new law last year and then worked with the county to do what was needed for a permanent exemption.
"We already had a program on board that our students understand and believe in," Castro said.
But with the shadow of increased county regulation hanging over the university, Stanford toughened its alcohol policies.
Tighter policies
Move-in day for resident students was moved a week closer to the first day of school, trimming the number of party-hearty nights before classes begin. Stanford police boosted their presence on nights when parties were scheduled. A few on-campus fraternities were temporarily banned from having alcohol at parties because of incidents of underage drinking last year.
The effort worked. Last Tuesday, Santa Clara County supervisors unanimously approved a new version of the ordinance that "explicitly exempts officers and agents of institutions of higher learning."
There's drinking, legal or not, on every college campus, and Stanford is no exception, according to alcoholics anonymous. Students 21 and older are allowed to have alcohol in their rooms and the university cops aren't tossing the rooms of younger students to search for illicit booze, Castro said.
"We treat students as adults," he said. "Our fundamental standard is that students will do the right thing. But if they don't, there are consequences."
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