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The Whole College Catalog About Drinking: A Guide to Alcohol Abuse Prevention


PLEASE NOTE: The Whole College Catalog is available for historical purposes. The Whole College Catalog is 37 years old and should be viewed as a historical document only. Please be aware that a more recent report exists, A Call to Action: Changing the Culture of Drinking at U.S. Colleges.

A Call to Action: Changing the Culture of Drinking at U.S. Colleges was released in 2002 and is a more current analysis of the college drinking situation in the U.S. If you still would like to request a print version of The Whole College Catalog About Drinking: A Guide to Alcohol Abuse Prevention, please contact webmaster@collegedrinkingprevention.gov.

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Purpose of the Whole College Catalog

The Whole College Catalog About DrinkingThe purpose of this Whole College Catalog is to encourage fresh thinking and experimentation regarding alcohol abuse prevention. The aim was to make it as comprehensive, interesting, understandable, provocative, and last but not least, as useful as possible. Each section is a separate unit that can be used independently to meet distinct needs. The ideas and program concepts found in these pages were contributed by students and staff from various colleges around the country; not all are necessarily endorsed by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

The College Catalog does not pretend to give any final answers. The best programs will be the ones that you develop. Some of the efforts described here were not complete successes; others are just getting underway. The important thing is that different approaches are being tried and that we can learn from each other’s experience. Use any part of this Catalog that you feel appropriate or that fits the needs of your college community. Good Luck!


PREFACE

“I would like to think that most people can drink in a gracious and joyful way, and that they can do it with some kind of reasonable moderation. There may be people who simply can’t and shouldn’t drink, and it’s up to them to decide that early in life on the basis of their own “experience.”

Thus spoke Father Theodore Hesburgh to students and faculty from around the country in November 1975 at a meeting held to review the contents of this Whole College Catalog. The University of Notre Dame president went on to call alcohol abuse “one of the great enormous problems of our times,” and spoke of two illuminating experiences from his own life. The first involved his learning how to drink in a “civilized manner,” mostly with meals, while studying in pre-World War II Italy. He recalled that in 3 years in that country he saw only three people drunk—and two of them were Americans! (And he had seen hundreds of thousands of Italians during those 3 years.)

The second incident involved a law student he knew at Notre Dame after the war. Every time this fellow would go downtown at night he would inevitably come back to the residence hall in an intoxicated state; and usually someone had to put him to bed. On one particular occasion it was Father Hesburgh who gave assistance and, in parting, asked the student to see him the next day. The following morning the student arrived looking a bit sheepish and expecting a stern reprimand. Instead, he was asked what he wanted out of life. The student responded that he wanted to be a successful lawyer, have a good marriage, and be a good father. Father Hesburgh then asked “Okay, do you know what you are right now?” The student said, “Yeah, I’m a law student at Notre Dame.”

“No, beyond that. If I think of your name, one thing comes to mind: perpetual drunk. You never leave this campus except that you come home like you did last night and you’re a cause of difficulty for everybody who knows and likes you. I’d just like to ask you three questions. Have you ever known in your whole life a successful lawyer who has been a drunk? You know, a chronic drunk the way you are? And do you know any successful marriage where the husband has been a chronic drunk? And finally do you know any father of children, who has been a good father, who has been a chronic drunk?”

The student had to admit that the answer was “no” to all three questions.

“Well, you just got through telling me what you wanted to be, and then you tell me that you don’t know anybody who can be that if he’s like you. I think there’s something goofy in your life that you better sort out because you’re acting in a way that makes it impossible to be what you want to be.”

These two experiences of Father Hesburgh illustrate some important points about alcohol abuse as it relates to American society and to us as individuals. While drunkenness and the accompanying social damage are perhaps not unique to the United States, they do tend to be more prevalent and destructive in this country than in many others. Fortunately, there are societies where individuals have learned to use alcohol in a mature, nondestructive, “gracious and joyful” way. We can look at these cultures and perhaps find help for our own future.

Despite what we see on television and read in magazines, drinking does not solve our problems—it is not the key to success and happiness. For those of us who have set personal goals and who seek human dignity and happiness, it might be well worthwhile to reexamine our use of alcohol and our behavior, as well as that of those we love, to see if there is something “goofy” in our lives.

This Catalog is dedicated to reexamination.


Contents

  • Preface
x
  • Members of the Editorial Board
xi
  • Purpose of the Whole College Catalog
xii

Part One. Facts and First Steps: A Programming Overview

I. What's Happening and Why Bother?

  • (Alcohol: A Two-Sided Issue)
1
  • University 50 + 12 Project
2
  • Attitude and Behavior Findings
2
  • Why Do Prevention Work at the College Level?
4
  • Conclusions
4

II. What Do We Know?

  • (Basic Facts)
6
  • Ethyl Alcohol
7
  • How Does Alcohol Act in the Body?
7
  • Sobering Up
8
  • Hangover
8
  • Alcohol and Other Drugs
9
  • The Drinking Scene
9
  • Where Does All This Leave Us?
9

III. How Do We Get Started?

  • (Needs Assessment and Planning)
11
  • Gathering Data
11
  • Establishing Priorities
11
  • Planning Prevention Strategies
12
  • Identifying Resources
12
  • Cultivating Support of Key Personnel
12

IV. How Do We Do It?

  • (Implementation)
13
  • General Principles to Keep in Mind
13
  • Organizational Options
14
  • Problem-Solving Methods
15
  • Tools and Techniques
16
  • Media Utilization
17

V. Who Can Help Us?

  • (Resources)
20
  • Basic Information and Ideas
20
  • Additional Materials
21
  • Financial Resources
21

VI. How Do We Tell If It's Any Good?

  • (Evaluation)
25
  • Why Should the Program Be Evaluated?
25
  • What Is Evaluation Anyway?
25
  • How Do We Develop a Program Evaluation?
26
  • What Data Should We Gather?
26
  • What Indicators of Success Can We Use?
26

VII. What If Someone Has a Drinking Problem?

  • (Intervention and Referral)
28
  • What if Someone Is Drunk?
28
  • What Can We Do to Help a Person With a Drinking Problem?
29

Part Two. Projects: Ideas and Realities

VIII. What Can We Do?

  • (Project Ideas)
33
  • Personal Development
34
  • Environmental Change
34
  • Categorical Overlap—A Word of Caution
34
  • Specific Strategies
34
  • Specific Strategies—Personal
  • Alcohol Information Dissemination
36
  • Alcohol Awareness Campaigns or Days
37
  • Symposia
37
  • Film Festivals
37
  • Speakers Bureau
37
  • Drug Analysis Centers
37
  • Role Modeling
38
  • Academic Courses
38
  • Seminars
38
  • Individual Research
38
  • Workshops Focusing on Drinking Attitudes
38
  • Small Group Educational Programs
39
  • Peer Counseling/Peer Alcohol Educators
39
  • Volunteer Projects
39
  • Breathalyzer Campaign
39
  • Specific Strategies—Environmental
  • Changing the Cultural Meaning of Drinking
40
  • Transportation for Off-Campus Drinking
40
  • Pleasure Enhancement Ideas
40
  • Freshmen Orientation
43
  • Student Handbooks
43
  • Drinking Policies and Regulations
44
  • Living Unit Programs
44
  • Alcohol Use and Abuse Surveys
44
  • Student Jobs
44
  • Serving Alcohol on Campus
45
  • Modification of Community Drinking Environments
45
  • Programs to Get Intoxicated Persons Home Safely
46
  • Bartender Training
46
  • Lobbying for Changes in Liquor Laws
46
  • Police Training
46
  • Nonspecific Strategies
47
  • Nonspecific Strategies—Personal
  • Creativity Building
48
  • Physical Activities
48
  • Enjoying Another Person
48
  • Meditation
48
  • Biofeedback
48
  • Values Clarification
49
  • Assertiveness Training and Power Needs
49
  • Exploration of Human Sexuality and Sex Roles
49
  • Activities Directed at Isolated Students
50
  • Team Building
50
  • Intramural Sports and Games
50
  • Nonspecific Strategies—Environmental
  • Humanistic/Affective Education
51
  • Enriching Student Jobs
51
  • Creative Outlets
52
  • Student Services and Opportunities for Volunteerism
52
  • Alternate Social Events
52
  • Community Services and Activities
52
  • Improving Relations Between the College and the Community
52
  • Community Volunteer Efforts
52

IX. What About Nonresidential Schools?

  • (Community and Commuter Colleges)
53
  • Community (Junior) Colleges
53
  • Commuter Colleges
54
  • Strategies
54

X. What's New?

  • (Recent Programs and Projects)
56
  • University of Massachusetts: Demonstration Alcohol Project Description
56
  • Southern Methodist University: Student Senate Resolution—Motion to Establish an Alcohol Education Committee
58
  • California Polytechnic State University: Survey of Alcohol Use
59
  • Moorhead State University: Alcohol Awareness Program
63
  • Indiana University: Alcohol Education Task Force/Student Alcohol Questionnaire
64
  • South Carolina: School of Alcohol and Drug Studies
69
  • Florida Technological University: Alcohol—A Symposium on the Pleasures and Problems
71
  • University of Washington: Map of "Haunted by Spirits" Exhibit
75
  • University of Wisconsin: Drug Information Center
76
  • Morgan State University: Drug Information Center
76
  • University of Notre Dame: Campus Drinking Establishment and Bus
    Service for Off-Campus Drinking
77
  • Kent State University: Proposal for a Free Breathalyzer Service
77
  • Mental Health on Tap on Racine's Saloons
79
  • University of Colorado: Developing Alcohol and Drug Programs to
    Assist in Handling Behavior Problems
79
  • University of Puerto Rico: Educational Experiences Focusing on the Prevention of Alcohol Problems
80
  • University of Delaware: Procedures for the Treatment of Employees
    Whose Use of Alcohol Affects Their Job Performance
80
  • Haskell Indian Junior College: Alcohol Education Prevention and
    Treatment Program
82
  • Louisiana State University: Committee on Responsibility in Drinking
83

Appendices

  • Appendix AExamples of Training Programs and Courses Offered
85
  • University of Massachusetts Training Program for
    Peer Counselors
86
  • University of Massachusetts Training Program for
    Peer Alcohol Educators
89
  • University of California at Berkeley—"Alcohol and Other Drugs: Prevention and
    Social Policy Issues"
91
  • University of Wisconsin at Madison—"Social Work 453"
91
  • Rutgers University—Livingston College—"Introduction to
    Alcohol Programs"
93
  • "Offering the Wine 'n' Dine Program"
95
  • Appendix BExamples of Media Materials: Poster, Pamphlets, Films
97
  • Poster Created by North Philadelphia Student
    Demonstration Project
98
  • California Polytechnic State University—"If You Choose to
    Drink, Drink Responsibly"
99
  • University of Texas—"What is Responsible Drinking?"
101
  • University of Michigan—"About Drugs Again"
103
  • Films
107
  • Trigger Flims
108
  • Appendix CAlcohol Facts and Ideas
109
  • National University Seminar Student Panel
110
  • Alcohol-Drug Interactions
112
  • What is the Alcohol Content of Beer in your State?
115
  • The Meaning of "Proof"
116
  • Appendix DRecipes
117
  • Party Recipes
118
  • The Counter Cocktail
119
  • Cooking With Wine and Beer
120
  • Appendix EReference and Resources
122
  • Selected References
123
  • State Alcohol Agencies
124
  • State Prevention Coordinator Program
127
  • Summer Schools of Alcohol/Drug Studies
127
  • Drug Dependence Institute
128
  • Area Alcohol Education and Training Programs
129
  • Alcohol Industry Publications
129


Historical document
Last reviewed: 11/28/2006


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