The Echo

Issue date: 11/1/07 Section: News

The UTC campus observed the National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week with demonstrations by campus police, Oct. 24-26.

Co-sponsored by Student Development, the mission of the event was to dismiss the mistaken beliefs held by most students about alcohol, Sgt. Paul Dodds said.

"Some people think they can beat the system," Dodds said.
"They have a false belief that they can drive when they are drunk."

To bring these misconceptions to light, Dodds said campus police created obstacles for students to participate in while wearing vision goggles.

The goggles distorted the student's vision and impaired their equilibrium.

The googles were donated to campus police due to Sgt. Jeremy Morrison's completion of six to eight weeks of Drug Recognition Evaluator training.

"With his involvement, they gave him a set of goggles, which was a huge thing," Dodds said. "They are really expensive."

Chief Robert Ratchford said the special training is required for all police officers to recognize impairment in drivers under the influence of alcohol or drug use.

According to John Delaney, assistant vice chancellor of student development, there was no single incident that caused the awareness week, but the university was acting in direct correlation with the national event.

"We recognize that no single education or information initiative will impact all students," Delaney said in an e-mail.

"So we hope that by regularly having programs and activities as part of New Student Orientation, in the Residence Halls, Freshman Seminar classes, and other forums on campus we will reinforce the message that we want our students making good life choices around alcohol and other drugs."

The obstacles included driving the chancellor's golf cart, walking a straight line and throwing a ball in a trash can while wearing the goggles.

According to Dodds, no student was able to perform these tasks while wearing the goggles.

"Most people were affected and it caused them to either drive to the left, walk to the left and throw the ball to the left," Dobbs said.

The American Collegiate Health Association, advocate of the NCAAW, said the week of awareness is meant to steer away from using scare tactics.

According to their Web site, the informative approach by campus police is being used at almost 135 colleges and universities nationwide, and on average causes a 20 percent reduction in high-risk drinking in a two year span.

"We weren't out there trying to stop people from drinking," Dodds said. "We know they are going to party. We are trying to convince them to have a designated driver."

Delaney said that the university's code of conduct "hold all students accountable for their behavior, even if a bad decision is prompted through alcohol use."

Because of these standards, Delaney said that students should expect that there will be consequences when a student's behavior creates a judicial or criminal concern within the campus community.

Dodds said, "It would be great if we could convince everyone to follow the law and not drink until you are 21, but that's not going to happen."

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