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December 7, 2005
By Earl Bolender
Here's a sobering statistic: Alcohol contributed to more than 1,700 deaths of American college students between the ages of 18 and 24 in 2001, according to the National Institutes of Health,
No wonder first year freshman at more than 350 colleges and universities across the nation, including Chico State, are now required to pass an alcohol education course before they can register for classes.
An Internet program, "AlcoholEdu for College" is provided free of charge.
Developed by Outside the Classroom, Inc. of Needham, MA, AlcoholEdu incorporates audio and video presentations with charts and diagrams that relay the latest information about alcohol and its effects on the body. The course is designed so that students can complete it over a period of time rather than all at once.
Chico State is in the first year of a three-year $60,000 contract with Outside the Classroom, Inc. to provide the alcohol abuse prevention course to all first-year freshmen. Letters are sent to incoming freshmen and their parents informing them of the course requirement and what is needed to complete the course.
"This program has proven very successful at other colleges and universities across the nation," Chico State public affairs officer Joe Wills said.
It is currently being used at UC Berkeley, St. Mary's College and Southern Oregon University as well as many other colleges.
Wills said surveys have shown that a lot of students have made positive decisions after taking the course. Data from students who completed the program in the summer and fall of 2004 show:
-- Seventy one percent said they now know more about blood alcohol concentration and 44 percent of men know more about how alcohol affects consent for sex;
-- The percentage of heavy-episodic drinkers who did not see a need to change their behavior dropped by almost 30 percent after taking the course and the percentages of students who were trying to change doubled;
-- Seventy percent said they would recommend the program to other students; and
-- Students who took the program had significantly fewer negative personal, health and academic consequences during the entire academic year.
Wills said the program doesn't tell students not to drink, but rather warns them about the dangers of excessive drinking.
The online video and audio course includes a confidential survey of a student's drinking habits, a pre-test and study of such issues as the basics of alcohol, the role alcohol plays in society, effects on learning and memory and abuse and addiction. Students are are also shown several videos of students in drinking situations, such as drinking the night before an exam.
While schools set their own requirements on required scores to pass the exam, most, including Chico State, require students to correctly answer 70 percent of the 40 questions.
Parents of freshmen have access to the online course so they can discuss the material with their children if they choose.
AlcoholEdu can be accessed from any computer.
"The college has computers for use by those students who may not have access to one," Wills said.
AlcoholEdu for College is related to another course that has been used at Chico State for the past three years: AlcoholEdu for Sanctions is used for all students who have violated the university's alcohol policy. Students must pay for the AlcoholEdu for Sanctions course, which is designed specifically to help students understand the factors that led to their violation and ways they can avoid a recurrence.
Chico State director of the campus Alcohol and Drug Education Center, Shauna Quinn, said the violation program has been effective.
"Of the 392 students who took AlcoholEdu for Sanctions last year, 17 percent said they were well educated about alcohol and its effects prior to taking the course," Quinn said. "After completing the course, 40 percent said they were."
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