Drinking crackdown? Shippensburg University students say yes, c...

Two months into the fall semester, many Shippensburg University students say police are cracking down on underage drinking harder than ever before.

[Nowwhat]

Take note, the university police censor information about these crimes.
An equally important factor is that SU Prez William "Rolling Ruud" Ruud encourages alcohol abuse in the student body by his frat boy party attitude.
In fact, while police enforcement remains the same, it is irresponsible and illegal alcohol consumption by children that is on the rise. There's no crack down, it's merely more social misfits that are "cracking" open more cheap liquor.
Go, Police. Run them into the ground. America needs more losers to fuel is class war.

[A Talking Horse]

“We have noted an increase in activity once school starts,”

WOW - good job Dragnet, cant get anything past you!

[Effington]

Wow, an increase in drinking since school started. Lets see, the University only doubles the town population.

I say, leave them alone. If they're not hurting anyone or causing a disturbance, they're not worth going after.

[A Talking Horse]

If these kids want to party - they are going to have to get POLITICAL. So far, they aren't doing too bad with loosely organized civil disobedience. But at some point they need to start writing their representative and request that they lower the drinking age (at least for beer). Organize. Find a legislator who might share your view. I think it's been brought up before.

As long as we continue to portray alcohol as the crown jewel of adulthood - and citizenship, duty, and responsibility as secondary "kids stuff" - we will continue needlessly criminalize our citizenry, and waste valuable social services...(money!)

[are you serious]

So where do you get the info on party boy ruud? Was that comment even nessisary?

Nowwhat wrote:

Take note, the university police censor information about these crimes.
An equally important factor is that SU Prez William "Rolling Ruud" Ruud encourages alcohol abuse in the student body by his frat boy party attitude.
In fact, while police enforcement remains the same, it is irresponsible and illegal alcohol consumption by children that is on the rise. There's no crack down, it's merely more social misfits that are "cracking" open more cheap liquor.
Go, Police. Run them into the ground. America needs more losers to fuel is class war.

[Nowwhat]

are you serious wrote:

So where do you get the info on party boy ruud? Was that comment even nessisary?<quoted text>

Observation.

[Grn Twp Res]

are you serious wrote:

So where do you get the info on party boy ruud? Was that comment even nessisary?<quoted text>

"Nessisary" - really?! Looks like you graduated from SU with honors.

[are you serious]

how about adding content to the conversation boob.

Grn Twp Res wrote:

<quoted text>
"Nessisary" - really?! Looks like you graduated from SU with honors.

[Effington]

Why are we cracking down on underage drinking??

Underage drinking should be a secondary offense, like not wearing a seat belt. These kids screw up and get nabbed for causing a disturbance, then smack them with an underage too.

But this going after them is a waste of everyone's time. Again, it's an infringement on the rights of ADULTS. These students are over 18 and they should be left alone, again, provided they're not hurting anyone or causing a disturbance.

Maybe it's just the libertarian in me that thinks college students have rights too and the right to go out on a Friday night, have a couple beers and not have to worry about having their entire careers ruined.

[A Talking Horse]

Effington wrote:

Why are we cracking down on underage drinking??
Underage drinking should be a secondary offense, like not wearing a seat belt. These kids screw up and get nabbed for causing a disturbance, then smack them with an underage too.
But this going after them is a waste of everyone's time. Again, it's an infringement on the rights of ADULTS. These students are over 18 and they should be left alone, again, provided they're not hurting anyone or causing a disturbance.
Maybe it's just the libertarian in me that thinks college students have rights too and the right to go out on a Friday night, have a couple beers and not have to worry about having their entire careers ruined.

Anyone have any figures on how much it costs the taxpayers to adjudicate an underage offense?

Underage drinkers = Job security?

[Effington]

Nowwhat wrote:

In fact, while police enforcement remains the same, it is irresponsible and illegal alcohol consumption by children that is on the rise.

This statistic is FALSE. Alcohol consumption is DOWN.

Now, here are my statistics:

A nation-wide survey of students at 168 U. S. colleges and universities found that:

* 98% have never been in trouble with a college administrator because of behavior resulting from drinking too much
* 93% have never received a lower grade because of drinking too much
* 93% have never come to class after having had several drinks
* 90% have never damaged property, pulled a false alarm, or engaged in similar inappropriate behavior because of drinking 6

While headlines typically express alarm over drinking epidemics among collegians, in reality drinking among college students continues to decline as abstaining from alcohol climbs:

* The proportion of college students who abstain from alcohol jumped 58% between 1983 and 1994, according to a series of nation-wide surveys 7
* A 16% increase in college non-drinkers has been found between the periods of 1989-1991 and 1995-1997 by the federally-funded CORE Institute 8
* A recent study by Dr. Henry Wechsler of Harvard University found that the proportion of collegiate abstainers in the U.S. jumped nearly 22% in the four years since his earlier study 9
* The proportion of non-drinkers among college students in the U.S.recently reached a record-breaking all-time high accoring to statistics collected for the National Institute on Drug Abuse by the Institute for Social Research of the University of Michigan. 10 That means that the proportion of students who drink has dropped to an all-time record-breaking low!
* The proportion of first year college students who drink beer has fallen dramatically and recently reached the lowest level in 30 years, according to national annual surveys by UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute. Similar drops were found for wine and distilled spirits 11

So-called binge drinking among American college students also continues to decline For example, the proportion of college students who binge decreased significantly within a recent four-year period, according to the Harvard University study mentioned above. 12 (To see why much so-called binge drinking really isn't, visit Binge Drinking. You'll learn how completely sober people can be labeled bingers!)

These findings are consistent with data collected by for the National Institute on Drug Abuse by the Institute for Social Research. The ISR found that college "binge" drinking in the U.S. recently reached the lowest level of the entire 17-year period that its surveys have been conducted. 13

____
You're calling college students who are 18 years old and up "children." These are not children. They vote for our leaders. They die for our country. They are adults and they deserve the right to responsibly drink.

Source:

http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/underagedrin...

This is a website that presents facts. It is meant to educate the public and prevent the abuse of alcohol, without distorting facts or alarmist headlines.

It's also important that you realize how much you know about alcohol is wrong:

http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/AlcoholFacts...

All facts presented in the website are source back to legitimate scientific studies.

[Effington]

Myth
Alcohol destroys brain cells.
Fact
The moderate consumption of alcohol does not destroy brain cells. In fact it is often associated with improved cognitive functioning. 1

Myth
Drinking long enough will cause a person to become alcoholic.
Fact
There is simply no scientific basis for this misperception, which appears to have its origin in temperance and prohibitionist ideology. 6
Myth
Binge drinking is an epidemic problem on college campuses.
Fact
Binge drinking is clinically and commonly viewed as a period of extended intoxication lasting at least several days during which time the binger drops out of usual life activities. Few university students engage in such bingeing behavior. However, a number sometimes consume at least four drinks in day (or at least five for men). Although many of these young people may never even become intoxicated, they are branded as binge drinkers by some researchers. This practice deceptively inflates the number of apparent binge drinkers. In reality, the proportion of college students who drink continues to decline, as does the percentage of those who drink heavily. 8 [see Binge Drinking]
Myth
Alcohol abuse is an increasing problem among young people.
Fact
Heavy alcohol use among people in the US 17 years of age or younger actually dropped by an amazing two-thirds (65.9 percent) between 1985 and 1997, according to federal government research. 12 The proportion of young people who consumed any alcohol within the previous month dropped from 50% to 19% in about the same period. 13 Other federally funded research also documents the continuing decline in both drinking and drinking abuse among young people. 14 Similarly, alcohol-related traffic injuries and fatalities among young people continue to drop. Deaths associated with young drinking drivers aged 16 to 24 decreased almost half (47%) in a recent 15-year period. 15 [see Underage Drinking]
Myth
People in the US are generally heavy consumers of alcohol.
Fact
The US isn't even among the top ten alcohol consuming countries. Top 10 Alcohol Consuming Countries on per capita Basis Country / Consumption in Gallons of absolute or pure alcohol: At a consumption rate of only 1.74 per person, the US falls far down at 32nd on the list. 16
Top 10 Alcohol Consuming Countries
1. Portugal 2.98
2. Luxembourg 2.95
3. France 2.87
4. Hungary 2.66
5. Spain 2.66
6. Czech Republic 2.64
7. Denmark 2.61
8. Germany 2.50
9. Austria 2.50
10. Switzerland 2.43
Myth
People who can "hold their liquor" are to be envied.
Fact
People who can drink heavily without becoming intoxicated have probably developed a tolerance for alcohol, which can indicate the onset of dependency. 20
Myth
Many lives would be saved if everyone abstained from alcohol.
Fact
Some lives would be saved from accidents now caused by intoxication and from health problems caused by alcohol abuse. However, many other lives would be lost from increases in coronary heart disease. For example, estimates from 13 studies suggest that as many as 135,884 additional deaths would occur each year in the US from coronary heart disease alone because of abstinence. 21 [see Alcohol & Health]
Myth
If alcohol were less available there would be fewer alcoholics.
Fact
This is an idea that has been tested through prohibition in the US and a number of other countries. There is no association between the availability of alcohol and alcoholism.
Myth
College life leads to drinking by most students who enter as abstainers. 25
Fact
According to Federal statistics, most students arrive at college with prior drinking experience and the proportion of drinkers doesn't increase greatly during college.[see Underage Drinking]

[Grn Twp Res]

SU had four alcohol overdoses in a 24 hour span on campus, all requiring an ambulance. The people cited for underage drinking draw attention to themselves while hundreds more get away with it because they drink discreetly.