Campus Police and Substance Abuse with Student Health disagree about how to interpret the numbers concerning alcohol violations.

Jon Barnwell, patrol division commander for Campus Police, said the numbers have been going down.  Chris Austin, assistant director of health promotion and substance abuse, said he thinks the numbers are about the same.

“What was really interesting was when I saw that the numbers decreased over three years, because that’s when you can start talking about a trend,” Barnwell said.

Austin said the number of students he has for alcohol sanctions class is holding about the same year to year.

“The year before last, I had 345 students sent to me for alcohol violations,” Austin said.  “Last year, I had 338 students.  Those numbers are about the same.”

The numbers reported by Austin are the number of students who take an alcohol sanctions class after receiving an alcohol citation or violation.

“Students sent to me received a violation from University Housing or Campus Police or the Office of Student Conduct,” Austin said.

There are many possible reasons for the decrease in alcohol violations, according to Barnwell.

“The Alcohol Edu requirement started in 2007, which is a positive stand point because it educates students on alcohol and its consequences,” Barnwell said.

Some students, like Carnell Griffin, a sophomore in management, don’t think AlcoholEdu is the reason for the decrease.

“I would have guessed the alcohol violations were increasing. The Edu program is pretty pointless,” Griffin said.  “I don’t drink, so I guess it may be better for people who consume alcohol to learn about its consequences.”

Rikito Ogawa, a senior in international studies, said he thinks the violations are decreasing.

“I would have guessed the violations were decreasing because of regulations.  People are also getting careful,” Ogawa said.  “I don’t think there is a direct relation between the Edu and the decrease though.”

Austin said AlcoholEdu has been shown to have effective results.

“The entire purpose of AlcoholEdu is to teach low-risk consumption instead of high-risk consumption,” Austin said.

Some numbers have increased after Student Health began education campaigns, according to Austin.

“I have seen an increase in alleged alcohol poisonings.  Ten years ago, we didn’t receive any calls about alcohol poisonings.  One year, we printed the signs and symptoms of it,” Austin said.  “After that, we received about a call a week for alcohol poisoning.  In my estimation, it was happening before, students just didn’t know what it was.”

Austin said AlcoholEdu has students thinking about consumption in different ways.

“AlcoholEdu helps students watch out for each other more.  AlcoholEdu helps teach information about alcohol poisonings and drinking safely,” Austin said.  “Students know the signs and they watch out for each other.”

Barnwell also said Campus Police, off-campus police departments and University Housing are working together to prevent more alcohol violations.

“Also, because of cooperation between the police department and University Housing, students aren’t taking chances on campus that they were in the past,” Barnwell said. 

A significant spike of violations occurs on football game days, according to Barnwell.

“During game day operations the police department stands out in the arena parking lot and several individuals are cited in some fashion,” Barnwell said.

Sgt. Edward Farmer, with Campus Police said there were 24 alcohol violations or citations at the Western Carolina season opener, and 28 alcohol violations or citations at the Thursday night Cincinnati football game.

“The day of the game, [the team] we are playing and the significance of the game all play a role in the number of citations,” Barnwell said. 

Austin said students receiving alcohol violations at football games are not allowed to attend games for a year.

“If students get caught with an alcohol violation at a game, and go to the Office of Student Conduct, they can’t go to a game for a year,” Austin said. 

After citing students, Campus Police makes the decision whether to charge them criminally.  The following steps vary according to the decision made by Campus Police, according to Paul Tongsri, assistant director of the Office of Student Conduct.

“[The police department] isn’t involved in every off-campus offense, but local police will contact us if they are dealing with a student,” Barnwell said.

According to Barnwell, when students have alcohol violations they try to educate the students.  Campus Police has a zero tolerance policy for DWI that always ends in arrest because of the potential danger.

“The number of student conduct referrals is higher [than in the past] because [the police department] makes every attempt to make it an educational experience.” Barnwell said.

According to Tongsri, after a student has received an alcohol violation, the Office of Student Conduct determines if there will be a hearing or just a meeting with the student. 

“If the student has had prior violations and depending on the violations, they may have a hearing.  The hearing can have so many different outcomes, it’s not possible to name them all,” Tongsri said.  “For the first violation the student will receive a written warning, and generally will be asked to complete and educational sanction and write a reflection paper.”

Barnwell said Campus Police believes education will help students who have been cited with alcohol violations.

“The students learn there are ramifications and disciplinary actions, with an educational piece tied in. Students come away from the experience well rounded instead of just getting a criminal record” Barnwell said.

Eric Boone, a senior in technology education, said he didn’t have to take AlcoholEdu, but it only raises awareness.

“People violate laws regardless.  The only thing that stops them is how likely they are to get caught for breaking that law,” Boone said.  “I didn’t have to take the AlcoholEdu but it only awareness about what people already know.”