One click of his mouse and Scott Crump meets the direct gaze and quiet expression of a student with whom he shared the UC Davis campus just months ago. With its color photograph, the e-mail greeting wishes him a happy 21st birthday and a safe celebration. A celebration with a happier ending than David Thornton’s.
The birthday card is one of several initiatives the campus will introduce this fall to address the high-risk drinking that killed Thornton in April. They include a program encouraging friends to be responsible for one another, a peer education program for the Greek system and a peer support program.
Some initiatives have come in response to Thornton’s death; others were already being implemented. Several involve students in key roles. But they all build on an already well-established array of programs to help students make wise decisions about alcohol.
Preliminary results of a survey of UC Davis students last spring showed that 15 percent of respondents reported engaging in high-risk drinking while 30 percent don’t drink at all. High-risk drinking was defined for men as more than five drinks in one sitting and for women, more than four drinks.
"In a nationwide context, these numbers are very low in terms of those participating in high-risk drinking," says Carol Wall, vice chancellor for Student Affairs. "But as David’s death makes evident, even a campus like ours must be attentive to the risks some of our students are taking."
Thornton, a high-achieving student just one year from graduation, died of alcohol poisoning after consuming 21 drinks in a downtown bar to celebrate his 21st birthday. His blood alcohol level was 0.54, and he had already stopped breathing when his friends brought him to the emergency room at Sutter Davis Hospital.
To Crump, the e-mail birthday message hits home. "When celebration time rolls around, you’re not thinking too much about being safe," says the psychology major. "But I’m sure I’ll have that card in the back of my head now."
"I think one of David Thornton’s legacies is to touch the hearts and souls and minds of his peers in ways that save others, challenge others and inform others," says Janet Gong, assistant vice chancellor for Student Affairs.
A Michigan model
The UC Davis program is modeled after one established at Michigan State University in 1999 following the alcohol-related death of Bradley McCue. With the cooperation of the university, McCue’s parents set up a foundation to send students cards for their 21st birthdays urging them to drink responsibly.
Those who have "signed" the UC Davis card--Thornton’s family and friends and others at UC Davis--are hoping it will be as effective as the Michigan State card. In an online survey of the 4,000 Michigan State students who had received the cards, two-thirds said they consumed alcohol in a more responsible manner continued from page 1
after receiving the card, and 31 percent said they now drank less alcohol than they would have otherwise.
At UC Davis, another new initiative is aimed not at students who may drink dangerously, but at their friends. The message was developed based on roundtable discussions with students following Thornton’s death.
"People feel uncomfortable telling even their best friends what to do with their lives," says Michelle Famula, director of the Cowell Student Health Center on campus. "They’re not going to judge each other or criticize one another for how they choose to do any high-risk behavior. That’s not their role.
"But when we talked about friends helping friends and how you help a friend in trouble, then they were asking for some specific information."
Helping hand
So this fall the "Be a Friend" campaign will be launched. Information fliers will be posted in residence halls and in other Student Affairs buildings. Thousands of wallet cards will be distributed in residence halls, at campus events and during presentations on lifestyle choices. Both outline the signs of alcohol poisoning and provide information on the do’s and don’ts of helping a friend. The wallet cards also have a table indicating weight- and gender-specific blood-alcohol concentrations that will result from consuming a given number of drinks.
Another campaign seeks to debunk the myth that "everybody’s doing it," using a UC Davis survey on alcohol use, conducted as part of the National College Health Assessment, to show that most students drink less—and less dangerously—than their peers think.
For example, 71 percent of UC Davis respondents reported having three or fewer drinks when partying, 24 percent reported having four to six drinks, and 5 percent reported having seven to nine drinks. However, only 33 percent think others have three or fewer drinks, 54 percent think others drink four to six drinks and 13 percent think others have seven to nine drinks.
"We have that dichotomy, and so we have an opportunity," says Famula, adding that similar "social-norming campaigns" have been proven to reduce abusive drinking when such a gap exists.
The survey findings are being incorporated into new and existing programs, including presentations to students living in residence halls, athletes and student clubs. The university also will place advertisements on Unitrans buses and with KDVS radio, the California Aggie and sports programs.
The social-norming campaign was among 18 recommendations in the June 1999 report of the university’s Alcohol and Other Drug Task Force. And so was sponsoring more on-campus activities as alternatives to off-campus parties where alcohol may be available.
Student roles
This year students themselves have taken on the challenge of organizing Turbulence II, a late-night activities program for students at Recreation Hall Friday, Oct. 6. Last year, more than 3,500 students attended the inaugural event, which included a dance, sports, games and food--but no alcohol.
"Student leaders do feel a sense of obligation for promoting a safe and fun campus," says Matt Huerta, president of the Associated Students of UC Davis. "We hope Turbulence II will spark enough interest among students searching for alternative ways of having fun so we’ll get a good turnout at other events."
Jennifer Lippert wrote not only the student senate bill making Turbulence a unit of the ASUCD, but also its administrative plan and budget. Now she is the event’s part-time director.
"This is a project I felt strongly about," says Lippert, a history major. In consultation with campus administrators, she is working with representatives of other student organizations and about 100 student volunteers.
Beyond the campus, the university is facilitating a group established last spring to make recommendations to the community and university about reducing high-risk drinking among adolescents and young adults in the area.
The group includes representatives from Davis High School, local bars, Sutter Davis Hospital, city and university police departments and other campus departments. It has recently divided its work among three subcommittees on education, policy and environment, and intervention.
Other initiatives planned:
• Twenty specially trained students will use games and role-playing to inform fraternities and sororities about alcohol abuse and other lifestyle issues.
• A confidential support program will provide students the opportunity to explore their problems with alcohol or other drugs and to seek solutions.
• The university has provided parents of freshmen with a brochure encouraging them to talk to their sons and daughters about drinking in college. "Parents, You’re Not Done Yet" is published by the Century Council, which fights alcohol abuse with support from leading distillers.
• Student Housing will host a late-night dance and games program for all residence hall students at 9 p.m. Sept. 30 in Freeborn Hall. During the first days student residents are on campus, Student Housing also will continue to offer health resource fairs and other activities.