University to study alcohol abuse on campus

Several fatal accidents in recent years have put attention on alcohol use by students. ~ The Associated Press

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Southern Illinois University in Carbondale is setting up a task force to study alcohol abuse on campus, with officials saying the problem may be worse than previously thought.

Both faculty and students will be members of the task force, which will suggest how to reduce the number of students adversely affected by alcohol abuse, said SIUC chancellor Walter Wendler, who initiated the idea.

Several fatal accidents have focused attention on alcohol use by students. A freshman was struck and killed along railroad tracks in Carbondale in 2002, and a student drowned last year on Cedar Lake, incidents in which authorities said alcohol may have been a factor.

Wendler singled out alcohol-related accidents and students who fail classes because of excessive alcohol use as problems that needed urgent attention.

"In many cases, this may be a breeding ground where people start a pattern of alcohol abuse that leads to alcoholism," he said.

The chancellor has tapped Cheryl Presley, the SIUC Student Health Programs director and the executive director of the SIUC-based CORE Institute, to head the task force. She said she'll schedule its first meeting after members are selected.

"I'm hoping we can work together to come up with some unique solutions," she said.

Among the issues the group will address, said Presley, is the question of whether sexual assaults are more likely when people have been drinking heavily.

The task force should be able to suggest possible preventive measures in such cases, Presley said.

Another focus will be on students who spend the bulk of their weekends drinking alcohol, said Presley, adding that they show the highest failure and dropout rates.