MESSAGE GOES OUT ABOUT ALCOHOL RESPONSIBILITY

Many Southeast Missouri State University students have migrated elsewhere this week, dispatched to hometowns or seashores or mountains for their annual spring break. While they leave the books behind for this mid-semester hiatus, one lesson should have accompanied them on their travels: the irresponsible use of alcohol is a risky business. The message has gone out locally; hopefully, no tragedies will be brought home to advise us the word wasn't received.

Unfortunately, the youthful abandon of spring break is inexorably tied to the use of alcohol. The reckless freedom this rite represents often leads to overindulgence that ends in calamity. College students are particularly vulnerable to the appeal of excessive drinking: they are new to being away from parental guidance and susceptible to peer pressure. Surgeon General Antonia Novello said last year that "spring break used to be where the boys are. Now it's where the booze is. Unfortunately, spring break has become synonymous with excessive and binge drinking by our young people."

In addition to setting a pattern for future problems, immoderate alcohol consumption can lead more immediately to poor academic performance, risky sexual encounters and even violence. The horror stories are numerous:

Charges of rape against a University of Richmond student were dismissed last year when the victim testified she was too drunk to know she was being sexually assaulted and the defendant testified he was so drunk that he did not realize the woman hadn't consented to sex.

Last fall, a 22-year-old University of Idaho student died at his home of alcohol poisoning after consuming large quantities of liquor at a Halloween party the previous night.

A 20-year-old at Clemson University was killed after falling from a fraternity house window, prompting a lawsuit against the school.

Last fall at the University of Missouri-Rolla, a freshman died after participating in a beer-and-tequila chugging contest. Four other students were charged with criminal offenses stemming from the death.

Southeast Missouri State has aggressively tried to send out a warning signal to its students. In the fall, a student organization helped coordinate the school's participation in the National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week. The university was also one of four institutions in the state to receive $50,000 grants last year from the Missouri Department of Mental Health to better facilitate alcohol and drug prevention programs on campus.

In his 1992 National Drug Control Strategy, President Bush cited alcohol as "the most abused substance by students." Efforts are being made address the problem, and spring break puts those efforts to the test. We hope the message of responsible drinking has been a lesson heeded by Southeast students, and that a safe spring break is the result.