UND requiring alcohol awareness course for freshmen
June 1, 2012 at 2:00 am in Grand Forks Herald
When Brittany Hillerud sets foot on the UND campus this fall, university officials believe she and her fellow freshmen will be more aware of the dangers of alcohol than previous classes. UND is requiring all incoming freshmen to complete an online alcohol education course, designed to better prepare students to deal with drinking-related issues they may encounter. Continue Reading
A 20-minute course? They guessed right on the average attention span.
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You got that right now what was I going to say? Oh yeah the comment about the kids who did not drink in high school go whacky in college. That would mean the kids that drank in high school can handle it better when they get to colloege. Then the smaller town kids should have hands up on the bigger town kids. As if this 20 online program will make any difference.
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Will there be samples?
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Only Miller Light.
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That for sure will cure them of ever wanting alcohol.
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It seems to be the drink of choice for UND students.
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What a waste of money and time.
I have never seen any alcohol awareness program that actually made a teenager say “Hmmm, maybe i will not drink”.
Either they will or they wont, but its a decision that they will make and believe it or not, they already know of the bad consequences involved.
I believe in programs that help drunk people get home but thats not an awareness program, thats a safety net.
This course will not prevent one single person from drinking. period.
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What a waste of money and time.
I have never seen any alcohol awareness program that actually made a teenager say “Hmmm, maybe i will not drink”.
Either they will or they wont, but its a decision that they will make and believe it or not, they already know of the bad consequences involved.
I believe in programs that help drunk people get home but thats not an awareness program, thats a safety net.
This course will not prevent one single person from drinking. period.
When I was in the 6th grade (here in ND), my teacher devoted time to facilitating the Operation Aware Program. It was held one evening each week for a few weeks and included both parents and students. No scare tactics were used, just plain honesty about peer pressure, youth drinking, juvenile delinquency, etc. To be quite honest, all the talk about drugs and alcohol and the effects they have on a person scared me out of even trying them. I think the LSD part of it scared me the most. I participated in that program over 30 years ago and still cannot tell you what alcohol tastes like, what a hangover feels like, etc. I am still very thankful for that teacher’s dedication to helping youth be strong enough to withstand peer pressure.
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They’re most likely quite aware of alcohol.
It’s like putting Bob Marley in a DARE program.
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Are you aware of UND subsidies to the taxi company, to get you home from the bar?
Are you aware of the number of bars, and their locations in GF/EGF
Are you aware that the money you spend is “economic development” for the town?
Good ’nuff. You passed. Congratulations, now go buy a round to celebrate.
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Maybe if the judges would start to impose the maximum fine for this ($1000 fine and 30 days in jail) underage drinking wouldn’t be such an issue
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UND enrollment would be cut by half at least.
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That is any college or university; not just UND. We are the king of binge drinking. University of Arizona is the home of the four year liver killing steady state drunk.
There was a story in the Tucson paper awhile back about some parents who wanted to sue their son’s frat because they allowed him to drink at least a six pack a day, every day for four years.
The parents were aghast when he moved back home after graduation & promptly went into DT.
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“Underage” drinking shouldn’t be illegal.
Teach RESPONSIBLE drinking like in Europe, instead of the totalitarian “zero tolerance” crap that is so popular here in America.
Problem solved.
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Correct on the attention span. I applaud the effort but doubt it will do much good.
Those of us of a certain generation were steeped in the ideals of the enlightenment. We were taught that man was essentially good & with enough education he/she could be perfected.
More recent research has shown this to be false.
Man is still fallen & the power of education will always be thwarted by self (selfish) interest.
Where I think we as a society go wrong is allowing an understanding of why something happens, to become an excuse for it happening. Accountability for ones own actions has been lost.
I would be all for legalizing DUI if you could guarantee me you would be the only one to die in the wreck.
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“I would be all for legalizing DUI if you could guarantee me you would be the only one to die in the wreck.”
It seems to be one of Murphy’s Laws that the drunk walks away unscathed, while the innocent all die. Then in ND his lawyer pleas it down from vehicular manslaughter to a simple DUI; time served and a fine.
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You are absolutely correct. I have never worked in a state that had such a cavalier attitude towards drunk driving. Both local & state authorities are equally to blame.
I have also never worked in a state whose people had such a forgiving/condoning attitude: Don’t be so hard on him/her; we’ve all done it. Really??
I had a patient at the local trauma center here in GF. Single occupant, single vehicle rollover. Patient ejected from the vehicle. City cops, County Sheriff, & Highway Patrol all there. Dude’s BA was over 300 (.3).
Ticket for reckless driving. No DUI. “We can’t prove he was driving.”
I am one of the biggest supporters of law enforcement around, but that night I was completely disgusted.
It was obvious the cops were just following SOP, which means the problem lies with the DA &/or legislature.
Trust me: California, Colorado, or Arizona & this loser would have been discharged from the hospital to jail.
In ND we turn them lose until they do kill someone, then we turn them lose again.
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I have tried to explain the ND mindset, from the nickname, to alcohol abuse, to the xenphobia, to the complete resistance to change, to friends who live elsewhere. No use. Guess you have to live here to understand it.
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Alcoholism is not viewed as a bad thing here. Given that most alcoholics are actually functioning members of society, it is accepted.
Children learn what they are taught: racism, xenophobia, & a pathological aversion to change are all demonstrated since birth so I guess it should not surprise me when the patterns are multigenerational.
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Which underscores the irony even more. The most fervent xenophobes are descended from immigrants. Those immigrants, predominantly Norwegian and German Lutherans, were all tea-totelers. And there could have been no greater change to come from Europe to the barren, non-descript prairie of ND. Go figure.
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You are absolutely correct. It never ceases to amaze me how once an immigrant group has “made it,” they forget how hard it was to get there. No helping those who made the same journey, just an attempt to keep what they have.
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UND loves tossing dollar bills up into the air.
I only wish I knew where to stand downwind.
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Kids start out slow! Shots are ok in moderation but learn to drink beer early on. As the year goes on your tolerance will increase don’t try to be a hero by downing a case your first day here that won’t be possible until after spring break! Remember shots are only good in moderation. And I hope to see your entire year of drinking capped off by a legendary day at spring fest! Good luck
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Awhile ago, we’re claimed to be a binge-drinking hell-hole.
Now we’re the “third healthiest college” in the nation.
http://undnews.areavoices.com/2012/04/12/website-und-third-healthiest-college-in-u-s/
What happened?
First Guess: Both studies found what they wanted to find. Anyone ever see the raw data or the methodology that determined binge drinking was a particular problem here? I never did. WHO did the study? WHEN? Was it peer-reviewed to discover bias and mistakes in the methodology?
Second guess: both studies–the one for binge drinking, and the one that says we’re “third healthiest”–are complete propaganda crap.
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Here’s an alcohal awareness program! Jocks go hang out with jocks, music people hang out with music people, burn outs hang out with burnouts, and so on. Find the senior in each group that still manages to get a solid 3.0 and follow his/her example! That will enhance your college experience
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Were just celebrating because it was so hard for our ancestors!
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Easy fix. Find something for them to divert their attention. That’s the problem with GF. Drinking is one of the only things to do here.
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That’s why they don’t drink in Las Vegas, right?
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Years ago, the casinos would serve free drinks to the players. Don’t know if that’s still true.
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Why don’t the GF blackjack joints give out free drinks, charged of course to the charity operating the table? That would keepim down on the farm (GF) ,right?
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Maybe have Vegas-style cocktail waitresses too.
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What if…It actually does help one or two people? Wouldn’t that still be a sucess even though a small one? Maybe it’s not something that will do a lot, but is it all that costly that we should gripe about it before it even gets off the ground? What’s the worse that can happen? It really doean’t have an immeadiate effect? But who know what long range effect it might have when some start feeling things might be getting out of control? Hell…Here’s something they can go on line and get some further info about that just might encourage them to seek further help before things spin too far out of control. More knowledge certainly can’t hurt them can it?
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I hear the echo of “If we save only one child, it’ll all be worth it!”
Bunch of crap. They’re going to learn sometime, and it’s a tragedy that it’s illegal for them to learn about moderation BEFORE college. OF COURSE there’s going to be problems as soon as they’ve got ready, legal access to alcohol and they’re not being supervised by Mom and Dad. This is not the fault of the college, or the liquor store. This is the fault of the parents who allowed or even encouraged legislators to enact the most harmful possible liquor laws.
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If UND backed zoning of UND neighborhoods to limit the # of unrelated people in a house they would really effect drinking. Since they don’t they have helped rationalize the UND area as a haven for underage drinking in student occupied family style houses. If we really cared about families we would make it possible for them to buy a house in UND neighborhoods & not be outbid by slum lords out to cash in on student occupied houses. With that many underage bars (houses) there is a huge amount of liquor to be sold by bottle shops. The incestuous relationship between UND & the local business community is the real cause of UND’s underage drinking problem.
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In response to a few comments: Of course, this small course will hardly make any statistical impact, however the class puts consequences and signs of alcohol abuse into the minds of those drinking–and also allows the University to cite the class when handing out punishment for underage drinking.
Second, are we as adults still stuck in the idea that “the only thing to do is drink?” If this were true, we would see many more students drinking alone rather than with others, and the University of Florida wouldn’t be known as the nations biggest college party spot, a place abundant with people, warm weather and nearby beaches.
It’s the overall college attitude that glorifies binge drinking that is the problem; however the UND and GF police turning a blind eye only contributes. And though I’m not against college kids having drinks, it often gives rise to the kids who really do have problem with drinking.
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There are people this class will help. But then again there are people like my oldest sister that cannot be reached no matter how hard we try. She’s been drinking since she was eighteen. She is now in her fifties and a full blown alcoholic. If we try to talk to her about her drinking she retreats into herself and then she avoids us. We have no choice but to accept her the way she is. It’s painful to watch her health declining but the choice to drink or not is up to her. I seriously don’t think she will be around next year….she looks that bad. Her face is puffy and her skin has that orange tinge to it…an indication of liver damage. It’s hard to understand how someone can make themselves so ill when all they need to do to get better is stop drinking. I’m around cancer patients who don’t have an easy cure. They have to struggle personally and financially to get the treatment they need. I’m left with the feeling that alcoholics are selfish people….they put their families through hell with very little thought about the future. They live for the moment and that’s about it.
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As a nurse I buck the prevailing professional winds when it comes to addiction. There is most definitely a genetic component, but in the end it is a behavioral choice, not a disease.
As evidence of this heretical argument I give you the simple fact that alcoholism is the only “disease” that the patient has complete, 100% control over whether or not they get better.
If you have diabetes, lifestyle is extremely important, but no amount of good behavior will erase the disease. If you are Schizophrenic there is very little other than chemical control we have to offer. You are stuck. Finally, despite the truly astounding advances that have been made in the last 50 years, cancer is still a fatal diagnosis much of the time.
Alcoholism and drug addiction are different. The person with the problem is the only one who can do anything about the condition. No pill or therapy is effective. AA and other treatment programs are successful maybe 10% of the time. That is why many insurances no longer cover inpatient addiction treatment (some still do, but many more do not). Would you expect an insurer to cover a cancer treatment that failed 90% of the time?
The greatest success rate out of all the treatment modalities studied, is when the person wakes up and says “I have had enough,” and stops the behavior.
Alcoholism and drug addiction are behavioral problems with a physical component. That does not make them a disease.
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“There is most definitely a genetic component, but in the end it is a behavioral choice, not a disease.”
I say this because while there is a proven familial, genetic predisposition to addiction (alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, etc) it does not come into play until the person themself activates it.
If a person with a predisposition to being a drunk never drinks, they do not become an alcoholic.
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OK, Calvin
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So you’re saying you don’t catch alcoholism like any dis-ease? If you eat or breathe carcinogens you get cancer. Alcoholism causes cancer. It is a carcinogen. Alcoholism is a dis-ease. If you aren’t at-ease you are dis- eased. You need to understand the issue of the mind-body problem in philosophy/psychology.
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Spearman remember a few days ago when I took you to task for overusing/misusing the “strawman” argument card? Did you look up the definition like I asked you to? If not please do so and then reread your post. Very timely in light of that discussion.
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Yeh, I posted it @ the place you brought it up as a description of you.
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Jordan, yes, Florida has the heat and beaches. We in ND have -70 weather and blizzards. The cold is one reason people drink so much here.
Binge drinking is not a college attitude here. It’s a state attitude. Go to a bar, alot of people are binge drinkers in ND. And by far do GF police turn a blind eye.
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Florida is the binge party school because of the heat & humidity and bikinis everywhere 9 mths. out of the year. It is a nation wide attitude not just ND.
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UND – University of No Drinking.
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