SCSU's party college reputation discussed

When it comes to drinking, many believe that SCSU’s reputation has been questionable.
However, even though the most recent study on binge drinking on SCSU was done in 2003, SCSU’s reputation of being a “party college” still remains.

Jennifer Furan, security of Public Safety, said that St. Cloud’s reputation, as a party school is not justifiable, as the statistics that they have do not show St. Cloud being any more of a party school than other universities.

Furan was also involved in the search for Scott Radel in 2006, a student that lost his life while on the way back to SCSU from a night out at the bar.

“St. Cloud State statistics for alcohol related issues are not dramatically higher than any of our sister schools,” Furan said. “It is not an issue that’s unique to St. Cloud State.”

Furan said that SCSU's less favorable reputation is a result of "rumor mill." The stories grow bigger and bigger with each retelling.

Statistically, St. Cloud does have an alcohol problem and according to U-Choose it is slightly higher than other colleges.

Public safety deals with reported cases of individuals under the influence of alcohol several nights a week.

Sarah Coyer, graduate student at SCSU and intern at U-Choose, said that even though drinking is an issue at SCSU, it is also an issue at colleges all over the country. The studies that she has been involved in do not show SCSU as any more of a party school than other universities.

“One of the things that we (U-Choose) research is the reputation of St Cloud State,” Coyer said. “We’re not exactly sure why St Cloud State has the reputation of a party school, however, it’s really not any better or worse than any other schools in the state.”

Based on a survey that U-Choose has done, only about 15 percent of people on campus reported getting into trouble when they drink. However, this group may be responsible for the survival of the reputation.

The amount of people drinking also fluctuates depending on the time, as celebratory days tend to have higher records.

Michael Machacek, a senior at SCSU that he binge drinks about twice a week. He said he also thinks that the reputation SCSU has is unfounded. Machacek said that the university he attended in Nebraska prior to SCSU has a higher number of parties and students that drink than SCSU.

“There’s nothing that goes on at this university that doesn’t happen at Mankato, Winona or the University of Minnesota,” Machacek said, “and also we have the reputation partly because people assume there’s nothing else to do in St. Cloud and we drink.”

SCSU's reputation as a "party" college may be having a negative impact on enrollment.

Jian You Hoe, an international transfer student at SCSU, said that he would have chosen another university if he would have known about SCSU’s reputation.

He said that he wanted to study in a more “studious environment” with “less outside influences."

According to a study done by U-Choose, people that binge drink have a lower GPA. People that binge drink also have the tendency to miss class and are generally at a health risk that affects their performance in classes.

Dr. Aaron M White, an assistant professor at Duke University, also published a study that shows excessive drinking can lead to memory loss.

Coyer warns that alcohol also contributes to the number of sexual assaults as alcohol is the number one date rape drug. Alcohol reduces a person’s judgment skills.

“Just because you don’t feel it doesn’t mean it’s not hurting you,” Coyer said.

Public Safety often encounters intoxicated individuals that are unable to take care of themselves physically. They have encountered cases where people could not even walk properly and hurt themselves simply by walking and falling down.

The main concern here is that people might be cheated or assaulted, says Furan.

“Our students [are] not understanding [of] their personal limitations on alcohol and drinking too much,” Furan said. “They begin to lose control over their decision making.”

St. Cloud State University has brought U-choose, a harm reduction program, onto its campus. The U-choose program focuses on harm reduction and not abstinence.

“We try to teach people how to balance the positive things and the negative things,” Coyer said.

U-choose has a number of programs including programs that teach people how to handle peer pressure, educate them on the possible misconceptions of drinking and they also collect data in order to further educate people.

Furan, who was a student at SCSU ten years ago as well, said that the programs such as U-choose are great programs but that the effects probably won’t show for another few years to come.

She said that Public Safety works closely with SCSU and Residential Life but they do not have their own program because it is important to send the same message to all students.

Coyer from U-Choose echoes the same message as well. She said she believes that it is important for students to hear the same message from every department so that they are not confused.

Some professors on SCSU have also begun to pay attention to student reaction, response and their chatter before class to try and spot possible cases of alcohol abuse before it worsens.

SCSU has also built a close relationship with the police department of St. Cloud. The St. Cloud Police Department has a team of officer work at SCSU called the Community Crime Impact Team. They have been working on-campus for a full academic year.

The Community Crime Impact Team does a number of things including giving presentations in dormitories on alcohol related risks.

SCSU’s Residential Life also reviews their student code of conduct each year to ensure that they are as effective as possible. This review is done because the students that live on-campus are different each semester.

“If you work in higher education, there is no such thing as having it all figured out,” Coyer said.