III

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. RES. 192

Expressing the sense of the Senate that institutions of higher education

should carry out activities to change the culture of alcohol consumption

on college campuses.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 5, 1998

Mr. BIDEN submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the

Committee on Labor and Human Resources

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Senate that institutions of higher

education should carry out activities to change the culture of alcohol consumption on college campuses.

Whereas many college presidents rank alcohol abuse as the

number one problem on campus;

Whereas alcohol is a factor in the 3 leading causes of death

for individuals aged 15 through 24 (accidents, homicides,

and suicides);

Whereas more than any other group, college students tend to

consume large numbers of drinks in rapid succession with

the intention of becoming drunk;

Whereas 84 percent of college students report drinking alcohol during the school year, with 44 percent of all college
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•SRES 192 IS

students qualifying as binge drinkers and 19 percent of

all college students qualifying as frequent binge drinkers;

Whereas alcohol is involved in a large percentage of all campus rapes, violent crimes, student suicides, and fraternity

hazing accidents;

Whereas heavy alcohol consumption on college campuses can

result in drunk driving crashes, hospitalization for alcohol

overdoses, trouble with police, injury, missed classes, and

academic failure;

Whereas the second-hand effects of student alcohol consumption range from assault, property damage, and unwanted

sexual advances, to interruptions in study or sleep, or

having to ‘‘babysit’’ another student who drank too

much; and

Whereas campus binge drinking can also lead to the death of

our Nation’s young and promising students: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved,

2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

3 This resolution may be cited as ‘‘The Collegiate Ini4 tiative To Reduce Binge Drinking Resolution’’.

5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE SENATE.

6 It is the sense of the Senate that, in an effort to

7 change the culture of alcohol consumption on college cam8 puses, all institutions of higher education should carry out

9 the following:

10 (1) The president of the institution should ap11 point a task force consisting of school administra-
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•SRES 192 IS

1 tors, faculty, students, Greek system representatives,

2 and others to conduct a full examination of student

3 and academic life at the institution. The task force

4 should make recommendations for a broad range of

5 policy and program changes that would serve to re6 duce alcohol and other drug-related problems. The

7 institution should provide resources to assist the

8 task force in promoting the campus policies and pro9 posed environmental changes that have been identi10 fied.

11 (2) The institution should provide maximum op12 portunities for students to live in an alcohol-free en13 vironment and to engage in stimulating, alcohol-free

14 recreational and leisure activities.

15 (3) The institution should enforce a ‘‘zero toler16 ance’’ policy on the illegal consumption of alcohol by

17 its students and should take steps to reduce the op18 portunities for students, faculty, staff, and alumni to

19 legally consume alcohol on campus.

20 (4) The institution should vigorously enforce its

21 code of disciplinary sanctions for those who violate

22 campus alcohol policies. Students with alcohol or

23 other drug-related problems should be referred to an

24 on-campus counseling program.
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•SRES 192 IS

1 (5) The institution should adopt a policy of

2 eliminating alcoholic beverage-related sponsorship of

3 on-campus activities. The institution should adopt

4 policies limiting the advertisement and promotion of

5 alcoholic beverages on campus.

6 (6) Recognizing that school-centered policies on

7 alcohol will be unsuccessful if local businesses sell al8 cohol to underage or intoxicated students, the insti9 tution should form a ‘‘Town/Gown’’ alliance with

10 community leaders. That alliance should encourage

11 local commercial establishments that promote or sell

12 alcoholic beverages to curtail illegal student access to

13 alcohol and adopt responsible alcohol marketing and

14 service practices.

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