Letter: Pat Beu on alcohol and sexual assault

Dear Editor:

I’d like to compliment some of Spike Jordan’s editorial, “Have a Safe, Responsible Halloween Weekend” (The Eagle, Oct. 30.) His emphasis on the various potential problems of alcohol use of CSC students was timely and included a couple of valuable recommendations.

As a campus we are holding our breath that the worst might happen: a student’s death by alcohol poisoning, the sexual assault of someone we care for, a debilitating automobile accident that leaves a friend crippled, maimed or dead, or a life scarred by a terrible mistake that didn’t have to happen.

As young people, we think that it will never happen to us, but we all know that it can, and does. The semester has flown by, but I’ve already watched students dry heaving on their hospital gurney, screaming descriptive words in excruciating agony. I’ve watched lovely coeds cry in regret of decisions made cloudy by too much alcohol. I’ve seen the sad eyes of parents watching their children as they vomited up time and time again the remainder of their drinks.

No one was laughing or having fun.

As Mr. Jordan also noted, sexual assaults of college students most frequently involve alcohol as well. In the past several months President Obama has drawn nation-wide attention to a problem well known on so many of our college campuses, including Chadron State– alcohol is a prominent vehicle to unwanted sexual behavior and attack.

The pain and hurt on our campus already this semester has been terrible. Lives have been altered, educations ended, and nightmares endless. Never does a weekend arrive now when I am not steeling myself for that sadness that comes from these experiences.

Some of the attackers are perpetrators zeroing in on vulnerable young students. Perhaps as prevalent, however, are the kids just out to have fun, but because of alcohol have a lapse in judgment so serious that stupid mistakes are made. As my boss Jon Hansen frequently quotes from Forrest Gump, “Stupid is as stupid does.”

As Jay Jefferson Cooke, assistant editor/print of the Courier News and Home News Tribune (Somerville, NJ) reminded his readers,

The Monitoring the Future Study (2005-2013 combined data) revealed during the two weeks prior to the survey one in eight (13 percent) college students reported they have consumed 10 or more drinks in a row at least once, including one in 20 (5 percent) who reported consuming 15 or more drinks in a row. (University of Michigan, Monitoring the Future, 1975-2013: Volume II, College Students and Adults Ages 19-50, 2014.)

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism:
—About four out of five college students drink alcohol.

—About half of college students who drink, also consume alcohol through binge drinking.

—Each year, drinking negatively affects college student’s academic success as well as college communities and families.

The consequences of drinking include:
—Death: 1,825 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die each year from alcohol-related unintentional injuries

—Assault: More than 690,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking.

—Sexual abuse: More than 97,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape.

—Injury: 599,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 receive unintentional injuries while under the influence of alcohol.

—Academic problems: About 25 percent of college students report academic consequences of their drinking including missing class, falling behind, doing poorly on exams or papers and receiving lower grades overall.

—Health problems/suicide attempts: More than 150,000 students develop an alcohol-related health problem and between 1.2 percent and 1.5 percent of students indicate that they tried to commit suicide within the past year due to drinking or drug use.

I was impressed that Halloween weekend was the first weekend since the start of school that I or our Residence Life leaders, our Campus Resource Officer Sanders or our Title IX coordinator weren’t at the hospital with an alcohol poisoning, with a sexually assaulted student or dealing with an alcohol induced fight. Thank you for taking to heart some of Mr. Jordan’s advice (even if you didn’t read it.) Now let’s do it again this upcoming weekend and every weekend of the rest of the year.

Sincerely,
Pat  Beu
Student Affairs Senior Director