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The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
February 15, 2010
Substance report results surprising by Kallie Red-Horse Daily Lobo
A UNM office released a survey last week that contradicts common perceptions regarding substance abuse among college students. The Campus Office of Substance Abuse Prevention released, “College Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Use in New Mexico,” a study that for the first time surveyed students at five four-year institutions and two two-year institutions in New Mexico. The survey examined college substance abuse habits, including use of marijuana and drunk driving. Also, much emphasis was placed on the consequences of binge drinking, such as the correlation between dropping out and binge drinking. Jill Anne Yeagley, program manager of UNM’s Campus Office of Substance Abuse Prevention, said college students do not abuse substances as excessively as is widely believed. “People think that college students are drinking and using drugs a lot more than they actually are,” she said. “If you go to a party, you don’t notice the person who is not drinking alcohol. It doesn’t really click like ‘oh geez, that person is really drinking moderately.’ However, you notice Joe over there who is getting really sloppy drunk. Those kinds of
things really feed into the perception that you go to a party and everybody is drinking a lot. Some students will see the statistics and it will be an eye opener.” The survey found that 41 percent of New Mexico college students binge drink “frequently,” defined as consuming two or more drinks more than once in a two-week period. Yeagley said she was pleased to see that the report reflected UNM’s efforts to reduce drunk driving. “We have been working more intensely than some of the other schools about using a designated driver, that there are a lot of checkpoints going on and don’t even chance it kind of information,” she said. “We found that UNM had a higher percentage of students that indicated that they did that than the other schools and we had the highest percentage of students who said their friends would disapprove of them driving after drinking.” Even though the report did not distinguish between schools, COSAP had access to institution-specific information, Yeagley said. Despite some positive statistics — especially relating to drunk driving — there were some troubling trends shown in the report, said John Steiner, project director behind the report. “We had a 41 percent binge drinking rate,” he said. “It’s a little higher than we’d like to see it. Binge
monday
Alcohol use and abuse by New Mexico college students
drinking is the cut off between social, moderate drinking and the drinking that brings about and starts to create problems.” The report will hopefully aid students, Steiner said, by helping them make informed decisions. “Here at COSAP, we don’t try to tell students what to do with their personal lives,” he said. “But we do try to make information available so students can make intelligent decisions and allow them to understand the aid and ideas and other ways for them to either explore their drinking or reduce that risk.” The strong negative correlation between grade-point average and average drinks per week should influence students to drink less, Yeagley said. “In general, the students that are drinking the most heavily are the students with the worst GPAs,” she said. “That is just some of the information about looking at alcohol-related consequences that would be useful for students to look at and be aware of. It could perhaps enlighten and encourage some people to change behavior a little bit.” The similarity between NMSU and UNM was unexpected, Steiner said. “Everybody calls New Mexico State ‘the party school,’” he said. “It’s a little surprising to find out there is
Drunk Driving 65% never drove under influence of alcohol in past 12 months 84% said their friends would disapprove or disapprove strongly if they drove drunk
Binge Drinking & Academic Consequences 41% of students admit to binge drinking in the last two weeks 59% of frequent binge drinkers reported missing class due to drinking 22% of moderate drinkers missed class because of alcohol consumption
33% of frequent binge drinkers have been injured as a result of alcohol 30% of college drop-outs blame alcohol abuse for their academic
failure
Number of drinks per week of students with “A” grades
3 Number of drinks per week of students with “D” and “F” grades
11
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Campus memorial held for student killed in crash by Pat Lohmann Daily Lobo
Zach Gould/ Daily Lobo Ashley Forsythe’s sister, Danisha Goldberg, and father, Rod, hold hands during Ashley’s memorial in Northrop Hall on Friday. Forsythe was killed Dec. 18 by a suspected drunk driver.
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People who knew Ashley Forsythe said she was a quiet, studious woman until you got to know her. And her mother, Christine, said Ashley’s passion for science and geology showed up at a young age. She said the precocious toddler was always caught with rats stuffed in her pockets and rocks bouncing around in her backpack. “Our house is full of rocks now that we don’t know what to do with,” Christine said. Forsythe, 20, was killed by a suspected drunk driver Dec. 18 near Cuba, NM. Her family, friends and professors — and even a couple administrators — gathered in Northrop Hall on Friday to celebrate the geology student’s life. Provost Suzanne Ortega presented Ashley’s parents with a Bachelor’s of Science — a degree she all but earned before her last semester at UNM. “This symbolizes the honors she so appropriately deserves,” Ortega said. In addition to the degree, John Geissman, chair of Earth and Planetary Sciences, gave Ashley’s parents strands of green and yellow cords — Forsythe would have graduated with departmental honors, as well.
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“It really is my pleasure to be here with you today,” he said, trying not to cry. “Ashley earned this with her hard work and dedication.” Room 105 in Northrop Hall has a plaque on the wall dedicated to Ashley. It states, “In memory of Ashley Forsythe, who dreamed of studying volcanoes.” After the degrees were presented, more than 30 people in the Northrop classroom broke into small groups, tossing around memories of Ashley they hold dear. “She’ll be missed and she was the light that lit up every class that you were in,” Ashley’s high school friend, Melissa Dosanjh said. And her grandmother, Joyce Yasym, said Ashley’s funeral drew almost 500 attendees. She’s never seen the church that full, she said. “We never forget, but our days keep going,” she told a group of family friends. “Life is so fragile. It really is.” Her father, Rod, said Ashley’s passion for geology and volcanoes was evident when she would come home after school. “We had to tell her to slow down and use regular English,” he said. “She was using words we didn’t know.” Ashley’s professor, Maya Elrick, said she always sat in the front row
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