there's nothing unusual about alcohol being on many college campuses across the country. that one drink could lead to "oh come on, let's have another shot." we'll show you how harmful partying hard can be. and what we need to do to fix the issue students are facing today. on this edition of equal time. [music] hello and welcome to the campus of san jose state university and this edition of equal time. i'm your host, journalism school director bob rucker. tailgating, binge drinking, the culture of alcohol on many college campuses.

students and staff at san jose state university are addressing these concerns in hopes of minimizing the effects of alcohol abuse. equal time correspondent adrianne manseau begins our coverage with a look at the problem. [sirens] death from alcohol abuse is constantly making the headlines especially on college campuses. even in less extreme cases over consumption of alcohol is detrimental to the health of students. essentially if anyone makes a decision to drink, especially above moderate levels you're making decision to influence your growth and shaping, you know, your mind. dr. david lo works with students at the campus health center. he says that drinking can be especially harmful into the early 20's, since the brain is still developing. that means it can be harmful to nearly all college students. away from studying, you want to cut loose and enjoy. and there's a lot of danger there and they have to think.

according to the 2012 national college health assessment, about 70% of sjsu students drink. university police department sergeant jenny gaxiola says some people start to think the only way to have fun is with alcohol. sometimes it's kind of hard to figure out on your own, well what can you do? just stare at each other or play video games? you know. and the party culture on college campuses isn't helping. she says a lot of the alcohol consumption starts with housing, fraternities, and some of the surrounding apartments. thursday became a new friday, weekends. so essentially extended thursday, friday, saturday, so it's like a three day party. whoa. there may not always be direct peer pressure to drink. program director for mothers against drunk driving, domenica cardenas, says students can be influenced by their environment. if your friends do it, you want to do it. sometimes you're not forced to do it. but because you want to fit in, they tend to do it.

cardenas spoke to a group of students at the delta zeta sorority, to spread awareness. she was personally affected by alcohol abuse when her father was killed by a drunk driver. the effects of alcohol when you're drinking, you think you're not drunk, but you actually are. you don't really think a 100% of what's going on around you. some people start to feel invincible when they drink. they think that well, but i could control it. or ahhh, but it won't be me. you know, it's not gonna be us. sergeant gaxiola says alcohol tends to be a bigger problem in the fall when the freshmen are adjusting to less supervision and more freedom. according to the 2015 results of sjsu's alcohol edu. survey, 13% of students who drink are considered heavy drinkers. just sounds anxiety at first, right? which is why everyone likes it. shuts down your inhibitions, but then it's gonna go on and go on and shut down your vital functions like breathing. when we come back we'll take a look at ways to fight alcohol abuse.

showing how college campuses can encourage practical skills to help keep our students safe. [music] [music] welcome back. we've seen how alcohol abuse can present itself on college campuses. but with the help of faculty and the administration, some practical steps are being taken at san jose state

and you can see the work in progress, especially at the wellness center. adrianne manseau continues our coverage. tailgating is a tradition on college campuses. but one way to fight alcohol abuse is by bringing awareness to students. sjsu's wellness center has programs specifically for that purpose. some professors will ask that we present our party classy presentation in their classrooms. and that's a really great opportunity for us to disseminate some of this information. sjsu wellness and health coordinator liz romero says she understands class time is precious, but on days professors would be canceling they could instead invite the health center for a workshop. the office of student involvement requires organizations to attend similar workshops. senior kathy kong went to one and she said it opened her eyes to the prevalence of alcohol related issues. [sirens] i'm realizing wow this must happen often in like the bigger clubs and it was -- i was not aware of that. but that's definitely like an issue.

while there is a a two-hour program in place for incoming freshmen called alcohol edu. the course is online and much less involved than the one kong participated in. she says she'd like to see the edu. program ramped up. having people gather at a place that be awesome. and having it being interactive. in addition to these workshops, the university is trying to help in other ways. research has shown that if the president or the vice president of student affairs sends out such a letter or such a communication, it helps decrease the amount of negative incidents. and the administration did just that. before the big rival football game against fresno state, student affairs sent out an email with safe drinking tips. students are going to express individual choice, but i think the campus can set a culture. sometimes that cultural change takes a while. this change cannot just come from the administrators though. it also has to come from the students. some student organizations like the sorority delta zeta, have made alcohol awareness a priority. we just need to talk about more, i think all of our problems,

in society in general can really be solved by talking about it. and i think that they're sort of the stigmatism when talking about alcohol, because it's something that a lot of college students partake in. and it's we like to pretend that it doesn't exist but it does. the sorority held a full week of events highlighting that drinking responsibly is a choice. people have like their own limits but i think a lot of young college students, they're still learning and because of that sometimes they go overboard and that's when things get unsafe and that's an issue that we face every day. romero has found this to be true as well. that's why she wants to try and change the approach to alcohol awareness. it's definitely -- people need to know their limits and how much they're pouring. she says while bringing in reformed alcoholics may be helpful in the moment, it's not what people think about when they're pouring their drinks. and so just because you have one cup of alcohol, doesn't mean it's one drink. this is something that comes up a lot of workshops. she says some students don't think about one shot and one beer

both being considered one drink. and i think that's kind of an eye opener for people. she says the best way to help is by moving away from scare tactics and moving towards practical skills. while it may be tough to influence students not to drink it is possible to affect how safely they do it. when we come back we'll sit down with student advocates and professionals searching for solutions. stay with us. [music] welcome back to this edition of equal time. today our focus is on the dangers of overconsumption of alcohol.

let's meet our guests. i'm david lo, a psychiatrists and co-medical chief of staff at the student health center here on campus. and i treat students for their psychological and physical concerns related to alcohol. i'm domenica cardenas, and i am with madd. and i am here to share my story after my dad was killed by someone more was under the influence. my name is tony lee. i'm a police detective with the university police department. i'm here to talk about the legal aspects behind drinking. dr. kate sullivan, i'm a professor in the department of hospitality management and i teach a class called beer appreciation here on campus. i'm adrianne manseau, the student correspondent for this episode of equal time. i'm very happy that you're all here and that we're gonna have a candid conversation. and full disclosure, my father had problems with alcohol that directly affected my life and certainly hoi look at alcohol. and i'm touched by what happened to you. can you tell us a little bit more about what happened with your father? >> yes, my dad was 63 years old. healthy. had two jobs. he was on his way to work. he was walking legally in a crosswalk, when he was hit

by someone who was driving under the influence. my dad spent three weeks in a coma and then he died a day before father's day. >> i'm very sorry. we're all very sorry about that. we hear these type of stories and tony, you deal with this as a police officer. how do you deal with the families and the emotions when you're dealing with alcoholism? the core value issue here. it's really hard dealing helping family members who have been victims of a dui. we deal with dui sadly on a daily basis, where a lot of people about to make the decision to drink and drive and consequences of that can lead to harming other people. and a lot of people don't think about that when they make the decision to drink and drive. >> i'm thinking right now there might be people saying "blah blah blah. yeah, we talked about alcohol for many many years." dr. when you actually talk to them, students on our campus about this, how do you approach the subject? i try to approach it from developmental perspective,

which is really important to them, especially if they're 18 to 24 year old range. they're developing, they're growing. they didn't understand how this is affecting them neurologically. how it's affecting their growing brain. as well just their personality. alcohol is a big part of our culture and they need to figure out their role with it, their peace with it. and my job is to help them understand the risks and also shaped the way they can use it in a healthy way. and dr. sullivan actually teaches a responsible course about beer. let's talk about that. well it's you know relatively new course. we teach both wine and beer appreciation in hospitality because of the revenue implications for our industry, which is the the hotel, lodging, restaurant, industry. but we have a responsibility and and we know that about our students. so we do it an entire module on alcohol safety. even before we do tastings in the class.

but it is a popular class, and as you have said that students are very interested in it. and what we do stress moderation and we certainly do not allow anyone to leave the classroom after more than a few tastings. and have any kind of affects. we stress safety. >> very good. >> and consumption. >> and i'm just curious adrianne, as you know all of us have been to college, you're in college. this is nothing new for college, the dealing with the issue of alcohol. why did you want to do this topic? >> i think mostly i see it so often in the headlines. i've been following the news and it just it's so crazy to me that i mean clearly students drink alcohol but the fact that people don't realize that they can actually die from it and i know it pops up a lot and it's a big issue on college campuses. so i wanted to look a little more into that. >> and you helped assemble this group you have any questions for them? because i do if you don't. [laughter] we'll toss it to you first. alright then. yeah, i'll be happy to take it. when we were growing up and i experienced it from a violent perspective,

domestic violence and alcohol. terrible mix. created a very difficult workplace environment for me, for my family. i should say home environment. and certainly studying, it was very difficult. i wish i had someone like you to talk to. more and more schools now make it available, someone with expertise. to walk students through the stresses and tensions and the alcohol-related problems in their lives. that right? >> absolutely and unfortunately that is a big problem. so we mostly work with students who are struggling with alcohol themselves, but certainly there are plenty of students who come from a background like yourself. and it's a devastating blow on their development, it's even earlier in their development, you know. it's like my 18 to 24 year old range. but alcohol indirectly through the role of their family, and their exposure to it even younger is is really traumatic and can result in correctly post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, or just high anxiety. anxiety is i would say the number one thing that we see on campus >> you know in my life. i have purposely stayed away from alcohol.

i do once in the while. i can enjoy football game here and there. but i stay away from it. and i wonder, do you domenica, have thoughts about that? because you're working with madd now, you're trying to educate the public, but does anyone ever asked you how do you deal with alcohol now in your life. well madd is not against people drinking. madd is against people getting behind the wheel intoxicated. and my personal life i have always say away from alcohol. i don't drink. i do go out with friends, they drink. i always choose to be the designated driver. because i know when i was in college, i drink. i, you know, i used to get drunk and thank god i didn't drive. but the effects that it had on me next day, was just terrible. so now after what happened to my dad, i want to educate the public i want to, educate our teens.

we have an excellent program, with mother's power of youth. where we go out and talk to middle school students. because that's where it starts. it starts at home. and we also educate parents and and i think it's very important for us to do that. i think it is it when we're educating college students, do they glaze over dr. kate when they we say "be safe, be careful, don't drink don't drink." >> no, we show films. we show some madd films in my class. first of all you have to be 21 to take my class and you know have to have some sense of understanding the effects of alcohol. for example one of the exercises we do is what does a hangover feel like. and you know and the students talk about how ill they get afterwards. and so we do mention that and of course we talk about remedies too. and how to cure a hangover. i don't know if you can cure a hangover. but it -- i think what we're talking about here, could be a lifetime hangover. and so we have to really educate them.

and i think a lot of -- since i don't have freshmen in the class i do think maybe some of the issues here on campus, you would know better. but you know when the students first arrived here in the dorms and they're on their own then the experimentation comes in. and they may have come from those families but we all have a lot of experimental interested students. so i think that part of our orientation for students should involve alcohol training. i think you went through alcohol training, correct? >> yeah i had to go through an online course. and it was i think it was a couple hours and asking you about the effects. it was i think it was getting statistics about exactly how many people in the school are drinking and how they're dealing with it. but also just to educate you as well. and it's a high percentage of our students, let's face it. probably across america and across the world that do drink. and it is the reality of it. but its response -- it should be responsible. and that's what i try to stress. and when it's not especially when you go to the dorms, tony.

would you encounter and how difficult is it to manage? well we understand that on a college campus people are gonna experiment. experiment with alcohol and we understand people are going to use alcohol. there's a fine line between use and abuse. and that's where police have to step in sometimes when people abuse alcohol and drink to the point where they completely pass out, or their belligerent, causing disruptions and that's when police get called the dorms to different places on campus for these types of calls. and it can vary from if they're intoxicated but still able to care for themselves. and just once police show up they calm down. and they realize they're acting belligerent and sometimes if they're able to take care of themselves or they have someone to take care of them, we'll release them. but if they're intoxicated to the point where they can't care for themselves. causing too much of a problem, they can't get arrested for public intoxication. if they're driving they can get arrested for dui. we've encountered people were there so intoxicated they're completely passed out and non-responsive. situations like that their health is the most important thing,

and we'll call an ambulance to transport them to the hospital. >> and peer pressure, you know young people want to be a part of the group. you're at a party, you're on campus, you're hanging out with your friends. oh come on have a drink, come on, it won't hurt you. come on, be a part of everything. that's peer pressure we've all experienced, but how do you tell young people here's how you managing it? yeah, it takes awareness that there is a choice to be made and even though you're feeling the pressure you're feeling the push to not make a choice, that there still is a choice and it takes some social skill, and just skills period to navigate and that bind between, you know, feeling rejected or just going along with the flow and not making a choice. to learn how to be individual and how to stick up for what you want to do. and in a, you know socially, adaptive way, in a healthy way. >> but the consumption of alcohol is also pleasurable experiences it's something that we should look at and we study that we have classes and such.

but as a student, how you really think about it? alcohol. i mean people like to drink it, people use it for fun and everything, but it's knowing their limits. i know i've been talking to a lot of people and they say that students, they'll drink alcohol and they feel this invincibility almost that they'll take it as young people they say that they're invincible anyway. they don't realize all the problems that can come from it. but then you get this alcohol and as you're drinking that you're getting you're invincible and the thing is people drink it and say everyone's drinking hard liquor. so i've heard that that's a bigger problem. and you take one shot you don't feel it. you take another shot you don't feel it. and so after that it takes -- what about 20 minutes? that it takes for alcohol to even feel the effects and once you've got four shots in your system all of a sudden you're just slammed with it. you don't even realize how far gone you were going to be. and parents who have students in high school, getting into this culture. tell me how do you do identify when you see a child coming home late at night, and you smell something, and you know something's been going on.

what should parents do? how should they address it? >> talking to the students. i myself have a little -- >> their children. >> yes, i'm sorry. yes their children. i have a 17-year-old boy at home and i always talk to him about the dangers. about what can happen if you drink at an early age. i just give them the examples. i mean unfortunately my family had to go through it. we're going through it. and he sees how his mom is having to deal with it and cope with it you know he's grandma. and one other interesting things that he tells me is "mom don't you worry about it. if i go to college i'm just going to bring my own coke bottle and i'm just going to pretend like it has alcohol just to be able to fit in. but it's not going to have any alcohol because i know what it could happen. and he has seen it on tv, he has seen it everywhere i always come home and tell him, look what happened i went to court with a family today. mom and an 11 month old baby, you know, and its really sad.

but it's important to address that issue with the students and i mean with their kids and be able to tell them not be afraid to tell them this is what could happen. >> and tony if you have to make that call to a family, how do you do that, and make them understand this needs to be discussed? i think explaining the consequences to them of what can happen if they get arrested for either public intoxication or driving under the influence of alcohol or getting transported to hospital. there a lot of consequences ranging from jail time, to probation, to classes, alcohol classes. and for students what a lot of people don't understand is there's duel consequences. the criminal portion and the judicial portion. if you get arrested or contacted on campus for an alcohol-related offense. you'd have to face judicial affairs and explain to them what happened. >> very good. if we flip the switch though, we go back to dr. kate. and we talk about the positives of teaching about alcohol. literally how do you break it down to teach someone how to enjoy beer or wine?

well that's why we call it beer appreciation because we are not a beer-brewing class, so to speak or a wine making class. but we know and hospitality that it's a huge business right now i'm even surprised students can afford some of the prices that are out there with the alcohol. but we have to recognize it in our industry. and in fact we face this a lot with our hospitality students, because as the intern in some cases that after they work they get rewarded with alcohol by their employers. so there's another problem. and you know i think we didn't even talk about some of the alums that are out there too and one thing i think i talked to tony about this at our recent homecoming game. we saw a lot of our alums coming back and bringing a lot of alcohol to the to the games and to festivities on campus. i don't know what kinds of problems we run into there,

but we try to even stress with our students that you have to be responsible for yourself but also you can't be influenced by alums that are back to become that college student again. and that's a difficult pure pressure to be under as well. if that's not what we're going to do then what is the best way to handle it in a professional setting? when you're talking about alcohol? well i think again it comes back to what the doctor said and that is your own personal judgement. and if you have to just say no that's one of the best ways to do it. is just say i'm sorry i'm not interested. and it takes courage it really takes courage, and strength and i think that as our students mature, they acquire that. however the business i mean to me if it takes it if it takes success in business as involving drinking and heavy drinking with your colleagues then i'm not so sure that that's where you want to work. >> that's a good point i do know from traveling around the country

there are a lot of places that if you can't have that social drink, or you can't go out with the team in the new city. let's explore, let's have a good time. you sometimes fall in disfavor. and that might be pressure from people for people here in our audience. how did they manage that? but when you're a college student, do you think college students understand they sometimes have to stand up and say "no, i don't care to drink." >> i'm not sure that they do, i mean it's all personal thing. there's no way, i don't think personally you can change the culture. there's no way. there's too many students. alcohol is too prevalent just in our society in general. but i know from talking to a lot of the people that the one way that you can fix it is just being aware. so i know they talked about in some of the alcohol education classes that they have on campus will have people just pour their drinks, and they'll say how much would you pour a regular one? and they'll pour it out and see what you realize that that 1 drink is actually 4 drinks? so you're not just drinking your drinking more than you think more than you realize. and it's changing those tactics and how you deal with alcohol instead of just how bad it can be.

>> in the short time remaining, i remember working for a boss in television news, who had an alcohol problem and it came to the workplace. and at one point he had to deal with the police in the workplace. that can be very difficult as well. >> yeah. so the individual has to represent a professional standing but at the same time the law is not gonna let him get away with abusing people in the workplace because he's drunk. well i think what adrianne was talking about is it's liquid courage. a lot of people start drinking and they become belligerent. they feel immortal and they can get away with a lot of things when legally they can't. there's laws that prevent that. >> absolutely. so the bottom line is to talk about it. to be as open as honest as you possibly can. face the reality is not going away. be responsible and learning about it. and i'm definitely gonna take your class cause i want to know more about it. >> there's a lot of faculty to want to take our class. >> the public too as well. >> great teacher by the way, i will say that. and then tony we're going to try to give you less business.

on this issue, maybe our society can calm down. i thank you for bringing up this topic. >> thank you. and i thank all of you for being here today and thank you for being a part of this. please come back for another edition of equal time. [music] [music]

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