Underage drinking a freshman problem

Freshman students are the main culprits of underage drinking each year at GC&SU.

“Over the years, incoming freshman students have been the source of underage drinking problems for Georgia College & State University,” said Public Safety Officer Jason Sposito.

Over 5,000 students attend GC&SU each year, including incoming freshman, sophomores, juniors, seniors and graduate students. Of these classes, the incoming freshman, who are mostly between 17 and 19 years old, make up one-fourth of this growing college population. These freshmen also make up for a much larger percentage of the underage drinking population.

“The most common violators are these freshman students,” Sposito said. “New surroundings such as bars and parties contribute to this, making new students tempted to go. This is a reoccurring problem each year on the campus of GC&SU.”

Each year brings a different group of students, and some semesters are worse than others. Sposito said that although fall semesters are the usually the worst, this fall has not been as bad as expected.

Sposito said underage drinkers stand out by being obvious and obnoxious.

“This leads to being loud, vomiting, playing games and vandalizing public property,” Sposito said.

Most of these underage drinking incidents take place downtown, at student’s dorms and on-route to and from their partying locations.

James Connor, a former GC&SU student who now attends Georgia Military College, has witnessed illegal drinking activity.

“I have seen students act very obnoxious when they leave the bars and parties,” Connor said. “I just think that incoming freshman do not know what to expect when they get to college. They just tend to go crazy.”

Law enforcement does its job to protect and prevent this ongoing problem.

“We encourage young students to be alcohol aware, and if they are to drink, be safe and stay at a safe place,” Sposito said.

Law enforcement agencies provide classes for students to facilitate such awareness. Officers on-campus are not lenient when it comes to underage drinking.

“All GC&SU officers are generally pretty strict on students,” Sposito said. “We don’t play around with the law. If officers are given a reason to question an underage (person) who is intoxicated, we will.”

Severe consequences await those who are apprehended. First time offenders may be arrested, fined a minimum of $400 and automatically have to serve four hours in jail. Any further offenses will result in a student being required to attend an alcohol awareness program.

“Too many students are getting away with underage drinking,” Connor said. “I guess you just have to be patient and wait for your time to turn 21.”

Public safety plays a very important role on the GC&SU campus. According to the Public Safety Report, “It is Georgia College & State University’s full responsibility to provide safety and security to students, staff and visitors of the school.”

Although students try to avoid officers, Sposito says they are truly there to help students get adjusted and to have a successful first year of college.

Not only does alcohol abuse result in disciplinary action, but it could lead to many other negative consequences.

“You can never be too careful in any situation. Go out in groups, and stay and watch out for your friends,” Connor said.

Many student activities on campus prohibit the use of alcohol, including sporting events and certain clubs. Students can keep themselves out of trouble by attending the alcohol free events and making an effort to stay away from harmful situations.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 21 2005. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry