LETTERS

Frank Brown’s drinking article of 03/01/2001.
Dear Editor:

I am pleased to have the opportunity to respond to Frank Brown’s article, “Students drink now, regret later,” in the March 1-14 issue. First of all, I would [like] to commend Frank for addressing this important topic, and especially for including the poignant quotes from Temple students.

Secondly, I want to clarify one of the points Frank made in quoting my explanation of why CASA’s ads focus on the students who do not choose to binge drink. He quoted me as saying that “the CASA ads emphasize the number of students who do not binge drink because the University of ‘very careful about the facts and figures’ CASA can use in its programs. Approval from University officials is necessary for all public service announcements issued by CASA.” It is true that the University is careful about releasing any statistics, for obvious reasons. It is also important to note that the CORE Survey that was done sampled over 1200 students on all campuses, and accurately portrayed those students’ usage patterns.

However, that has nothing to do with our emphasizing the number of students who do not binge drink. The reason we focus on the students who choose not to binge, is that this is part of a strategy called Social Norms, or Social Marketing, which many, if not most schools nationally are now utilizing to address alcohol and other drug use and abuse on college campuses. The reasoning behind the Social Norms approach is basically to highlight the positive instead of the negative. Traditional approaches to alcohol and other drug prevention/education have employed “scare tactics,” primarily stressing the “negative” statistics and consequences The Social Norms approach theorizes that most of their peers are doing so. So, if they perceive that most students are binge drinking, this perception will likely influence their behavior. Conversely, if they get information, which shows that most students choose not to binge drink, this will influence their behavior in a positive direction. At Temple we have collected the data and have found that the overriding majority of students (73.5%), do not binge drink. Many other schools have found that the incidence of dangerous drinking has significantly decreased as a result of continuous Social Norm Campaigning.

Bob Schiraldi
Coordinator, Campus Alcohol and Substance Awareness
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John Chaney’s cursing irate’s viewer.

Dear Editor:

I just watched Coach Chaney’s news conference after the championship game and was appalled at the language he used in the 90 seconds I could stomach. In 1.5 minutes he managed a “god damn” a “get your ass back there” and a “he pissed me off.” I could not believe what he might say if his team lost. Could we PLEASE keep locker room talk in the locker room? I was really upset at taking the Lords name in vain. He said without blinking. I would be embarrassed if he represented my school.

Later,
Dan Stevenson