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| 24 March 2001 - The San Diego Union-Tribune Colleges, police and government team up to fight underage drinking By Samuel Autman More DUI checkpoints, more undercover operations and fewer cheap- drink promotions will help curb youth drinking. That's what the San Diego County College Presidents' Forum on Underage and Binge Drinking decided yesterday when members signed a pledge to combat underage drinking. The new coalition of universities, law enforcement and public health agencies created by the nonprofit Communities Against Substance Abuse wants to see all its members following the same guidelines in their efforts to combat underage drinking. The signing of the yesterday's pledge was timed to coincide with spring break, the time when thousands of college and high school students celebrate a break in classes by partying in resort areas and across the border in Tijuana and other Baja cities. During this time, various state and local law enforcement agencies will increase patrolling the college hot spots in Pacific Beach, the Gaslamp Quarter and along the San Ysidro Border Crossing. Throughout California, police and universities are struggling to get a handle on underage drinking. CSU Chancellor Charles Reed has appointed a committee of CSU presidents and students to review and strengthen the system's alcohol policies. "There are powerful forces that make it difficult to change the role alcohol plays in our culture," said San Diego State University President Stephen Weber, who is part of the new coalition and the CSU presidents' committee. Even some student organizations are pledging to do their part. One of the strategies announced yesterday was news that SDSU's student newspaper, The Daily Aztec, will stop accepting advertising for cheap-drink specials. The campus newspaper was often filled with advertisements for drink specials less than $2. That will stop immediately, said Sunny Sea Gold, the editor of the newspaper. Gold said that although the Aztec is financially independent of SDSU and supports itself on ad revenues, the paper will stop taking those cheaper-drink specials. "We need the revenue that we get from bars and night clubs. Although it is not a huge amount, every little bit counts," she said. "We have compromised to be good neighbors." The campuses agreed yesterday to provide student housing that is free of alcohol and to continue supporting prevention programs. Law enforcement officers said DUI checkpoints and fake identification sweeps are effective but not enough. "We have got to start a lot sooner than when they are in college, whether it be for drugs, whether it be for alcohol or whether it be for guns," said San Diego County Sheriff Bill Kolender. Recent alcohol-related deaths and near deaths have made underage drinking a priority for campuses. Three members of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity at the CSU Chico campus were sentenced to 30 days in jail after a fraternity pledge, 18-year-old Adrian Heideman, died after drinking at the organization's house last fall. David Edward Attias, 18, a UC Santa Barbara freshman, was charged with four counts of murder earlier this month after his vehicle struck five people last month, seriously injuring one and leaving four dead, including a Vista man. Police confirmed Attias was using drugs and suspect he was using alcohol. And Beta Theta Pi and Tau Kappa Epsilon, two SDSU fraternities, were expelled in December for hazing incidents where fraternity members provided near-lethal amounts of alcohol to potential pledges. San Diego Community College Chancellor Augustine Gallego said he hopes the coalition gathers data for next year. That would enable the coalition to measure its own effectiveness. "That information should include when they drink, how they drink, where they drink, how and where they acquire alcohol, what happens to them after they drink," Gallego said. Representatives from San Diego State University, San Diego Community College District, University of San Diego, University of California San Diego, CSU San Marcos, San Diego Police Department, San Diego County Sheriff's Department, State Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, and County Health and Human Services were among the forum participants yesterday. State Sen. Dede Alpert, D-San Diego, and Dr. Robert Ross, former head of the County Health and Human Services, were also present. |
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