WDUQ News, Pittsburgh

MONDAY, MAY 30, 2011

“Good Samaritan” Bill in PA House
A bill granting partial immunity to underage drinkers who call the authorities when their friends’ lives are threatened due to alcohol is winning praise from student leaders.

Dan Florencio, the president of Penn State University’s Interfraternity Council, said he’s heard a similar story time after time. “Someone just appeared really, really sick, and people were just like, ‘oh, let him sleep it off.’ Because they don’t want to get anyone in trouble,” he explained. “They don’t want to implicate themselves or the person. So they just let them sleep it off, or brush it off, when really, something really bad could be happening to the person’s body, because of alcohol.” (more…)

Friday, March 18, 2011

Alice Englin, Partners in Prevention

Parents are key in preventing underage drinking. Many studies have shown this to be true. When Freeborn County Partners In Prevention facilitates listening sessions in schools we hear over and over the impact parents have on kids decisions to drink or not. Following is an article written by Michelle Trudeau from the website www.npr.org.

As teenagers mature into their senior year of high school, many parents begin to feel more comfortable about letting them drink alcohol. But new research from brain scientists and parenting experts suggests loosening the reins on drinking may not be a good idea in the long run. And, researchers say, parents’ approach to addressing teen drinking does influence a teen’s behavior.

Brain researchers are finding that alcohol has a particularly toxic effect on the brain cells of adolescents. That’s because their brain cells are still growing, says Susan Tapert, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego.

The regions of the brain important for judgment, critical thinking and memory do not fully mature until a person is in his or her mid-20s. Tapert found that alcohol can damage the normal growth and development of a teenager’s brain cells in these regions. (more…)

By Senator Dodd’s office

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) today, along with Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Bob Casey (D-PA), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), introduced the Sober Truth on Preventing (STOP) Underage Drinking Act Reauthorization, legislation designed to prevent underage drinking. According to the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey released yesterday, the largest national survey of adolescents regarding their drug and alcohol use, underage drinking has decreased significantly and alcohol use among 12th graders marks the lowest level of alcohol use since the study’s inception in 1975.

The reauthorization builds upon the success of the original STOP ACT, which Dodd shepherded through Congress in 2006. The bill will continue federal government efforts to combat underage drinking and increase prevention activities in states and local communities, including college campuses. It would also continue public service media campaigns to increase adult awareness of the threat alcohol poses to their children, as well as increase research and data collection done at the federal level on adolescent alcohol use and brain development. (more…)

By Jason Mercier and Anthony Randazzo
October 29, 2010 | FoxNews.com

Seventy-seven years after the end of prohibition the battle of the “wets” versus the “drys” is alive and well in those states considering ending their government monopolies over the sale of liquor. Though not as colorful as the epic battles between Al Capone and Elliot Ness, the underlining debate continues over whether government control of liquor sales has measurable societal benefits.

As one of 18 monopoly control states (only government sale of liquor allowed), this question is front and center in Washington State where not one, but two ballot measures are being considered on whether to end the state’s liquor monopoly. A similar debate is occurring in the control states of Virginia and Pennsylvania. (more…)

Chad Lear – For the Centre Daily Times
Oct. 21, 2010

Alcohol offenses and thefts continue to be the biggest problems at Penn State, according to the university’s annual crime report.
“If you look at driving under the influence, liquor law and public drunkenness, those numbers are still high,” said Penn State Deputy Police Chief Tyrone Parham.
In 2009, those three offenses alone accounted for 783 of the 1,726 Part II offenses. Part II offenses also include drug offenses and weapons possession.
During the past three years, alcohol-related offenses have gone up, along with the blood alcohol content levels of Penn State students who have required medical attention for alcohol overdoses, Parham said. (more…)

October 8, 2010
By Tricia Pursell
The Daily Item

A state senator has introduced a bill he hopes will cut down on underage drinking incidents by raising the maximum fine to $1,000, but since Valley judges typically don’t sentence first offenders with the current maximum of $300, the question remains how this new law, if passed, would really be effective.

Sen. Jake Corman (R-Benner Township, Centre County) introduced three bills Sept. 13 that would increase the maximum fine for underage drinking and public drunkenness to $1,000, make repeated underage drinking a misdemeanor, and would allow university towns to charge an additional $100 fee for alcohol-related convictions. (more…)

Tuesday, October 05, 2010
By Elisabeth Ponsot, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Friday night, Oakland.

Students back to school after summer vacation walk down Forbes Avenue with purpose, making stops at their favorite joints. Some seek out the scene at Hemingway’s Cafe or Peter’s Pub. Others trek off the beaten path to the Garage Door Saloon on Atwood or Bootleggers on Semple.

To the untrained eye, the 18- to 20-year-olds blend in with students of legal drinking age. But not to Dominic Williams.

Mr. Williams, 25, a 6-foot-4-inch former University of Pittsburgh football player, says he can spot a false ID as soon as he sees it. (more…)

By: Courtney Nickle
The Online Rocket
(Slippery Rock University’s online student newspaper)
9/24/10

This semester, two programs will be implemented to help prevent and reduce binge and underage drinking among freshmen.

The programs are part of a new statewide initiative set forth by PASSHE (Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education) targeting first-year students. SRU was awarded a two-year, $500,000 federal grant in October 2009. The other 14 state system schools were also awarded money.

The overall goal of the grant is to reduce binge drinking by seven percent, according to assistant professor, Alcohol and Other Drug program director and representative for SRU Chris Cubero. (more…)

Friday, September 17, 2010
University Park, Pa. — The fall 2010 semester marks the renewal of a sustained, broad-based campaign to reduce the negative consequences of alcohol in the Penn State community, according to Damon Sims, vice president for Student Affairs, during a presentation today (Sept. 17) to the University’s Board of Trustees.

“The challenge of dangerous alcohol misuse among college students reaches nationwide and is far from new,” said Sims, who also co-chairs The Partnership – Campus and Community United Against Dangerous Drinking with Borough of State College Manager Tom Fountaine. Sims and panelists Fountaine; Linda LaSalle, University Health Services’ associate director for educational services; Joe Puzycki, Student Affairs assistant vice president; and Max Wendkos, Interfraternity Council president, outlined the campaign’s efforts during their presentation. (more…)

PA Liquor Control Board Awards Nearly $1 Million in Grants to Aid Fight Against Underage, Dangerous Alcohol Use

HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 15 The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board today announced 72 organizations throughout the state were recently awarded grants totaling $903,522.37 to support initiatives aimed at preventing underage and dangerous drinking.

“It is really important that we, as an agency, support our community leaders and educators as they work to discourage underage and dangerous drinking,” said Liquor Control Board Chairman Patrick “P.J.” Stapleton. “We couldn’t be more proud to invest in programs that will improve and protect the lives of young Pennsylvanians.”

Since 1999, the PLCB has awarded more than $4.5 million in grants to 246 organizations to fund prevention programs focused on underage alcohol consumption, as well as initiatives supporting under-age drinking law-enforcement investigations. (more…)