March 29, 2011
The Daily News Record reports today that:
"A block party planned for this weekend has all the earmarks of last year's Springfest.....As of Monday night, nearly 2,400 people had indicated on Facebook that they plan to attend the event.." http://www.dnronline.com/
Springfest 2011 would be due to JMU's lack of taking effective action to deal with the Negative Alcohol Culture at JMU since the 2010 Springfest riots. JMU has the power to suspend students for alcohol related violations and uses this consequence very infrequently. JMU students have told JUM through direct surveys that the most effective mechanism to deter negative alcohol behavior is suspension (see previous post- "JMU has a "silver bullet" but does not use it. WHY?" 9/30/10). In my last post JMU documents that educational efforts have been mostly ineffective in causing behavioral change, yet JMU's plan is to do more of the same (also see post- "Educational efforts alone prove ineffective" 11/9/10)
It is time for a change. President Rose is on his way out of JMU. He could use his remaining time at JMU to implement policies of suspension for student alcohol misconduct. This would make much more of an impact then sending a letter to the students parents when the student is about to turn 21. I issue a challenge to President Rose and the JMU Board of Visitors to step up to the plate and take bold action to change the Negative Alcohol Culture at JMU-suspend students.
The Daily News Record reports today that:
"A block party planned for this weekend has all the earmarks of last year's Springfest.....As of Monday night, nearly 2,400 people had indicated on Facebook that they plan to attend the event.." http://www.dnronline.com/
Springfest 2011 would be due to JMU's lack of taking effective action to deal with the Negative Alcohol Culture at JMU since the 2010 Springfest riots. JMU has the power to suspend students for alcohol related violations and uses this consequence very infrequently. JMU students have told JUM through direct surveys that the most effective mechanism to deter negative alcohol behavior is suspension (see previous post- "JMU has a "silver bullet" but does not use it. WHY?" 9/30/10). In my last post JMU documents that educational efforts have been mostly ineffective in causing behavioral change, yet JMU's plan is to do more of the same (also see post- "Educational efforts alone prove ineffective" 11/9/10)
It is time for a change. President Rose is on his way out of JMU. He could use his remaining time at JMU to implement policies of suspension for student alcohol misconduct. This would make much more of an impact then sending a letter to the students parents when the student is about to turn 21. I issue a challenge to President Rose and the JMU Board of Visitors to step up to the plate and take bold action to change the Negative Alcohol Culture at JMU-suspend students.
hahah fuck you let kids be kids
ReplyDeleteIn today's Chronicle of Higher Education is an article titled Despite Efforts Over the Years, Heavy Drinking Among Students Remains Steady that advocates for still more education. This seems to confirm your assertion that education is not enough.
ReplyDeleteits not going to work, go ahead, suspend us, that just lets us sleep in and relax for a few days. block party has been happening for years, if you really want to discontinue it, something drastic is going to have to happen.
ReplyDeletejust realize that we're in college and we're going to drink no matter what.
Dear Anonymous: stop posting under "Anonymous." It's immature.
ReplyDeleteAs is the idea that "kids should be allowed to be kids." JMU students - 18 and older - are not kids. They are adults. Young and inexperienced - fine - but in even more need of actual support.
Finally, the block party itself is not the problem. Alcohol itself is not the problem. The problem is people making immature decisions and expecting for there not to be any consequences.
The problem is that the JMU administration, from what I see, is acting as immature as the students (and non-students) who are causing these problems in the first place.
JMU - you are the guardian for these young adults. You are an institution of higher education(!) - how about employing some evidence-based interventions to address these issues?
This is not the first time a college campus has had to consider the problem of excessive alcohol usage among its student body.
Please stop being bureaucratic and go and actually do something about this, before any more people get hurt and you rush to spend a ton of money on a public affairs campaign to pretend you were doing something in the first place.
Why not spend the money on some real prevention instead?
It is embarrassing to hear how much you are not following up on the information you have available to you.
Today a message from JMU Student Affairs and University Planning to JMU faculty reads as follows:
ReplyDeleteYou might have heard about JMU’s BASICS (Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students) program, but how effective was it last year? Did it actually make a difference? The University Health Center’s Substance Abuse Prevention is very pleased to share results from our 2009-2010 BASICS study. We will also remind others how to refer students to the program, and talk about a new exciting endeavor to implement a marijuana motivational interviewing program in the Fall 2011. Presenters Tia Mann and Paige Hawkins.
Please join us on April 12th at 1:30pm in Taylor 304.
Why when the kids make a mistake and do community service and pay Harrisionburg township money does JMU also award the young student a $500 fine. My son is at JMU and some of his dormates were arrested. It was a humiliating ordeal with the police but also the fines get to the point that it seems like it is just a way for the school and the town to make money. I would rather see the student go through a small fine with mandatory counceling. I am talking about meaninful counciling that has concern for the student. Just my opinion. I do not condone drinking, and am a conservative parent.
ReplyDelete