Robert,
I live in Minnesota and work across the river in ND at the University
of North Dakota as the substance abuse prevention specialist. I am
encouraged by the legislative efforts to curb the power hours. Last
year a student from Fargo, ND died as the result of his power hour. Do
I believe that changing the the legal age of 21 will prevent ALL power
hours from happening? No, but I do believe that some students will not
part take in them.
The good news is that the introduction of such legislation is bringing
the issue to the lead story in the media, where it needs to be. Many
people had no idea such an event existed. So the education is a good
thing.
There still needs to be more done regarding eduction and environmental
changes if we are to see a reduction in high risk drinking on our
campuses.
Sue Thompson, MA
Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist
University Counseling Center
UND
Grand Forks, ND
(701) 777-4188
>>> chapman@LASALLE.EDU 3/15/2005 11:33:31 AM >>>
In yesterdays editions of both News From the Front
(http://thenetworkws.blogspot.com/) and the HEC News
(http://www.edc.org/hec/news/hecnews/1460.html) there were stories
about
the practice of doing the "power hour" at 12 AM the "morning" of a
student's 21st birthday. Although I invite comments on this practice
in
general in hopes that we can discuss it from the perspective of
proactive
interventions that might be taken, I am particularly curious about the
opinions of list readers regarding the efforts that some States are
taking
to curb/deter this practice by passing laws that define one's 21st
birthday occurring "after" the bars have closed.
As you may be aware, a number of States - Minnesota's efforts being
cited
in the News From the Front article - have attempted to redress this
high-risk drinking practice by passing legislation that established
one's
official birthday as happening "after" the bars have closed. For
example,
if the bars close at 2 AM in a particular State, the legislation
defines
one's birthday as happening at some time after 2, e.g., 3 AM.
I am curious what readers think about these laws. Do they have the
potential to reduce the likelihood that students will attempt to do 21
shots upon turning 21 at midnight or will they just postpone the
ritual
until the next evening? And if students are likely to do the "power
hour"
irrespective of legislative efforts to prevent such, are there
proactive
steps that AOD prevention specialists and health educators might
consider
to address this dangerous drinking practice?
I look forward to reading your thoughts.
Best regards,
Robert
Robert J. Chapman, PhD
Coordinator, AOD Program
Associate Faculty, Clinical/Counseling Psychology
La Salle University
1900 W. Olney Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19141-1199
Phone: 215-951-1357 Fax: 215-951-1451
mailto:chapman@lasalle.edu
home page http://www.robertchapman.net
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