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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 2, 1988)
Friday, September 2, IQSSAThe Battalion/Page 5 seminar in 16 is Friday rogram advocates responsible drinking ealth Center gives students, organizations tips on safe party plannin Juliette Rizzo According to The Guide to Resnonsihle serve* Staff Writer le TKE hou$;| ac k serviceAflie Center for Drug Prevention and l'd- ■tion gives a new meaning to the word ■RTY — Planning parties with Alcohol ■deration and Responsibility — That’s up ;o You! mp for jniejjHVnn Coombes, assistant coordinator of Picnicarea:®fi Center for Dr ug Prevention and Educa- nn in the A.P. Beutel Health Center, said Ht many students do not realize the extent ■he risks anti liabilities involved in drink- ■ Hand giving parties. on at theltoH^ ur S oa * ' s to make all students aw'are of ^H risks and responsibilities involved with Pm. at HpHuking.” Coombes said. “Most students pHi’t realize that they can be held individu- H liable for their actions when they are in- Hicaled.” ■I he center is responsible for giving re- Rudder H ns ‘^ e P art: y'P^ ann * n S advice to recog- 30p.m arH e ^ stu dent organizations including aca demic clubs, fraternities and sororities. 7 p m,mxH’rograrns are being developed across the Hmtry to increase students’ drug and alco ve Comr^H awareness and to promote responsible lll0n ca!l ^panving. 0 .Hrhe PARTY program, started in Jan uary, is funded by a federal grant. The gov- II (16incliiriiH ment * lac ^ man( l atec l that federal finan- tball, table!»■ would he withheld from universities alupeRive Ht not provide students with an alco- and drug awareness program. 5 graduatnrH\&M’s program provides brochures, / Hinseling, programs and other resource ■ormation about responsible party plan- sedMd Ve only i r What ning and helping the problem drinker. “Individuals who have private parties or organizational parties where liquor is being served fail to realize that they can be held individually liable in the case of an alcohol related accident involving anyone who at tends their parties,” Coombes said. “Our office provides information on how to plan parties responsibly. We are a re source center rather than a preacher in a pulpit.” Coombes said alcohol abuse on campus is high, especially in consideration of the number of students legally old enough to drink. “Our office stresses responsible party planning which includes monitoring who is of drinking age, and with football season upon us, now is definitely the time to start practicing responsible partying,” she said. 1 o many, football season brings people closer together and makes drinking socially acceptable.” According to The Guide to Responsible Party Planning distributed by the center, the purpose of a party should be “together ness, not tipsiness.” The guide lists some re sponsible party planning tips: • Drinking should not be the primary focus of any activity. • Individuals sponsoring the event should implement precautionary measures to ensure that alcoholic beverages are not accessible or served to persons under the le gal drinking age or to persons who appear intoxicated. • At social functions where alcoholic beverages are provided by a sponsoring or ganization, direct access should be limited to a person designated as the server. “Servers at organizational parties such as fraternity parties should be older, re spected members,” Coombes said. “Frater nities are notorious for having their younger pledges act as bartenders. Older members don’t take them seriously when they ask for identification for them to drink.” • Promotional materials including ad vertising for any event should not make ref erence to the amount of alcoholic beverages (such as the number of beer kegs) available. • A reasonable portion of the party bud get should be designated for the purchase of food items. Coombes said high-protein foods help slow the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream. “Salty foods should not be served because they may enhance people’s thirst.” • Appropriate non-alcoholic beverages should be available at the same place as the alcoholic beverages and featured as promi nently as the alcoholic beverages. “Guests who don’t drink should not be embarrassed by having to drink out of ‘dif ferent’ glasses,” she said. • Alcoholic beverages must not be pro vided as awards, door prizes or give-aways to individual students attending student or ganization functions Coombes said that people don’t get to gether to eat and drink, but to be in the company of friends. “Eating and drinking are important, be cause they help people have more fun, not because they supply the fun.” She said that students must realize that all members of the Texas A&M community are subject to Texas’ alcoholic beverage laws. The consumption and possession of alco holic beverages in a public place after 1:15 a.m. is prohibited by city ordinances. Con sumption after hours is a misdemeanor of fense. The city ordinances state that an individ ual should not possess any container hold ing any alcoholic beverage in any public place after hours. A “public place” includes streets, parking lots and any establishment open to the public as well as the yards of fraternity and sorority houses. Coombes says that if responsible-party ing tips are not taken seriously and a person attending an event is injured in ari alcohol- related accident, the individual or organiza tion sponsoring the party can be held liable. To be protected from the “social host” liability, Coombes says, the host should make sure no one under 21 is served liquor and that several people at the party abstain from drinking to provide safe transporta tion for others. If a person does become intoxicated at a sponsored function, Coombes said, the sponsoring organization should take the re sponsibility of ensuring that person gets home safely with a designated non-drink ing driver. Intoxicated individuals should be kept still and comfortable while someone mon itors their breathing, she said. “Someone should always stay with the drunk person so he won’t hurt himself or attempt to drive,” she said. “The intoxi cated individual should be permitted to sleep and not be given anything to eat so as not to induce vomiting. “The person should never be given a cold shower—the shock can cause the per son to pass out.” Coombes said the party guidelines were developed primarily to help student groups plan and enjoy good, safe parties and social events. “With adequate planning and responsible actions we can prevent potential problems and liabilities and provide for the safety and well-being of our guests,” she said. 'SSIO i run. 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