by Christopher Sanchez
Daily Lobo
American pop culture has influenced the overconsumption of alcohol among college students, said health educator John Steiner.
"People look at college as the fountain of beer or party central," said Steiner, of the UNM Campus Office of Substance Abuse Prevention.
Steiner joined about 30 community leaders and members at a town hall meeting to discuss their concerns about underage drinking in Bernalillo County. The meeting took place at Loma Linda Community Center on Yale Boulevard.
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Among the 30 attendees, a five-member panel addressed the issues of underage drinking and how to stop it. The panel included a representative from the Albuquerque Police Department, the DWI Resource Center, the Women's Resource Center at UNM, the New Mexico Department of Public Safety and Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Sgt. Harold Medina of the Albuquerque Police Department said APD has stepped up measures to stop underage drinking by creating programs such as the Party Patrol.
The Party Patrol, which was formed in 2001, is a group of Albuquerque Police officers that look for underage parties on weekends. From 2001 to 2004, the Party Patrol handed out 7,285 misdemeanor citations to underage drinkers.
Medina said officers go to schools throughout the city and talk to students about the dangers of drinking and inform them of the Party Patrol.
"If we ever want to combat DWI, we need to stop 12-year-olds from drinking," he said.
It is unrealistic to stop underage drinking completely, Steiner said, but it is possible to decrease the numbers.
The UNM Campus Office of Substance Abuse Prevention conducts surveys each year, and has found UNM to be under the average rate of binge drinking habits, he said.
"One of the reasons is we're a commuter school," Steiner said. "Schools with more people living on campus have a much tougher problem."
Binge drinking is considered the consumption of five or more drinks in one sitting for males and four or more for females, according to the center's Web site.
According to last year's survey results, 41 percent of UNM students reported they are binge drinkers.
The key to stopping underage and binge drinking is prevention, he said. The center informs students at freshmen orientation about the dangers of underage and binge drinking, he said.
Steiner said they understand at the center that students are likely to drink in college, but try to urge students not to overconsume alcohol.
"We try to inform students that binge drinking is a lot lower at UNM than what freshmen think," he said.
There were no UNM students at the event, but UNM alumna Erika Zoller said she attended the meeting because as a student she was involved with the center.
Zoller said it is important to hold meetings on underage drinking.
"It gets people together to talk about it and to hear other opinions from peers," she said.
Zoller said she supports the Party Patrol, but early prevention education should be the top priority for the city.
Steiner said the center cosponsored the meeting as part of a grant received last year to inform the public about the dangers of underage and binge drinking.
Steiner said if students have a drinking problem, they should seek help from counselors at the Student Health Center to help them quit drinking.
