Pubdate: Mon, 03 Mar 2008 Source: Omaha World-Herald (NE) Copyright: 2008 Omaha World-Herald Company Contact: http://www.omaha.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/320 Author: Matthew Hansen, World-Herald Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States) MORE COLLEGES ARE REPORTING DRUG AND ALCOHOL VIOLATIONS TO PARENTS Vicki Rouse has always urged her three children to call home from college if they found themselves in alcohol-related trouble. Now, even if they don't, mom is confident she'll get the news. All three Rouse children attend Hastings College, which sends a letter home when a student is caught with drugs or alcohol on campus. The letter goes out even if a student hasn't been charged with a crime. It generally goes out whether the student likes it or not. "I want the college to tell me," Vicki Rouse said. "You'd like to believe that when a kid gets to college they are grown up and know right from wrong. But when they are 18 or 19, they still need some guidance." Colleges across Nebraska and the United States are obliging the Rouses and like-minded parents, increasingly using an exemption written into federal privacy law a decade ago to notify parents when a student is caught with a six-pack of beer or possessing a marijuana pipe. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln recently stiffened its marijuana policy and now phones parents the first time a student is caught with the drug in a residence hall. The University of Nebraska at Omaha often mails a letter to parents when an underage student is caught with alcohol, a violation likely to increase as UNO builds more freshman and sophomore residence halls on campus. And Hastings College leaders made the decision two years ago to notify parents after every first alcohol offense, a zero-tolerance policy also in place at the University of Georgia, the University of New Mexico and the University of Indiana. "I tell students, 'Look, I'm not trying to intrude in your life except in this one place,'" said Ron Chesbrough, Hastings College's vice president for student affairs. "We think early intervention to involve parents is a lesser evil than simply saying nothing." Hastings' policy wasn't legal until 1998, when Congress rewrote the Higher Education Act to allow parental notification when it involved a student's drug or alcohol use. Privacy laws still prohibit colleges from releasing many student records, like a student's transcripts, to parents. But college leaders say they have gradually shifted to quicker parental notifications when possible because "helicopter parents" demand it. These parents often know their student's class schedule and credit card balances. Predictably, they also want to know if their children were consuming illegal substances on Saturday night, judicial officers say. College administrators also have changed, said Kent Lavene, UNO's judicial officer. A generation ago, many administrators believed that a student was an adult and had an adult's right to keep information from his or her parents, Lavene said. "We used to say things like, 'Hey, they are 18, they are on their own, they need to deal with these issues on their own,'" Lavene said. "You don't hear a lot of people saying those sort of things anymore." At UNL, a shift in thinking means that the school's residence hall officials have made an estimated 25 to 30 calls to parents this school year. The majority of those calls notify the parents that their son or daughter has been caught with marijuana in a dorm room. Until last year, no such call would've been made. But a rash of marijuana offenses convinced housing officials that they needed to strengthen their policy against the drug. The new policy: The first marijuana offense means a student gets a ticket from police, has to enroll in a mandatory drug awareness course and is required to do hours of community service work. It also triggers the automatic call home, during which a residence hall assistant generally informs the student's parents that a second marijuana offense will get him or her kicked out of the residence hall. Sometimes, after being caught, a student asks for and is granted a 24-hour window so the student can call his or her parents first, said Keith Zaborowski, UNL's associate director of residence halls. Not every school is buying into the parental notification trend. UNL still allows a student to pile up three alcohol offenses before it calls home. Creighton University rarely notifies parents of a first alcohol violation, doing so only if the student in question is dangerously intoxicated or belligerent, said Tayna Winegard, assistant vice president for student life. Iowa State University only calls parents if college officials believe students are a serious threat to themselves or others. "We haven't necessarily seen a lot of research that suggests a call home has a big impact, or that it's a useful tool for how to deal with students," said Sara Kellogg, Iowa State's interim assistant director of judicial affairs. But Hastings College has seen a difference -- the school has sent out only 16 notification letters this year because the school's 1,100 students have broken far fewer alcohol rules than in years past, Chesbrough said. The college vice president has sent out only one letter this year notifying parents that their child is a second-time offender of the college's alcohol policy. Not even those you'd expect to be infuriated by the zero-tolerance policy -- the students -- are actually all that bothered by it during the second year of parental notifications. Some students wonder why the college doesn't treat them as independent adults, said Aaron Rouse, a Hastings senior and Vicki Rouse's middle child. Most, though, simply have accepted the policy like they accept midterms and calculus. "My parents always joke around, reminding me that they are footing the bill here, and I realize what that means," Aaron Rouse said. "Most students realize that if they get caught, they have to accept the call." - ------------------------------------- Policies at area colleges UNL Residence hall officials generally call parents after a first marijuana offense and a third alcohol offense. On rare occasions parents are called sooner if a student damages school property or verbally abuses a police officer, university employee or fellow student while intoxicated. Creighton Creighton notifies parents if an underage student is caught severely intoxicated. Most underage students caught with alcohol must violate the alcohol policy three times before parents are notified. UNO The campus' judicial officer handles the notification policy on a case-by-case basis, but parents are usually notified when an underage student is caught possessing alcohol. Hastings College Sends a form letter to parents every time a student violates the college's drug and alcohol policy. The college toughened notification policy two years ago. UNK Notifies parents if a student is hospitalized or jailed for severe intoxication. Otherwise handles alcohol and drug violations on case-by-case basis, with an increased chance of parental notification if the student is a repeat offender. Iowa State Does not notify parents of a drug or alcohol offense unless campus administrators deem the student a serious danger to himself or others. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom