Jump in Liquor Violations Due to Administrative Oversight, Says CUA

Craig Parker, University General Counsel, called the increase in alcohol violations an “anomaly” in a recent article of the Brookland Heartbeat, a local newsletter.

The article cites him as saying the Office of the Dean of Students is tallying numbers differently this year than in the past.

He also said that campus officials expect the number of violations in to drop back to previous levels, as they returning to former recording methods.

Changes have been made to the how violations for underage possession of alcohol are counted this year, which Parker says is the reason for the increase in numbers. Students who are in the vicinity of alcohol while underage have been given a citation, whereas in previous years, only students caught drinking were given citations.

“So when we do our counts, we are focused on the student who violated the policy. We have to go through the process to find out what actually happened and then we therefore establish the number of violations based on who is actually found responsible in these larger group gatherings,” said Jonathan Sawyer, associate vice president of Student Life and dean of students. “In past years we pulled those numbers out and last year we must have left those numbers in, through an oversight.”

Rev. David M. O’Connell, president of the University, sent an email to all undergraduate students in September, saying he was “slightly alarmed” by the number of alcohol incidents that had already occurred on-campus this year. The most available numbers made public show that the number of students involved in liquor violations increased by 49 percent last year over the previous year. Recent numbers have not been released.

Victor Nakas, the University’s spokesman, added that the increase in violations has been affected by the record number of enrolled students in the past few years as well.

“Currently we are in our third year of record-breaking freshman enrollment,” he said.

Due to their age, freshmen and sophomores are more likely to incur liquor violations, according to Nakas. Therefore, that growing segment of the on-campus population has contributed to the increase.

O’Connell ‘Alarmed’ by Alcohol Incidents

University President Rev. David M. O’Connell sent an e-mail to all undergraduate students saying he is “slightly alarmed” by the number of underage alcohol incidents this year.
“Intoxication often leads to other stupid behaviors like fighting, putting yourself in danger or taking inappropriate liberties with your body and that of someone else, just to name a few,” he said in the e-mail on Tuesday. “All of these things have been reported to me since school began.”

The number of students referred for disciplinary actions for alcohol violations increased to 437 in 2007 from 293 in 2006, according to a DPS report.

The most recent data regarding underage drinking at the University comes from a CORE study, conducted last October. The study found 68.5 percent of undergraduate students had used alcohol in the previous 30 day period. The national average in the same category was 72.8 percent. In regard to the annual prevalence of alcohol, the University was at 80.1 percent, which was under the national average of 84.5 percent.

“I’d like to believe that you are smart enough to stay away from all the garbage so readily available but that leads nowhere. Most of you are. Some others are not,” O’Connell said.

The CORE survey results were based on answers provided by 256 students after disturbing 1600 surveys randomly by e-mail. According to Kathryn Jennings, associate dean of students, the number of students who returned the surveys was lower than what would be considered a good sample size, which could affect the results of the survey, positively or negatively. The CORE institute also eliminates dishonest answers, which could throw off the survey results.

The Department of Public Safety sends O’Connell, as well as other administrators, updates of the previous day’s activities. DPS also reports incidents in their crime log, but does not indicate in the crime log whether or not incidents were related to alcohol.

“I beg you, please think before you drink. Don’t put yourself and others in harm’s way and don’t jeopardize your academic career at CUA and the trust your parents have in you,” said O’Connell in his e-mail.

Out of respect for the students concerned, O’Connell declined to answer any questions regarding the letter, according to Victor Nakas, associate vice president for Public Affairs. Similarly, members of Residence and Student Life would not comment on the letter or whether policies will change.

Catholic University to Enter Voluntary Agreement with Local Bar

The Library Saloon, a 12th Street bar with a student-heavy consumer base, plans to enter into a voluntary agreement with the University which will likely stipulate that no University students may work the door and that only students over 21 can be employed there, the new owner said this week.

Miles Gray and his business partner Jerome Bailey bought the bar at 3514 12th Street from previous owners Brian Westlye and Gaynor Jabonski. Gray, who took over on September 1, is currently making improvements and adding a deck to the back of the bar. He plans to close the bar in December, when students are on winter break, and re-open in January, after remodeling the building in an old English library theme.

While the bar is currently open for business, Gray is planning a grand unveiling to coincide with homecoming weekend. Gray, a former surgeon, also plans to offer food service during sports games and expand business hours in January.

The owners have also begun working with the University to prevent underage drinking. Bailey met with Associate Dean of Students  Kathryn Jennings  a few weeks ago and agreed to enter into a voluntary agreement that will be filed with the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration. Jennings said she could not provide any details on the agreement yesterday.

“We want to play by the rules and go by the book,” said Gray. He wants the Library to be a “’Cheers’-like environment, where everybody knows your name.”

“The building itself, whatever names it has gone by – be it Kitty O’Shea’s, Johnny K’s or Cardinal Club - has always been a bar and the neighborhood has always looked at is as a bar,” said Gray, who runs promotion company TeamBBC.com and has thrown parties at clubs in the District and in Philadelphia.

Gray said the agreement with the University will “make sure that everybody stays safe.”

In 1999, when the bar was named Kitty O’Shea’s, the University reached an agreement that required  its owners to employ doormen who were over 21 and not University students. The bar was required to take out advertisements in The Tower clarifying the admissions policies and advising students that false identification is a violation of District law. They could not sponsor activities that coincided with University events, any ladies nights or any events before 11 a.m. on St. Patrick’s Day. The owners also agreed to meet with the University twice a year.

In 2003, funds collected from alcohol education sanctions totaling $1547 were used purchase an identification scanner for use in the bar, which was rarely put to use.

Gray said he has tried to stay ahead of the concerns from the Brookland community by attending a few neighborhood meetings and instituting an open door policy.

“A lot of people have lived in Brookland for a long time and some people love the college students, some people don’t like it when it gets rowdy,” said Gray. “Of course there are going to be situations where everybody is not going to be happy, but we want to find a balance where everyone in the community can enjoy this establishment.”

He recognizes that the bar will attract University clientele and is “definitely looking to cater to the students, or at least the ones who are of legal drinking age,” but still wants to be open to the public.

Gray is originally from North Carolina. He went to Howard University as an undergraduate student and studied lower extremity surgery in medical school at Temple University. Bailey runs a real estate holding firm in the District area.

Counseling Center Expands Role

Very seldom does a reshuffling of the bureaucracy lead to a more effective program for students.

Thanks to a sharp eye in the Office of Student Life, it appears that one of these anomalies has occurred. Students with serious alcohol violations, instead of being dealt with solely by the department responsible for punishing them will have a chance to see a trained professional regarding what could be a serious problem.

Senior staff and trained professionals within the counseling center will be in charge of educating students about the dangers of alcohol, instead of the personnel responsible for chastising that behavior.

Innovative educational programs, such as BASICS – a program which instruct students who have serious alcohol violations on the dangers of binge and competitive drinking –and spring break awareness week were brought to campus by Kathryn Jennings, the associate dean of students.

Because she brought the programs to campus, the responsibility was kept within the dean of students office.

While she, and the department of judicial affairs still work with Area Coordinators on disciplining students and running BASICS, Jennings will cede control of educational programs to the counseling center.

“The counseling center has a lot of background with counseling in alcohol dealing with students and families,” said Jennings of the change.

The dismantling of the ATLAS tutoring program, which was originally run by the counseling center freed up space for that department to deal more directly alcohol education for students. As a result, students with spotty records and violations are more likely to be exposed to professionals within the counseling department.

In the past, BASICS leaders could recommend students for sessions with counselors if they saw a pattern of abuse. The new system allows for this as well as separate sessions between troubled students and counselors in informal settings. These informal mwwtings allow students to become acquainted with counseling staff and gain knowledge about what services are offered there.

If a student facing an alcohol problem out of his or her control sits down with counselors, positive results are sure to follow.

Dr. Mia Kim, a staff psychologist and director of Outreach, a program that puts on educational programs about eating disorders, as well as alcoholism and crisis intervention put it this way. “The hope is that it will give us more visibility in terms of the counseling center services because a lot of times alcohol use and abuse has with it emotional concerns or issues.”

If that’s true, than more exposure is exactly what some students will need to overcome a problem which plagues campuses across the country.

Campus Pub On Tap for Pryzbyla

For over three decades, a campus pub known as the Rathskellar served as a place for University students to meet up, hang out, kick back and enjoy a beer. Now a top university administrator wants to build a new pub in the Pryzbyla Center and name it for his friend and classmate who died last spring.

Preliminary plans call for the new pub to be named Murphy’s, after Mike Murphy, class of 1974, according to Frank Persico, University chief of staff. Murphy, 55, died in May 2007 after a two year battle with cancer.

Murphy was on the board of a charitable organization that donates a large sum of money to an organization when one of its members dies. Persico said the name of the organization could not yet be made public.

In 2006, Murphy told Persico that he wanted the money donated to Catholic University and asked what type of project the campus needed most.

After consulting with University President Rev. David M. O’Connell, Persico told Murphy that campus needed a campus hangout to replace the Rathskellar, which closed when the Pryzbyla Center opened.
At the time, there was nothing in the plans to replace the Ratt when it closed after the completion of the Pryzbyla Center in 2003. The Ratt was located in the bottom floor of Cardinal Hall. Today the space is used for storage and the old wooden bar is the only part that remains.

“He couldn’t fathom that there would be no old carved wooden benches and no new version of Franklin, the ubiquitous bartender of our era,” wrote Persico in an article for the summer issue of CUA Magazine. “He wondered where the lasting CUA friendships would be formed.”

One potential spot for the new pub is the current location of the bookstore. The bookstore could be moved to south campus after the area is developed. The original look and feel of the Ratt will be recreated in the design of the new pub.

Persico envisions an area with pool tables, dart boards, ping pong tables were students can socialize. Persico received his undergraduate degree from CUA in 1974 and has worked in different positions at the University for the past 34 years.

“One of the ideas is to have a wall with pictures and names of all different CUA grads with the last name Murphy,” said Persico. The pub and wall will not be a shrine to Murphy, but would instead be his way of improving CUA student life.

At the opening of the pub, Persico plans to throw a huge party and present an oral history of the Ratt.

Preliminary plans are to serve alcohol only in the evening and to make it solely for those over 21.
The University plans to send out solicitations sometime in September asking for donations for the construction of the pub. Persico said the reaction to the article that ran in CUA Magazine has been very positive, and he has received dozens of e-mails from people interested in contributing. Alumni and friends already donated over $10,000 in just a few days.

The fund Murphy started is substantial, but will only cover about 20 percent of the $250,000 the University wants to secure before construction begins.

“People enjoyed having a place on campus to socialize,” said Persico, who lived in Flather for four years during his time as an undergraduate. “The Ratt was a place you could go and drink responsibly.”

When the drinking age was 18, students could approach an administrator if they believed a student needed help without worrying about the judicial side of things, said Persico, who previously served as dean of students. He said that he understands why the law was changed, and said there are pros and cons to the current drinking age.

Still, he belives that an on-campus pub can be successful.

“It will give students something to look forward to when they turn 21, sort of a special place for upperclassmen,” said Persico.