UCSB gets $300K underage drinking grant

By COLBY FRAZIER — Jan. 9, 2009

At UC Santa Barbara, where a hard-partying reputation often trumps that of higher education, more money has been made available through a federal grant to help prevent high-risk drinking.

The school announced yesterday that the U.S. Department of Education awarded $300,000 to the school.

The funds will be spent on expanding the school’s College Alcohol and Substance Education (CASE) program, preparation of a comprehensive manual on the program and a study of its success.

During the 2007-2008 school year, Michelle Kitson, an administrative assistant for the school’s alcohol and drug program, said 855 students participated in the CASE program.

With the winter quarter just getting under way, 530 students have already completed the five-week course this school year.

While this statistic doesn’t necessarily mean there will be an increase in underage drinking this year, statistics from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department show a rise in underage drinking citations from 2007 to 2008 in the Isla Vista area.

According to sheriff’s department statistics, deputies issued 848 citations for minor in possession of alcohol and made 545 public intoxication arrests during 2007. Through 2008, deputies in Isla Vista handed out 1,232 minor in possession arrests and made 528 arrests for public intoxication.

Sgt. Erik Raney said it’s difficult to know for sure what’s behind the 384 additional minor in possession citations, and acknowledged it doesn’t necessarily mean more underage students are drinking.

He cited a change in staff at the sheriff’s foot patrol office, and a busier than normal summer as possible causes.

And since students aren’t the only underage people living in Isla Vista, not all of the citations issued were to UCSB students.

For local underage drinkers who aren’t students, other programs, such as Zona Seca are available.

Under most circumstances, Kitson said any student arrested for minor in possession of alcohol, using a fake ID, or public intoxication has the option of participating in an educational program.

She said the grant funds will allow administrators to reduce class sizes and invest in research.

According to a statement from the school, the CASE program uses a “psycho-educational” approach and case clinicians to address key development issues associated with college-age students and alcohol use.

Ian Kaminsky, a psychologist with UCSB Student Health Service who directs the Alcohol and Drug Program, said the CASE program was designed to help students “appreciate the risks involved in alcohol and drug use and equip them with effective strategies for reducing risk and harm.”

The statement says initial studies of the CASE program, which Kitson said was established in 2005, works.

It says studies have found that students who completed the CASE program “significantly reduced the number of drinks consumed per week and the number of incidents of intoxication.”

Merith Cosden, a professor in the Department of Counseling, Clinical and School Psychology at UCSB’s Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, who also heads up the CASE program’s research and evaluation component, said she’s looking forward to conducting additional studies on the program’s effectiveness.

“Assessments used as apart of the program have also been able to identify those students whose drinking is more severe, and provide alternative services to them,” she said.

The manual that will be prepared with the grant funds will be made available to other colleges and universities.

“We hope that, through the manual, this program will serve as a model that other colleges can use to address the challenging issue of underage drinking,” Kaminsky said.

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