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Feds want colleges to rein in alcohol ads, sales, sponsorships

James Paton, Rocky Mountain News

Published March 8, 2007 at midnight

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The acting U.S. surgeon general has called on colleges to ban alcohol sponsorship deals, restrict liquor sales on campus, and eliminate beer and liquor advertisements in their publications.

Those are among the recommendations Kenneth Moritsugu made in a report released this week urging universities, advertisers and other groups to step up efforts to reduce underage drinking. Many of the measures are in place at colleges across the nation, including the University of Colorado.

While CU has taken a number of steps to tackle drinking problems and has not sold alcohol in most of football stadium Folsom Field for more than a decade, it has continued to keep the Coors name on the basketball arena and to sell beer there.

The facility was renamed in 1990 after a $5 million gift from the Adolph Coors Foundation.

Observers inside and outside the university, however, said they don't believe that putting a new label on the Coors Events Center or ceasing beer sales there would have much of an impact.

"If we change the name of the Coors Events Center to the Susan B. Anthony Center, I don't think we're going to see a major shift in the drinking culture in Boulder," said Robert Maust of CU's Matter of Degree program aimed at drinking on campus.

Drew Hunter, a Denver-based representative with the Inter-Association Task Force on Alcohol and Other Substance Abuse Issues, agreed.

"Personally, it's a campus decision to make," he said, noting the deal is about philanthropy as well as promotion.

Colorado State University opted in 2005 to allow the sale of 3.2 percent alcohol beer to resume at Hughes Stadium.

Maust said there are more important issues, such as engaging parents, that the university has moved to address.

CU implemented a number of changes after the death of an 18-year-old student from alcohol poisoning and other drinking-related headlines. Those include a tough two-strikes-and-you're- out policy, a Web-based educational program for freshmen and transfer students, and a dorm initiative focused on personal responsibility.

Moritsugu said he's concerned underage drinking is "deeply embedded in the American culture, is often viewed as a rite of passage, is frequently facilitated by adults and has proved stubbornly resistant to change."

Proposed guidelines

Some measures the surgeon general has proposed for universities:

• Eliminate alcohol sponsorship of athletic events and other campus social activities.

• Restrict sale of alcoholic beverages on campus and in venues such as football stadiums and concert halls.

• Hold all student groups, including fraternities and sororities and teams and clubs, strictly accountable for underage alcohol use.

• Educate parents, instructors and administrators.

• Provide alcohol-free late-night events.

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