Counselor warns against alcohol abuse

By Alexa Wallick

Cardinal Staff

Students need to be aware of alcohol trends on the Saint Mary’s University campus in order to help prevent alcohol abuse, said Jason Flanders, chemical dependency counselor, in a speech to psychology classes on Nov. 10.

“We’re not going to eradicate [alcohol abuse]” Flanders said, “but we’ll do what we can to make an impact.” Flanders, alcohol and other drugs education coordinator and counselor at SMU, stressed the importance of the impact alcohol use can have on campus through the students’ perception of the issue.

We need to look at the problem and address it in different ways,” Flanders said. Along with the speeches he gives each semester, he also coordinates other alcohol awareness events on campus such as helping provide a speaker at the beginning of the year for incoming freshman. He also counsels students who have been documented on campus for underage drinking.

“I think some people sincerely want to be healthier but don’t know how,” Flanders said. He believes that in order to improve alcohol abuse, students need to learn how to make healthier decisions and learn how to use alcohol responsibly. He emphasized how important it was to have learning opportunities and counseling on campus instead of direct punishment. Fines and probation alone, he said, aren’t going to help alleviate the problem.

“We also know that…our Lasallian foundation is dedicated to teaching people and developing people as a whole,” Flanders said, “We want people to make better choices.”

“Students don’t understand that there are some potential consequences,” to their actions, Flanders said. These consequences, he said, can range from alcohol poisoning to even death. If students are aware of these consequences beforehand, then these issues can be better prevented he said.

Flanders also talked about the different impacts wet verses dry campuses can have. He said that the impacts were minimal. He noted that in a study done in 2006 by the University of Minnesota, Winona State University (WSU) and SMU were the top two schools out of 12 studied to have problems with alcohol abuse. WSU is a dry campus while SMU is a wet campus.

Flanders said that he is open to talking to anyone who is interested in learning more about the risks of alcohol or has any other questions. His office is located in the Wellness Center in the basement of the Toner Center.

Photo from SMU website