Editor’s Note: This is the final article in a three-day series.

Monty’s Pub in Aztec Center is a home away from home for somestudents. The pub not only offers indoor seating, but an outside beergarden for students over 21 who want to spend time between classeswith a cold beer.

Reto Seiz, who takes classes at the American Language Institute oncampus, said he’s at the pub at least twice a week. On sunny days, heand his friends sit outside on the patio.

“It’s the place on campus to get beer,” he said.

Attitudes like this are why university officials are analyzing howalcohol is sold and marketed on campus, and if these practices send amixed message about how San Diego State University views alcohol use.

Last year, the university solicited the help of William DeJong, alecturer of health communications at the Harvard School of PublicHealth, to analyze alcohol policies and programs.

DeJong cited several concerns in his 60-page report that maycontribute to alcohol problems among students. Among them wereMonty’s Pub, alcohol signs in campus athletic venues and alcoholadvertisements in The Daily Aztec .

SDSU employees convened a campuswide task force during the pastyear to further examine DeJong’s report and make specificrecommendations to University President Stephen Weber.

A committee within the task force furnished a report on AlcoholSales and Marketing, targeting the areas of concern DeJongidentified.

Pubcrawl

It’s 10 a.m.; campus life has begun to stir and Monty’s Pub hasturned on its taps.

Dan Cornthwaite, Associated Students executive director andcommittee member, said Monty’s early opening time may help contributeto SDSU’s party school reputation by suggesting the school endorsesthe consumption of alcohol in the morning.

For this reason, the committee has recommended the pub not turn onits taps until noon.

“Drinking before lunch may give an appearance to the public that,for a student, it’s OK to have a beer before you go to class,” hesaid.

But a study of Monty’s customers conducted last spring suggestsjust the opposite, he said. The study found that, on average, only 12students purchased alcohol at Monty’s between 10 a.m. and noon duringone week. Between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. in one week, an average of 150students drank in Aztec Center, Thursday being the most popular dayof the week.

Despite the negative image a bar can project, Cornthwaite said thecommittee found that having a pub on campus can be conducive toresponsible drinking. Employees undergo alcohol service training, thepub posts “House Rules,” employees thoroughly check IDs, andcustomers who are drinking are given hand stamps and/or wristbands.

“Prohibition is not the way to go because by banning it on campus,you’re just going to drive students off campus,” he said. “At leastby having it on campus, like we do have, we can exercise somecontrols and some sensitivity.”

The committee also suggested the university develop a socialmarketing campaign to reduce “at risk” consumption among SDSUstudents.

“We’re not a Baptist college where we’re saying don’t do it,”Cornthwaite said. “We’re trying to educate students, so they canlearn how it is to be a responsible adult.”

The bar on campus, built in 1978, was first called Henry’s Place.Monty’s replaced Henry’s in 1990.

Last year, Monty’s was dubbed one of the best college hangouts byPlayboy magazine.

Problem signs?

Advertisements for alcohol-related companies in universitystadiums is not an uncommon practice throughout the nation.

SDSU is no exception. There are 20 permanent alcohol signs for theMiller Brewing Company on campus: one in the Open Air Theater, one inthe AzTrack, one in Tony Gwynn Stadium, five in the Aztec RecreationCenter and 12 in Cox Arena.

“I often wonder what I would feel like as a parent here, comingfor orientation and looking down to see President Weber speak, andall I see is Miller signs,” said Louise Stanger, director for Studentto Student, a peer organization on campus that promotes alcoholsafety.

Money from sponsorships for all the signage in Cox Arena,including alcohol-related signs, is divided between the AssociatedStudents, to offset operating costs of the arena, and Athletics. Lastyear each was given $84,309 for the sponsorships.

The contract with Miller and its distributor, Mesa DistributingCompany, expires in Spring 2012.

The committee within the alcohol task force has recommended thatthe university phase out permanent alcohol signs before thosecontracts expire because it may also send a mixed image about alcoholuse, Cornthwaite said.

John Clapp, director of the Collegiate Community AlcoholPrevention Program, said he agrees. CCAPP, created in 1997, works tohelp reduce binge drinking and other alcohol problems among SDSUstudents.

“I think it sends the wrong message to students and it’sinconsistent with the academic mission of the university,” Clappsaid.

Phasing out alcohol signs may mean a loss of money to theuniversity, but the university has more than 11 years until thecontract expires. During that time, the university can attractsponsors that are not alcohol-related, he said.

In addition, the committee has asked that the university place”responsible drinking” signs in athletic venues funded byalcohol-related companies.

Jim Kitchen, vice president for Student Affairs, said he wouldn’tmind the alcohol signs being covered for events like commencement,but that he won’t adamantly press athletics to stop using alcoholsigns.

“Athletics is a business,” he said. “Many times the supporters arepeople who are beer distributors. It’s not uncommon to go to athleticarenas and see Miller signs all over the place.”

Drunk driving concerns

Results from a CCAPP survey last spring showed that 29 percent ofstudents drove under the influence at least once in the past year. Ofthat number, 41 percent said they drove after drinking within thepast month. Overall, 44 percent of students surveyed said they’vedriven with a drunken driver.

“There are lots of DUIs going on and we don’t catch them all,”said Douglass Williams, community policing officer for the UniversityPolice. “We don’t have enough officers to do it.”

Darin Clayton, A.S. councilmember and business senior, said thesestatistics have compelled him to start the Safe Ride Home Program forSDSU students. The program, when implemented next spring, willprovide free one-way shuttles for students too drunk to drive. Theservice is also available for students who are stranded and need aride.

“For as long as I’ve been here, I’ve heard complaints aboutalcohol policies, but I’ve never really seen anything done about it,”he said. “We’re not here to encourage alcohol, but we’re not going toturn our heads and say there isn’t a problem.”

The entire A.S. Council gave its approval and $5,000 for theprogram last night. If enough funding for the program is acquired bynext semester, three Cloud Nine shuttles will be on call Friday andSaturday nights from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. to drive students home fromSDSU, Pacific Beach and downtown areas.

Students will be able to sign up for the service in the A.S.Government and Business Office, located in lower Aztec Center, wherethey will be given a sticker for their SDSU ID card. The programwould drive only to the address specified on the waiver to ensure theproject functions as a safe ride home and not simply a taxi service.

“We want this to be a service for every student, but it’s notgoing to be a ride down the street to a friend’s house,” he said.

CCAPP Director John Clapp said the group strongly supports A.S.’scall for a shuttle service, and is planning to donate a few thousanddollars to help fund the program, which would cost between $7,000 and$15,000.

Last year, there were 49 DUI arrests by the University Police inthe College Area, an increase of 19 from the year before
.

Stanger said Student to Student members had been trying toimplement a similar Safe Ride program the past few years, and is gladthat one is finally getting off the ground. This year, the groupcreated an alcohol-awareness handbook that included statistics ondrunk driving. However, Stanger said she would like to see theshuttle pick up students near Tijuana.

The shuttles will not be making the trip to the border nextsemester because it would be too expensive for the pilot program, andit will send a message that the university promotes underagedrinking, Clayton said.

Clayton, who never met his grandfather because he was killed by adrunken driver, said anything is possible and he will work to makethe program reach as many students as possible.

“I never got to know my grandfather because somebody got drunk andchose to get behind the wheel,” he said. “If you go out to drink andyou feel you’re all right to drive, you’re not.”

What now?

These recommendations from the campuswide alcohol task force arenow in Weber’s hands, and committee members are awaiting hisresponse.

Many of the recommendations, such as the creation of a permanentalcohol and drug office on campus, and an increase in UniversityPolice officers, would require funds from either the university,state, or external sources.

“We’ve got to do what we can to enforce the task forcerecommendations,” Kitchen said. “We have to at least make thePresident aware of those recommendations and get them finalized so wecan get some of those in place.”

Kitchen said he is processing a job announcement for a permanentalcohol coordinator. The coordinator would focus on alcohol and otherdrug problems on campus, concentrating on outreach, education,prevention, research, and grant requests.

“One person is not going to solve the problem, he said. “It’sgoing to take a university effort to make a difference here.”behoused in the office of Student Affairs. The coordinator would focuson alcohol and other drug problems on campus, specifically outreach,education prevention, research, and grant requests.

“One person is not going to solve the problem, he said. “It’sgoing to take a university effort to make a difference here.”