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Vito says student alcohol use is similar to 1960s

Today's students are drinking alcohol just as much as their counterparts of the 1960s, but for different reasons, the UA's dean of students said yesterday.

"There is a significant difference (because) what we find now is that students today are more likely to drink to get drunk and so we see binge drinking as a more critical issue," said Melissa Vito, who is also the vice president of University of Arizona Campus Life.

Vito referred to 30-year study conducted by Alexander Aston, a University of California at Los Angeles professor, that shows the difference between social concerns with today's students and those of the late 1960s.

In her speech, "Protest, Alcohol and Community Service: Thirty Years of College Student Trends," Vito compared nationwide issues surrounding the politically driven students of the '60s and today's technologically dependent students.

One issue that has garnered a lot of attention on the national level is binge drinking.

While the percentage of students drinking on a national level has decreased only slightly since 1969, binge drinking has become a more critical issue because students tend to drink more heavily in the '90s, she said.

But Vito also said, among UA students, binge drinking rates have decreased 29 percent since 1995.

Vito also said both generations have still found ways to actively participate in their surrounding community, but on a more personal level.

"About (seventy-five) percent of undergraduates today believe that an individual can make a change in society, and this is an increase since 1969 where about half of the students answered in that way," she said.

Vito said in the '90s, students don't use the radical protest techniques that were used in the 30 years ago.

"If I were going to characterize it, the '60s students felt that they needed to get people's attention. I think in the '90s, you've got people's attention in a different way," Vito said to about 60 people at the Center for Creative Photography's auditorium.

She added that students today are already recognized in society, and don't have to seek as much attention.

Today's students do not feel as disillusioned about their position to change society as students of the '60s, and most students feel there is room for a change, Vito said.

Vito also referred to the increasing trend of weapons violations on college campuses.

Despite UA officials enforcing a no-weapons policy on campus, students are still carrying them, Vito said.

"They're not a huge issue now - weapon violations - we still don't see that as a number one crime, but they were up almost five percent on college campuses last year, so this is a trend," she said.

Cara Crowley, a microbiology graduate student, said she disagreed with Vito's goal for a weapons-free campus because weapons can be necessary for self-defense.

"I am very offended about the weapons laws because I think it restricts our freedoms to protect ourselves," Crowley said. "If something were to happen, you and I both know that the police department is not going to be prepared in a lot of situations."

Vito cited another disturbing trend in the study - 80 percent of all college students admitted to having cheated.

She said new technology in society has given students more access to information than before, allowing students more avenues to cheat.

The Internet, for example, allows students to locate pre-written term papers and essays.

Vito said the most popular type of cheating - one that has increased over the years - is unpermitted collaboration.

Encouraging students to work more together has "created an environment where it is simply easier to demonstrate cheating behavior," Vito said.

"There were a lot of shocking statistics," said Sarah Meadows, first year graduate student, adding that she was most surprised to learn the percentage of students who have cheated.