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By Alice Hrnicek
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I he ambiguity in UNL's alcohol-oolicv and its effect
on students has prompted administrators to consider its
revision.
The Code of Conduct formulated by the NU Board of
Regents states: 'The illegal possession or consumption of
alcoholic beverages at university-sponsored or approved
events, in university living units (residence halls, fraternit
ies, sororities or cooperatives), on university property, or
in buildings used by the university for its educational pro
grams shall constitute misconduct. Any student or student
organization that violates this rule will be subject to uni
versity disciplinary action."
Alcohol may be used, however, by any recognized stu
dent organization, campus living unit, fraternity, sorority
or cooperative in an event that is registered with and
approved by the Office of Campus Activities and Pro
grams, according to Sarah Boatman, director of the office.
But the event cannot be held on university property,
and the group is responsible for ensuring that no minor
drinks alcohol there, she said. The activity must be insur
ed and comply with state laws on the sale of liquor, she
said.
"ITS A DIFFICULT policy to try to enforce,'; Boat
man said.
Student-planned events involving alcohol include
dinner banquets, plays and informal afternoon parties,
said Glen Majoney , Campus Activities Program consultant.
Holding the event at a licensed establishment ensures
that it's legal , Boatman said .
Maloney said the establishment owner is responsible
.for carding patrons and selling drinks.
. If alcohol is given away at parties, a sale might be
implied. This part of the alcohol policy needs clarificat
ion, he said.
Last year the CAP office approved an activity in the
home of an adviser where wine was served. The organ
ization was responsible for controlling underage drinking,
he said.
Maloney noted that most organizations steer away
from applying for parties with alcohol. ;
Boatman said groups sometimes register events without '
alcohol, but have it at parties before or after.
"We don't like that," she said. "We want the student
organizations to work closely with Us. The fuzziness of
the policy makes this difficult, she said, because groups
often are uncertain of what is allowed.
CLARIFICATION IS needed in the areas of staff,
control of students, the use of student organization funds
for alcohol and the difference in policies for private and
registered parties.
A request for legal clarification of the policy has been
submitted to NU attorney Richard Wood by a task force
consisting of- Boatman, Maloney, Dick McKinnon,
assistant director for residential education, Elaine Green,
complex program director for Cather -Pound-Neihardt and
Dave DeCoster, dean of students.
Boatman said the result of the clarification, expected
by the end of November, will be drafted into policy and
presented first to student judicial boards, then to the
university chancellor for approval.
"We recognize student organizations have events which
involve alcohol," she said. "I would rather have our office
recognize that and work with student organizations."
If that cannot be done legally, she said, "we're in x
trouble."
JANE BAACK, assistant to the dean of students, said
the alcohol policy is too restrictive.
"Some staff and almost all students feel the alcohol
policy is inappropriate and that college students do
drink," she said. 'They think it's better to have alcohol
on campus."
But the rules must be enforced, and that leads to
further ambiguities. .
Greek houses do not have people to enforce the
policies such as the student assistants who can keep a -check
on residence hall students, Baack noted. Because of
these differences she questioned equally enforcing rules in
both housing systems. -
"Yet we're expected to enforce that (the alcohol
policy) and so are they (they students)," she said. "Stu
dents find it difficult to enforce rules that they dbn't
believein."
Added to their disagreement with bans on liquor,
Baack said many students are unaware of the exact
alcohol policy and the judicial system used to enforce it.
Recent cases of fraternity and sorority social proba
tion, which bans them from organized social activities,
'indicate students are unaware of the system and do not
read policies in the UNL Student Handbook, she said.
BAACK SAID, the handbook explains the judicial
system which she feels protects students.
"We do guarantee students due process," she said. The
University Judicial Board, which handles cases that may
involve suspension from the university, recently changed
from five faculty members and four students ratio to
five students and four faculty members.
The Panhellenic and Interfraternity Council judicial
boards, which handle such cases for sororities and
fraternities, are made up of all students.
Separate boards for each type of living unit creates
fairness, Baack said. The boards are chosen by the stu
dents in each section.
"We try to delegate authority from this office to where
it (a violation) occured,'-' she said. "We think that's help
ful because students who live in that area are responsible
for working with the judicial system."
MIKE PHILLIPS, Interfraternity Council president,
agreed that the alcohol policy needs revision and that stu
dents should be more aware of it.
"It's common knowledge that there is alcohoLon
campus," he said.
'The university has an obligation to protect new stu
dents. If alcohol were legal on campus, there would be
more drinking by freshman students.
But he said he was concerned that forcing students to
go off campus for parties could create more alcohol
related accidents. 1 ' -
"Steps should be taken so people don't have to go 20
or 30 miles," he said. "I'd rather see some legal drinking
on campus or more places around town where they could
have parties."
Drinking in Greek houses and other' on-campjs living
units has gone unnoticed in the past, he said. ' ',
. "The reason the university has come down is because
the houses have never been so blatant in the past," he
said.
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Staff counseling center exists in stalled plans
By Gail Stork
lo guidelines govern what happens to
a UNL employee with an alcohol problem,
and some question whether the university
needs a policy. Regardless, a proposal for a
, university counseling center exists, mired
somewhere in a subcommittee of a com
mittee of a university board. The problem
would, it is said, help university employees
on all three campuses with problems rang
ing from alcohol to debt.
Most large agencies have alcoholism pro
grams for their staffs, but NU has to either
fire employees who are incapacitated by
alcohol or tolerate their ineffective work,
said Paul Olson. The UNL Faculty Senate
member's concerned about providing some
thing between those extremes.
He said he is interested because there
are problems on campus which could be
helped by counseling.
'One can manage to show up at class,
but not be very effective " Olson said. The
university has 'nothing to offer these
employees, he said.
Olson said he helped instigate a re
solution by a three -campus fringe benefit
committee to propose an employee assist
ance program. That was spring 1978.
AS OF OCT. 23 , the proposal was as. far
as a proposed survey to determine the need
for such a service, according to Rodney
Oberle, UNO personnel director.
UNL Personnel Director Roy Louden
called the progress "ponderously slow "
and attributed it to possible obstacles of
low money and priority for the program.-
He said university policy on staff
alcoholism is not a written guideline.
Employees with drinking problems are re
ported or turn themselves in to Oberle, the
Ombudsman, the University Health Center,
department chairmen, foremen ... There
are no official figures on alcoholism among
NU staff members. .
Louden said he personally handles three
or four cases a year. Oberle said it's more
like one.
Drinking problems are referred to assist
ance programs in the community, because
no treatment is available on campus,
Louden said. .
The employees are paid during treat
ment time if they have enough sick leave to
cover the days missed, or they can use
vacation time. If those options are exhaust
ed they are fired, according to Louden.
TEACHERS WITH tenure pose a special
tangle. One UNL instructor was "totally
incapacitated" by alcoholism and, after
more than a year, ended up on long-term
disability, Louden said.
Personal conflict emerged when the
teacher didn't want to resign for treatment.
Louden said it was a difficult situation be
cause his position was guaranteed by his
tenure.
Louden cited the uncertainly of the in
dividual'! response and the subjective
nature of decisions about who needs treat
ment as reasons for the tenuousness of the
assistance program. .
Olson agreed the university could not
force treatment but he maintained that
help should be available and well-publiciz
ed to encourage staff to voluntarily seek
assistance. It is time no central referral or
reporting system for alcoholics exists at
UNL, but such a coordinating body would
be illegal, spy 4 ike and certainly not con
ducive to an atmosphere of self-help, Olson
said.
He stressed the need for counseling by
first-class personnel who are more sophisti
cated than the teachers and administrators
there for help. Federal funding was his an
swer for financing the assistance program.
Oberle cautioned that federal funds
would eventually run out, and the univer
sity would be responsible for supporting
the program later.
Louden said the idea was in the "nice to
do" category of university priorities. It's
hard enough to finance teaching and re
search, he said.
Olson described himself as an interested
bystander who thinks the university ought
to do something about this problem. But
he resigned himself to the program's slow
progress.
'This is a big institution and a lot of
things fall in wells," he said.