The recidivism rate among UTM students with alcohol related offenses has dropped over the past three years.

Due to the combined efforts of Student Affairs, UTM Public Safety, the Martin Police Department, and student interest groups on campus, students now are less likely to be involved in repeated alcohol violations.

In 2005, there were 66 liquor law violations on campus. That includes DUIs, underage citations, public intoxication citations, and any other violation involving alcohol. Thirty-five of those violations were instances of underage drinking. Persons under 21 who are caught with alcohol are referred to court, where they will get 20 hours of community service, a $50 fine plus court costs and they are subject to lose their license for one year. In addition, violators will be referred to Student Affairs for violating the no alcohol on campus rule.

Lieutenent Ray Coleman, Interim Director of Public Safety, said, “A vast majority of vandalisms, assaults, and other disturbance calls that occur on campus are alcohol related.” So not only are offenders getting punished for alcohol violations, but there are many other charges that can be brought to them if the situation gets out of control.

The Martin Police Department is doing their part to control underage drinking by patrolling local bars, watching for people driving impaired and implementing road blocks for seat belt checks. They have a little help with this from the Governor’s Highway Safety Office. The MPD received grants that specifically target underage drinking violations. It is the office’s objective to make roads and highways safer places to drive. One of their many areas of concentration are advertisements. “Booze It and Lose It” and “Click it or Ticket” slogans are some ways the office highlights traffic safety.

MPD Police Chief David Moore said, “If we target them [underage drinkers] before they get behind the wheel of a car, we can cut down on alcohol related crashes and DUIs.”

So far Chief Moore feels they have been successful. He also commented that the maturity level of UTM students seems to be high when it comes to alcohol. Moore attributes that to the quality members of not only the Martin community, but the UTM community as well.

There are two student groups on campus who are looking to make a difference in the fight against alcohol related offenses. GAMMA, Greeks Advocating the Mature Management of Alcohol, and BACCHUS, the non-Greek counterpart to GAMMA, also focus on the education of alcohol awareness.

With some of the grants that MPD has received, they also received a new drinking and driving prevention tool, SIDNE. SIDNE is a go cart that can switch into drunk driving mode by manipulating a remote controlled by a trained officer. Students at middle and high schools are encouraged to take the go cart around an obstacle course. During the duration of the course, the officer will turn on the impaired mode, which will lock up the steering, disengage the brakes, or employ the gas. This gives students the opportunity to experience what it is like to be impaired while driving.

The MPD plans to bring SIDNE to UTM for educational sessions.