Concerns of drug use continue to rise on campus
Staff and students are expressing concern that the use of illicit substances on campus may be escalating as administration and student council over the past several terms have been receiving an increasing number of reports of drug use.
“I do feel there is a problem with illegal substances on campus. Over the last year and a half, I have had multiple students report drug activity on campus to me, including usage down at the river, in the bathrooms and the parking lots. Also, I have had reports of dealers hanging out in various locations of the campus,” said Melissa Osborne, student body president. Osborne also stated she has had “quite a few” faculty members come to her expressing concerns about students under the influence in their classrooms. “They’ve said that this has always been an occurrence, but in this last year, it has increased exponentially,” Osborne explained.
Osborne’s primary concern was the environment that drug use fosters. However, she feels that the impact to campus culture has further reaching effects than the drug use itself.
“What bothers me the most about the increase of drug abuse on campus is that activity like this could possibly help to breed a culture of abuse on our campus. Our campus is intended to be a center of learning, growth and achievement. Substance abuse does not foster that kind of environment; it destroys it.”
Osborne went on to say, “We have many students on our campus who are currently in recovery, and to have substance abuse increasing in numbers, availability and visibility, can be potentially damaging to their recovery efforts. Many people in the community come to UCC to make a change in their lives and get away from substance abuse. If the campus environment is saturated with drug and alcohol abuse, UCC becomes a place that can no longer offer that opportunity to escape those kinds of environments, which would be doing a disservice to the community and our students.”
Osborne feels that the problem will only increase, and many students and faculty appear to share her sentiments. “In one of my classes, I witnessed a student drop a small, glass pipe in class and no one seemed to care; I believe that drug use has increased since I had first started attending school,” Cody Norris, a UCC student and president of the debate club, said.
Hannah Hartmen, the ASUCC vice president, added, “I was leaving the campus after my biology lab. While walking through the parking lot near science and Wayne Crouch, I witnessed behavior that alluded to a drug deal. There were two young men in a vehicle parked in the lot. A female student walked up to the driver’s side window, handed the young man money, and in exchange was given a small baggy from the young man.”
A UCC employee even bitterly joked, “I don’t like having to walk through a haze of marijuana smoke while going to work.”
Several serious incidents have been filed by campus security. One such report from last August involved a young child and a discarded hypodermic needle in the parking lot near Wayne Crooch Hall. The needle was taken to the hospital for testing to insure the safety of the child.
Another incident report from winter term involved two men preparing hypodermic needles and an unidentified substance in the UCC parking lot; one of the men was an ex-employee of UCC and the local authorities were involved.
Several members of the UCC campus feel these are isolated incidents, though, and the Douglas County records regarding drug use in the Winchester area as far back as 2008 contained no reports of illicit drug use on campus. These records seem to contradict other reports such as the Douglas County’s Epidemiological Data on Alcohol, Drugs and Mental Health, however.
“I’ve been working here since ’99 and I’ve only found a couple beer cans. I’ve seen no evidence of any increase in drug use. Students around here seem very motivated; I think there is a really positive attitude on campus,” Brenda Karpontinis, a member of the custodial staff and an A student, remarked.
Dr. Emery Smith, UCC’s sociology and anthropology instructor, explained that he anticipated a problem of this nature occurring on campus because such behavior follows a trend. Drug use is one of the side effects of an ailing economy, and the group hit the hardest by an economic downturn are those from the low socioeconomic level.
As Smith projected, UCC has seen a marked increase in students belonging to the low socioeconomic level, according to financial aid statistics, during the recent enrollment upswing. Historically, colleges have seen dramatic boosts in enrollment during times of economic crisis, wrote Richard Fry of the Pew Research Center. And as community colleges swell with students, those students bring their culture with them, including a culture of drug use. A collection of survey data from the Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans (available at www.yic.gov) reported that 32.3 percent of college and university students used marijuana while 7.5 percent used hallucinogens, 6.5 percent used amphetamines, 3.7 percent used cocaine and 3.6 percent used Ecstasy within the past year.
Smith agrees with the Initiative’s research. “Over the last two or three years, I have predicted that, due to the recession, Douglas County would see increased rates of domestic violence, substance abuse, animal abuse, etc. – all the things that always tend to increase when masses of people are out of work or live in poverty. According to research my students have done related to local social problems, that is exactly what is happening. Ask the people at ADAPT or BPA or law enforcement agencies and they will confirm it,” Smith said.
The depression that some people experience with the job loss which sends them back to college can lead people to do things they would not normally do, such as drugs, Osborne added.
“Homes are going into foreclosure. People are losing their jobs. The people of Douglas County are under a lot of stress, and that leads people to do things they normally wouldn’t do. There is no reason to think UCC would be immune from the problems we are seeing in the rest of the county,” said Osborne.
Osborne’s concerns go beyond just problems with drug use on campus. “When a society sees a decrease in the economy and job market, certain problems will see a marked increase. These include spousal abuse, gambling, child abuse, behavioral issues, and many others.”
A female student walked up to the driver’s side window, handed the young man money, and in exchange was given a small baggy from the young man.”
A UCC employee even bitterly joked, “I don’t like having to walk through a haze of marijuana smoke while going to work.”
Several serious incidents have been filed by campus security. One such report from last August involved a young child and a discarded hypodermic needle in the parking lot near Wayne Crooch Hall. The needle was taken to the hospital for testing to insure the safety of the child.
Another incident report from winter term involved two men preparing hypodermic needles and an unidentified substance in the UCC parking lot; one of the men was an ex-employee of UCC and the local authorities were involved. Several members of the UCC campus feel these are isolated incidents, though, and the Douglas County records regarding drug use in the Winchester area as far back as 2008 contained no reports of illicit drug use on campus. These records seem to contradict other reports such as the Douglas County’s Epidemiological Data on Alcohol, Drugs and Mental Health, however.
“I’ve been working here since ’99 and I’ve only found a couple beer cans. I’ve seen no evidence of any increase in drug use. Students around here seem very motivated; I think there is a really positive attitude on campus,” Brenda Karpontinis, a member of the custodial staff and an A student, remarked.
Dr. Emery Smith, UCC’s sociology and anthropology instructor, explained that he anticipated a problem of this nature occurring on campus because such behavior follows a trend. Drug use is one of the side effects of an ailing economy, and the group hit the hardest by an economic downturn are those from the low socioeconomic level.
As Smith projected, UCC has seen a marked increase in students belonging to the low socioeconomic level, according to financial aid statistics, during the recent enrollment upswing. Historically, colleges have seen dramatic boosts in enrollment during times of economic crisis, wrote Richard Fry of the Pew Research Center. And as community colleges swell with students, those students bring their culture with them, including a culture of drug use. A collection of survey data from the Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans (available at www.yic.gov) reported that 32.3 percent of college and university students used marijuana while 7.5 percent used hallucinogens, 6.5 percent used amphetamines, 3.7 percent used cocaine and 3.6 percent used Ecstasy within the past year.
Smith agrees with the Initiative’s research. “Over the last two or three years, I have predicted that, due to the recession, Douglas County would see increased rates of domestic violence, substance abuse, animal abuse, etc. – all the things that always tend to increase when masses of people are out of work or live in poverty. According to research my students have done related to local social problems, that is exactly what is happening. Ask the people at ADAPT or BPA or law enforcement agencies and they will confirm it,” Smith said.
The depression that some people experience with the job loss which sends them back to college can lead people to do things they would not normally do, such as drugs, Smith added.
“Homes are going into foreclosure. People are losing their jobs. The people of Douglas County are under a lot of stress, and that leads people to do things they normally wouldn’t do. There is no reason to think UCC would be immune from the problems we are seeing in the rest of the county,” said Smith.
Smith’s concerns go beyond just problems with drug use on campus. “When a society sees a decrease in the economy and job market, certain problems will see a marked increase. These include spousal abuse, gambling, child abuse, behavioral issues, and many others.”
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