A survey being conducted to determine if alcohol is the predominant drug used on campus is part of a program for substance abuse implemented last fall.

Michael Haines, NIU’s health enhancement services coordinator, said the survey is part of the program which began through a federal grant totaling $69,491 to decrease substance abuse on campus.

“This is the first time the federal government provided funds for substance abuse directly to college campuses,” Haines said.

He said the funds were granted because higher education is giving more national attention to substance abuse, especially after Len Bias died from using mind-altering drugs. Bias was a basketball player at the University of Maryland-College Park who overdosed on cocaine in fall of 1986, he said.

NIU is among about 100 other campuses that applied and received an award, Haines said. The award is for two years from September 1987 to September 1989. After the grant has ended, Haines said he hopes more money will be available to continue the program.

“It is our (health services’) assumption that alcohol is the number-one abused substance on campus,” Haines said. The survey that began last fall is being conducted to confirm the assumption. Some preliminary work needs to be completed before the results will be available in about a month, he said.

Surveying and assessing levels of substance use and students’ perception of that level is part of the program, Haines said. “(This) is very important because evidence shows that college- age people regularly overestimate substance use of their peers.

“Researchers theorize that this ‘perception of use’ puts pressure on students to alter their use to meet the perceived levels,” he said.

Haines said it is important to assess and change students’ perceptions of the “norms.” He said, “This component will allow us (health services) to determine the actual levels of use, and feed back to students what the levels are in order to break through some of the dissonance between perception and reality.”

A portion of the program will assert which drug is predominately used on campus so that efforts are not wasted on reducing the use of a drug not being used by students, Haines said.

“We (health services) don’t want to misapply what little money we have,” Haines said. The purpose of the survey is to make sure alcohol is the dominant drug used on campus, he said.

The program allows NIU to hire Selwyn Boyer, a certified counselor and assessor who can diagnose if a student has a drug or alcohol problem, Haines said.

If a student is diagnosed as having a problem, Boyer can refer a student for off-campus treatment—either as an out-patient or an in-patient, Haines said. Another choice Boyer has is to send students to NIU’s Student Counseling Center or send a student home more educated about substance abuse, he said.

Boyer could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Another part of the program deals with students who have violated NIU policies concerning drug and alcohol use, Haines said.

Assistant Judicial Officer Marti Ruel said, “If a student is caught with alcohol or drugs we (judicial office) can decide to refer or send students to NIU’s Alcohol and Drug Education Referral Program.” The alcohol and drug program was implemented with the grant, she said.

NIU policy states students cannot have alcohol on campus unless approved by the university, Ruel said. In the residence halls, students must be 21 years old and drink in their room with the door closed, she said.