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Editor’s note: This is part two of a three-week news series examining the role of alcohol in the lives of students.

Underage drinking has long been a problem on college campuses in America ?” Sacramento State is no different.

“(Underage drinking) is a problem on most, if not all, college campuses, including here,” Sgt. Kelly Clark wrote in an e-mail. He wrote campus police are “trying to work with students, clubs, residence halls, etc., to educate about laws. We publish material, train and do public speaking every chance we get.”

Over the past month, there have been two DUI arrests where the driver was under 21 years old and one incident of a woman who got sick from drinking too much alcohol in the residence halls, according to the University Police Department’s media log.

It’s no different at Sac State than from anywhere else, said Cynthia Cockrill, director of housing and residential life. She said between 75 percent and 80 percent of the approximately 1,100 students living in the residence halls are first-year students who are too young to legally drink.

For the months of January and February, there have been 29 men and seven women under 21 caught drinking in the residence halls, Cockrill said.

“They’re doing this, and they’re doing it too much,” Cockrill said about underage drinking.

Cockrill said some students are coming out of high school with drinking problems already. “Party ’til you puke” was a game a couple of years ago, she said.

Cockrill said she does not think the residence halls are a concentration of alcoholics, but views the residence halls as a microcosm of all college students.

Dorm residents don’t agree on how much drinking goes on in the residence halls.

“It’s a problem with college students everywhere,” said Samuel Cogo, a junior majoring in business.

He said he’s not sure how many residence hall residents drink in the residence halls but that it was probably some.

“I’ve seen people drinking (in the residence halls),” said Sean Iliff, a freshman majoring in criminal justice.

He said he thinks it’s a few people, but probably not very many.

A freshman criminal justice major, who asked that her name not be printed because of her age, said she thinks there are a lot of underage drinkers in the residence halls ?” as many as 60 percent. She said she is under 21 but that she drinks anyway.

She said the drinking age of 21 is a good idea, saying, “I’ve done some really stupid things when I drink.”

“People just drink to unwind sometimes,” she said. She knows of some students who think it is OK to drive while buzzed, but she said she uses Safe Rides and that any time motor skills are impaired no one should drive.

Cockrill said most complaints that lead authorities to underage drinking come from noise. She said it’s not their job to spy on the residents.

“They’re 18 and older. We don’t do bed checks,” Cockrill said.

Cockrill said sometimes students walk through the halls with a beer bottle or a red cup. If a student is sitting in their room with a drink, they likely won’t be caught. She does remind all underage drinkers that it is illegal, and if they are caught, there will be disciplinary action.

The drinking policy is addressed on move-in day, as well as many other times. Signs are posted in the halls and there are meetings in which the policy is addressed.

The policy allows students 21 and older to drink in their rooms as long as it is done responsibly and there are no minors present.

According to the policy book, “Residents under 21 are prohibited from transporting, possessing, or consuming alcoholic beverages in the Residence Halls. Violations will result in disciplinary action.”

The punishment for drinking underage in the residence halls is widely known.

Both Cogo and Iliff knew that the punishment involved a Saturday morning class. The class is put on by the Sac State Alcohol and Drug Prevention program and costs $35.

“We work closely with the alcohol education program,” Cockrill said.

She described the residence hall management’s mission as one to educate, not punish.

She said the alcohol education program, which will be detailed in the Hornet next week, started in the residence halls and developed from there.

The woman who did not wish her name to be used said punishments “deter her from getting caught.”

Underage drinking is not a problem limited to the residence halls.

When Round Table stopped selling pitchers of beer in the fall, it was because it was too easy for underage drinkers to get beer, said Stephanie Ewing, registered dietitian for dining services.

Mark Gibson, a senior majoring in business real estate, thinks most underage students drink, but that it is not much of a problem on campus.

Todd Macumber, a senior majoring in graphic design, said he doesn’t think underage drinking is too much of a problem on campus, but that it will always be a problem in general.

There’s a culture of turning 18, going to college and getting hammered, Macumber said. He said Safe Rides is a good program that gives people who will drink regardless of the law a safe way to get home.

Most of the residence hall residents interviewed for this story said they felt 21 was an appropriate age to be able to drink.

The Mothers Against Drunk Driving Web site has a lot of information about why 21 is the drinking age.

An article on the MADD Web site, “Why 21?,” states that when the drinking age was 18 in many states “55 percent of all fatal crashes involving youth drivers involved alcohol.”

After the law changed the age to 21, that number was cut in half.

MADD also has an article that dispels myths about alcoholism. The article states that more young people are killed by alcohol every day than cocaine, heroin and all other illegal drugs combined.

Also, a cold shower or a cup of coffee does not induce sobriety ?” only time will make you sober.

Brandon Darnell can be reached at [email protected]