Kathleen MacKay, dean of students, urged the Government of the Student Body to inform their constituents at Iowa State about the dangers of alcohol.

“I want to get your attention about possibly saving the life of someone on this campus,” MacKay said.

MacKay encouraged senators to attend activities during Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week next week and to sponsor programs for their constituents.

She also distributed information on Iowa’s new alcohol laws and resources on campus and in Ames for alcohol problems.

She cited several examples of deaths caused by alcohol on campuses around the country and said she feared ISU could be next.

“When I talk to my colleagues around the country, I’m very, very frightened,” MacKay said.

“Almost every other day I’ve been getting an email from around the country about a student who has died due to alcohol,” she said.

MacKay also mentioned ISU student Jared Kenyon, who was hospitalized last week with a blood alcohol content of .364.

“We’ve had so many close calls, I’m just kind of resigned to the fact until we have our first death,” MacKay said.

MacKay said she wanted the ISU community to be aware that alcohol was an issue on this campus.

Jacqueline Sowell, family and consumer sciences senator, said she thinks many students feel challenged by limits on alcohol.

“When we say no drinking here, no drinking there, I think that kind of encourages people to drink more,” Sowell said.

Sowell also said students need to take responsibility for their actions while drinking.

“There’s only so much this university can be responsible for,” she said.

MacKay also said she hoped students would be responsible in regard to alcohol. “I’m not naive enough to think people under 21 don’t drink, but they need to be safe,” she said.

She said Collegiate Alcohol Awareness week is focused on responsible drinking rather than abstinence.

“There are a lot of exciting things planned [next week] aimed at helping students think about alcohol abuse,” MacKay said.

MacKay said the warnings about alcohol are not from an administrative standpoint.

“This isn’t about the law, this isn’t about the policy, it’s about safety,” she said.

Tuition Increase

GSB president Rob Wiese and members of the student body will travel to Iowa City today to protest a 3.9 percent tuition increase.

The Board of Regents is expected to vote this morning regarding the tuition hike.

GSB passed a resolution last night opposing the 3.9 increase and urging the regents to “instead pass an increase in line with the Higher Education Price Index rate of 2.7 percent.”

Joseph Brus, off campus, said the resolution is intended to provide accountability and express GSB’s position to the regents.

Brus said GSB hopes to deliver the resolution to student-regent Lisa Ahrens, a sophomore at ISU.

“[The resolution] is intended to hold our regent accountable,” Brus said.

Wiese also said he wanted to see specific examples of where the additional money will be used.

“I think we’ll understand it better if we can see where it actually goes,” Wiese said.

“‘Undergraduate education’ can mean a million different things,” he said.

Wiese said he hopes to have the regents come to ISU and speak with students regarding tuition.