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REMARKS BY:	DONNA E. SHALALA, SECRETARY OF HEALTTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
PLACE:		Inter-Association Task Force On Alcohol  Abuse Press Conference, Washington, D.C.
DATE:		October 19, 1998

The new friends. The football games. That first real taste of freedom.

Freedom, however, brings responsibility. The responsibility of students to use their freedom wisely. And the responsibility of the university community to expect - and promote - responsible behavior by students, especially when not acting responsibly can be dangerous or deadly - like binge drinking; drinking and driving; and for underage students, drinking at all.

This kind of irresponsible drinking is one thing about college in the Fall that is anything but wonderful.

Just ask the parents of all the students who have been seriously injured - or died - because of alcohol. Five deaths in just one month in Virginia. There have been alcohol-related deaths at MIT, Louisiana State, Fordham, the University of Massachusetts, Vanderbilt, Penn State - and just recently, Rutgers. In fact, every serious problem I had to deal with on the two college campuses I led related to student drinking - including racial conflicts, fights and date rape.

So the message is getting muddled. And it must not be. Drinking can be dangerous. Underage drinking is illegal. And letting it happen is wrong.

To make matters worse, the tragedy of alcohol abuse does not begin in college. A third of high school seniors report that they binge drink. New research tells us that the earlier young people drink, the more likely they will end up with a lifetime drinking problem and other diseases.

Worst of all: Some never get a lifetime.

A decade ago, I recruited a wonderful young man from Northern Wisconsin to the university. He was a Native American at the top of his class academically - a wonderful student athlete and leader. This young man was the pride of his community. He loved college football, and I promised him if he would come to Wisconsin he could sit next to me at our opening game. Three days before his high school graduation, he left a party after a night of drinking and ran his car into a tree.

That Fall, at our home opener, I left the seat beside mine empty. Every Fall, as campuses open across this country, I am reminded of that glorious young man - and all the classes he didn't take; the football games he never saw; the faculty who never enjoyed his bright energy; the friendships and dorm memories he lost; the promise gone forever.

Fortunately, there is finally some good news. Many young people are taking a stand and saying irresponsible drinking - and underage drinking - has to end. Parents, schools, businesses and community leaders are teaming up to deliver those messages, and to find practical solutions to alcohol abuse on campus.

And that's exactly why we're here.

The organizations that make up the Inter-Association Task Force have brought us an important step closer to alcohol-sanity. I have no doubt that if the IATF guidelines and recommendations being announced today are followed, they will reduce drinking on campus, reduce injuries and deaths, and reduce the terrible price our nation pays every time it loses a bright young mind to alcohol. In short, these recommendations are a good first step. But I am also here to tell you that in the fight against alcohol abuse and underage drinking - we have to know `when to say when.' When we've said enough. When we've done enough. When we've demanded enough. Frankly, we're not there yet. Not even close.

That's why I want to raise an issue I brought up earlier this year at a NCAA convention in Atlanta. That issue is the unholy alliance between alcohol and college athletics. The IATF is on the right track when it calls for limits on the promotion and marketing of alcohol at campus events - especially sports. But I'm here to say: We must go further.

Universities should not be allowing their facilities, publications and events to be used promote alcohol consumption. We need to sever the tie between college sports and drinking. Completely. Absolutely. And forever. The time has come for schools to establish guidelines that say: No alcohol advertising in university publications.

No alcohol advertising on the premises of an intercollegiate athletic event.

No bringing alcohol to university sponsored events.

No turning a blind eye to underage drinking at tailgate parties - and on campus.

And no alcohol sponsorship of intercollegiate sporting events.

All institutions of higher learning should follow the lead of Chapel Hill, Baylor and Brigham Young - by saying no to alcohol sponsorship of sporting events. I want to be clear. I congratulate the university community and this important task force for being leaders in the fight against underage drinking and alcohol abuse.

But we still have a lot of work ahead of us. That's why I encourage everyone to keep thinking creatively - and courageously - about ways we can move the campus culture in the direction of legality, responsibility and sobriety. The members of this task force have done a tremendous public service with that kind of thinking. But as long as students are still drinking and driving; binge drinking; drinking illegally; or in any way letting alcohol ruin their health and futures - we have not done enough. That's why, together, we must do more.

Thank you.