Binghamton University officials are stepping up efforts to increase education among students about alcohol abuse.

“We know that kids are going to drink,” Rodger Summers, vice president for student affairs, told the Binghamton University Council at its Friday morning meeting. “We could give them a thousand dollar bill and say ‘Don’t drink,’ and then they probably wouldn’t do it.”

In 2004, BU mandated that freshmen take AlcoholEdu, a three-hour online education program. BU is the first SUNY campus to require freshmen to complete the course, Summers said. In the fall 2005 semester, about 95 percent – roughly 1,800 students – completed the course, he said. He expects more than 2,200 students to complete the course by the end of the academic year.

Those who don’t complete the course are subject to judicial probation, meaning if a student is involved with an alcohol-related offense, he or she will be given “stricter educational sanctions” that could include writing a paper or working with an agency. Suspension or expulsion from the university isn’t a consequence for failing to complete the program, Summers said.

“We figure if we can start with every freshman class,” Summers said, “we can have every class trained by the time they get to the upper levels.”

BU’s annual crime report showed 11 arrests related to liquor-law violations in 2005. Data from the U.S. Department of Education show 22 arrests involving liquor-law violations in 2004 — the same as in 2003, but up from 16 arrests in 2002.

“We have become so stringent on our policy, that’s why we haven’t seen a real increase,” Summers said. “We just want our students to be safe.”

Binghamton University police say they want to increase safety on campus with a focus on traffic and vehicle enforcement. In its annual crime report, BU showed an increase in crime incidents from 2004 to 2005. There were 1,108 crime incidents in 2005; up from 1,030 in 2004 and 1,016 in 2003.

Increases in criminal mischief and vehicle and traffic enforcement are to blame, Chief John Schwartz said.

Schwartz said the next step is to talk with student groups and students in residence halls to implement a plan to reduce the problem. A spike in petty larceny and burglary was reversed, Schwartz said, after police and students suggested limited access to residence halls and individual rooms.

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