Police and university officials hope to start a university chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, or MADD, to get students involved in prevention and education activities.
"It's one thing for the police to talk about the dangers; it's another thing to hear it from your peers," MSU police Inspector Kelly Beck said.
East Lansing police Chief Tom Wibert said he hopes to establish a student organization with police officers as resources.
Wibert and Beck met with Mary Ann Bair, the MADD Michigan program director, earlier this month to discuss starting a UMADD chapter at MSU.
Bair could not be reached for comment.
When Wibert became police chief last May, he said he made drunken driving prevention a priority. There were 62 more drunken driving arrests in 2005 than in 2004.
"Solving the drunk driving problem isn't going to come from enforcement — there's also an educational piece and an awareness piece that UMADD would help to fill," Wibert said. "MADD is based in Lansing; all the resources are right here in town.You have a host police department that has drunk driving as a priority ? all the pieces of the puzzle are right here."
A number of people in the community have shown interest in working to curb underage drinking, said Homer Smith, executive director of MADD Michigan.
"UMADD really is focused on preventing underage drinking along with the other consequences of alcohol," Smith said. "What's interesting is to see all the other things that are affected by use of alcohol on and around campus."
Smith said research has shown that alcohol has an effect on academic problems and violence.
Becky Allen, a health educator at Olin Health Center, is also working on starting the group.
Allen said she hopes to focus on pedestrian safety in relation to drinking.
Alcohol is typically involved in vehicle and pedestrian accidents, she said.
UMADD is more essential in a college town, said Susan Chung, an interior design senior.
"If more people collaborate together and work for the good cause, then students might be moved and hopefully change," Chung said.
Although it would be difficult to control drinking in a college town like East Lansing, it's a smart idea to have different groups collaborating in the effort, said Christian Yanez Ramirez, a second-year graduate student.
