Berkeley Student Cooperative Convenes Members to Discuss Substance Abuse

Online, February 28, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Substance abuse was the focus of discussion at the annual General Membership Meeting convened by the Berkeley Student Cooperative (BSC) on the UC Berkeley campus on Saturday, February 26. The largest student-run housing organization in the nation, the BSC houses 1275 student members in twenty different properties near the UC Berkeley campus.

BSC President, Daniel Kronovet, a fourth year Phi Beta Kappa student at UC Berkeley, opened the meeting by pointing to drug busts at Columbia, Georgetown, and Cornell in the past year as evidence that substance abuse is an issue that student communities, must face. "What makes us different from the students living in the dorms that got busted at Columbia," he told the members, "is that the BSC is a self-governing student community, and this is our problem that we get to solve. At the BSC, there is no authority beyond the students to deal with organizational issues."

One hundred fifty of the BSC's student members turned out to hear from a panel of nine stakeholders, including three UC officials. More than 40% of the BSC's members are housed in buildings owned by and leased from the UC Regents. Among the speakers, UC Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, Harry Le Grande, described his 30 year history of helping the BSC navigate its sometimes rocky relationship with the University. "I can't hold the BSC responsible for what your members do, just like I can't hold the City of Berkeley responsible for the actions of its citizens. But I am holding you responsible for taking action to solve your own problems." Recognizing the importance of the BSC as a provider of affordable student housing, Le Grande stated: "The collateral damage that some individual behaviors cause is as problematic as the behaviors themselves. The University wants all of its students to be in healthy and safe living arrangements."

UC Berkeley Chief of Police Mitch Celaya stated that UCPD serves as a resource for the BSC and that UCPD and the BSC should "work together to address the undue reputation and perception people have" of the BSC. Celaya noted that UCPD statistics were inconsistent with the BSC's negative image as portrayed in an August 2010 article. Celaya has appointed a liaison officer for the BSC, and promised that he will continue to help the BSC put policies and practices in place to maintain a safe environment.

A stronger relationship with the University Health Services' Tang Center was also proposed by one of the University's Drug and Alcohol Counselors, Wanda Thrower, who challenged the BSC to work on a more comprehensive approach to collaborating with the Tang Center and other community resources. "Our focus, like the BSC's, is on harm reduction. In pursuit of that shared goal, we can do more to increase members' understanding of how to make a direct referral to the Tang Center." Daniel Madrigal of the Harm Reduction Coalition and Jon Perri of Students for Sensible Drug Policy also spoke on the importance of pursuing a harm reduction model and developing effective research-based policies.

Other panelists spoke on the legal and financial risks that individual drug overdoses pose to the BSC and challenged the organization to accept the responsibility to manage those risks. While individuals should be held responsible for their individual actions, BSC attorney Fred Feller emphasized that "the BSC is a landlord with all of the legal and financial responsibilities that that status implies." Alumnus Mike Jang,

director of the Scientific Analysis Institute, stated that "addiction is a chronic disease that is beyond the ability of the BSC to treat," emphasizing the need for referral to external resources.

Following the panel, the membership met in small groups to make specific recommendations on how to address the issues raised by the panelists. A consistent theme was the concern that high profile conduct cases do an injustice to the BSC because, as one member stated, "the BSC is my family and is the best part of my UC Berkeley experience."