Death found alcohol related

By JENNIFER NEJMAN
Collegian Staff Writer

Alcohol was determined as the contributing factor in the Sunday death of University student Joseph A. Bettinger, according to a State College Police Department news release.

The cause of death was listed as a "closed head injury due to a fall while intoxicated," said forensic pathologist Isidore Mihalakis of Lehigh Valley Medical Center, in the news release. The autopsy was performed at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, according to the news release.

Bettinger, a 21-year-old student from Frackville, Pa., was found lying on the 400 block of East College Avenue early Saturday morning, according to a previous news release.

Witnesses in the area told State College police Bettinger appeared to be intoxicated and had been walking backward on the sidewalk when he fell to the ground, according to a previous release.

The fracture to the left side of Bettinger's head was consistent with a fall to the sidewalk as described by witnesses, according to the release.

Bettinger's blood alcohol content was 0.24 percent, according to the release, which is more than two times higher than the legal limit.

This is not the first death or injury at the University that was attributed to excessive drinking.

Drinking at the University has been a problem in the recent past and remains a problem, said William Asbury, vice president for student affairs.

"It is a tragic incident that happened, and it should never have happened," he said.

Last February, a 20-year-old female University student died as a result of a fall from a sixth-floor apartment at Alexander Court, 309 E. Beaver Ave.

Another alcohol-related injury also occurred in February 1997, when a male student fell from an open third-story window at Carlton Apartments, 325 S. Garner St. The man landed on top of a soft-top Jeep, sustaining head injuries and facial fractures.

These incidents are not uncommon on college campuses, said Natalie Croll, assistant director of health promotion and education at University Health Services.

"We're in a population that drinks very abusively and very heavily and often puts (itself) at risk in a lot of situations," she said.

Some students do not intervene when they notice their friends become intoxicated, Croll said.

"As friends, we need to start stepping up and stepping in," she said. "We all need to take the risk and the challenge of intervening more."

Alcohol-related injury is the leading cause of death for people age 18 to 24 in America, Croll said.

"To me that's the sadness, to go home every weekend and think that students are taking their lives into their hands," she said.

Penn State was one of the first universities to start an alcohol awareness program, Croll said. The program began in 1977 and many University presidents, including Graham Spanier, have made efforts to continue the education of students.

"I have been saying for two years that the excessive consumption of alcohol is the major problem facing American higher education today," Spanier said. "Our surveys at Penn State indicate that this continues to be a problem for us, although there is evidence that we have made important progress in the last two years."

The Council for Prevention of Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Abuse was created in 1996 and HUB Late Night Activities as well as other activities have provided alternatives to help curb excessive drinking at the University, Croll said.

Asbury said the University will continue to educate students about the dangers of binge and underage drinking by providing programs and alcohol-free events.

"My concern would be that there's been very little reaction from students," he said, adding that some students last year said alcohol-related tragedies would not affect their behavior.