Use of policy, education, and enforcement to reduce binge drinking among university students: The NU Directions project

This paper describes a program, conducted over a 5-year period, that effectively reduced heavy drinking and alcohol-related harms among university students. The program was organized around strategies to change the environment in which binge drinking occurred and involved input and cooperation from officials and students of the university, representatives from the city and the neighborhood near the university, law enforcement, as well as public health and medical officials. In 1997, 62.5% of the university’s approximately 16,000 undergraduate student population reported binge drinking. This rate had dropped to 47% in 2003. Similar reductions were found in both self-reported primary and secondary harms related to alcohol consumption.

CONTROLLING YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIES (Pica nuttalli)

The yellow-billed magpie is a little smaller than the American or black-billed magpie, but the difference in size is very slight. The birds look exactly alike, except one has a black beak and the other has a yellow bill and a bit of yellow skin back of the eye.There are concentrated populations in the Los Banos area, Gustine area, and along the course of the Merced River comprising about 19,100 acres. They are occasionally seen in other areas of the County, but only infrequently observed in the southwestern portion of the County. The heaviest populations are in walnut orchards, dairy farms, almond orchards, turkey ranches and areas adjacent to river bottoms.The yellow-billed magpie may represent a dying ancient race. Since scientific interest has been directed toward its habits and distribution, its range has become more restricted. There are reports that 50 or 60 years ago it was common in many places close to the Coast, where the observer would now look for it in vain. It inhabits only the interior of California west of the Sierra Nevada, chiefly in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys. It haunts stock ranches, because food to its liking is usually plentiful in such places. When cattle and sheep are butchered the refuse attracts magpies. They gather about any dead animal. They feed on grasshoppers, worms and grubs, and of course always look for a reasonable supply of eggs.

PUBLIC POLICY EDUCATION: AN IMPORTANT WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT OPPORTUNITY

Suburban wildlife management issues are generating heated debate between citizen organizations, elected public officials, and state wildlife management agencies. Decisions are being made by town and county officials which directly impact or supersede state authority for managing resident wildlife. As an example, I will focus this discussion on the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), management controversy at Durand Eastman Park, in the greater Rochester metropolitan area, New York.