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Lynn M. Walding, Administrator |
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e - NEWS |
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August 29, 2003 |
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1. Officials Question Detox Facility Idea
2. Atkins Diet Inspires Low-Carb Beers
3. US: Anheuser/Bacardi Launch Third Silver Variant
4. Spirits Marketer Will Continue To Run the Ads Despite Ruling
5. Diageo MD Defends Alcohol Marketer Efforts
6. New Johnnie Walker Ad as Alcohol Debate Hots Up
7. Cleveland Found Guilty of Buying Alcohol for Minors
8. No Simplistic Solutions to Binging
9. Start of Fall Classes Leads to More Alcohol Violations
1. Officials Question Detox Facility Idea
By Kristen Schorsch - Iowa City
Press-Citizen
August 13, 2003
Regent: State
budget makes center unlikely
IOWA CITY - State and local
officials have mixed reactions about whether an idea for a detoxification
facility for students arrested for public intoxication would be feasible.
The idea for a short-term health and safety facility
for people who are unable to function because of excessive alcohol use has been
in the works for about five years, said Iowa City Police Chief R.J. Winkelhake.
Phillip Jones, University of Iowa vice president for
student services, recently re-introduced the idea. However, he said UI has not
made any plans yet.
Iowa state Board of Regents member Robert Downer said
the idea would require considerable study given the state's budget issues. The
state has chopped about $60 million from UI's budget during the past two years.
"We would have to know where this was leading
from a financial standpoint because we're certainly not in a position to
undertake new activities at this point that are not part of (UI's) core
missions," Downer said.
UI's core missions include education, service and
outreach, he said.
UI officials would need to consider health sciences,
law enforcement, risk management, legal areas and other resources that would be
involved, Jones said. UI officials also have not yet discussed the location and
cost of the facility.
Talk of the center comes as student alcohol use
continues to be an important issue for the university and the community. The
city just implemented an ordinance that will keep 18-year-olds out of bars.
Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, said the detox
facility should incorporate the entire community.
"When you look at intoxication problems at
downtown Iowa City, it's not just UI students," he said.
Bolkcom said residents, high school students and
individuals living on the streets also add to the intoxication problem.
While Regent member Neil Arbisser also has budget
concerns, he said he is not opposed to the idea because of the amount of
students that have had some infraction with the law related to substance abuse.
"I think there is a great concern about
attacking the problem at a lot of different levels," he said.
The facility also would provide students to not have
jail time on their permanent records, he said.
Sen. Bob
Dvorsky, D-Coralville, said the facility would offer an alternative to the
overcrowding problem at the county jail. While he said he does not think the
idea would be a priority for Regent members, he said it might be a priority for
UI.
Individuals arrested for public intoxication include
those who draw negative attention to themselves, Winkelhake said. Negative
attention would include public urination and starting fights.
The facility would offer an alternative to Johnson
County Jail, which is where students go now if they are arrested for public
intoxication, Winkelhake said.
"(Students) don't really belong in jail,"
he said.
Winkelhake said students could get assessments of
their substance abuse levels, something he said deputies at the county jail are
not in positions to do.
Additionally, if students received treatment at the
facility, it might reduce their chances of getting in trouble with the law, he
said.
2. Atkins Diet Inspires Low-Carb Beers
By Theresa Howard, USA TODAY
August 21, 2003
NEW YORK — As Atkins diet-conscious Americans obsess about
carbohydrates, brewers are looking to fatten profits with low-carb beers.
The latest is Labatt USA, which will announce plans Friday for new low-carb take on its Rolling Rock brand called Rock Green Light.
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"There are lots of
people doing the low-carb thing," President Steve Cahillane says.
"You go out to dinner, and half the people are on the Atkins diet. There's
something real out there. This is the next evolution of light beer."
Anheuser-Busch blazed the
way with the hugely successful rollout last September of its low-carb (2.8
grams per 12 oz. bottle) Michelob Ultra. It has shot to No. 7 in sales for
premium beer brands, with a 2.6% market share. And A-B doesn't mind that about
40% of Ultra drinkers shifted from its other products, especially Bud Light:
Ultra is priced 12% to 15% higher.
"The brilliance in it
is they are trading their consumers up," says UBS Warburg analyst Caroline
Levy. "That's great for profit."
Miller Brewing now is also
looking for the low-carb action with ads trying to put a new spin on its
existing Miller Lite by promoting it as "the original low-carb beer."
Some see low-carb beer as a
short-term fad. There were similar doubts about light beers, but while it took
30 years to do it, they now outpace regular beer in sales. Low-carbs also could
be the next SnackWell's cookies, which rode the low-fat wave and faded as
quickly.
"This will have legs
for years but they won't be as big as light," predicts Michael Bellas,
president of Beverage Marketing, which tracks trends and sales. "You will
see low-carb ... gain some traction for the next couple of years."
It's just
starting:
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3. US:
Anheuser/Bacardi Launch Third Silver Variant
Source: just-drinks.com editorial
team
August 26, 2003
Anheuser-Busch is to launch
another Bacardi-branded malternative called Bacardi Silver Raz on the US
market.
The raspberry flavoured variant
joins the current portfolio that includes Bacardi Silver and Bacardi Silver 03.
The new drink comes out just six
months after the rollout of Bacardi Silver 03, an orange-flavoured variant of
Bacardi Silver.
The decision to expand the range
comes despite falling demand for maternatives in the US. Sales account for about 2.6% of the
beer market, however they are expected to dip more than 14% this year, Marlene
Coulis, Anheuser-Busch’s chief of new products, said Monday.
That said, the market still
remains attractive to A-B. Bacardi
Silver already has an estimated 24% of the spirit-branded segment of the
malternative market, A-B said.
“We have seen other (spirit)
brands continue to lose share as Bacardi Silver has grown share,” Coulis
said. “We feel we’re in a prime
position to take advantage of capturing some of that additional volume.”
Bacardi Silver Raz will be backed
by a TV ad campaign, which began yesterday.
Bacardi hopes that by adding new
flavours it will continue to attract consumers to the brand.
5. Grey Goose Loses Appeal On Advertisements Claim
4. Spirits Marketer Will Continue
To Run the Ads Despite Ruling
DOW JONES
NEWSWIRES
August
27, 2003
The National Advertising Review Board upheld an earlier
decision that Sidney Frank Importing, owner of Grey Goose, discontinue a
comparative reference to competitor Belvedere vodka, made by Millennium Import,
in its print ads.
But the spirits marketer says it will continue to run the
ads anyway, and a possible showdown looms.
NARB recognized Sidney Frank Importing's right to advertise
that it was recognized as the "#1 tasting vodka" in a 1998 Beverage
Testing Institute competition. However, it found the use of Belvedere's score
to be an "unfair and inaccurate representation" of the competitor's
product, because Belvedere has scored higher in subsequent BTI tests. The NARB
decision affirmed a recommendation by the National Advertising Division of the
Council of Better Business Bureaus.
The makers of Grey Goose said the decision was contrary to
BTI policies, which don't permit advertisers to make comparisons between
different taste tests. "Accordingly, given that BTI, not NARB, is the
expert in taste testing vodkas, and that it is BTI's own rating that appears in
the ad, Sidney Frank will continue to comply with BTI's policy and advertise
the truthful and accurate results of the 1998 BTI taste test."
BTI said "certainly if there's more up-to-date
information out there, and [the NAD and the NARB] feel it needs to be included,
that makes sense.''
The NARB can choose to ask the Federal Trade Commission or
the Bureau of Alcohol , Tobacco and Firearms to enforce its decision.
5. Diageo MD Defends Alcohol Marketer Efforts
BT Marketing & Media
August 28, 2003
DIAGEO Australia managing director John Pollaers
has defended the alcohol marketing industry at the NSW Alcohol Summit calling
for the Government and interest groups to work with the industry to address the
problems of alcohol abuse.
Speaking at the summit being held this
week Pollaers—who is also the chairman of the Distilled Spirits Industry
Council of Australia—emphasised the steps that both Diageo and the DSICA has
already undertaken to promote the responsible consumption of alcohol.
“We want to work with responsible
community groups and government. We are part of the solution,” Pollaers said.
He said that one of the main areas that
need to be addressed with an education strategy was the issue of standard
drinks. He said there were major misconceptions about the alcohol content of
different drinks especially in relation to ready to drink products which have
come under fire because of their appeal to younger drinkers.
“An understanding of a standard drink is
fundamental to all education about responsible consumption,’ Pollaers said.
“Recognising this my company without the
need for pressure and regulation has developed a standard drink logo that we
are putting on all out packaging to help consumers understand what a standard
drink is,” he said.
“These are the types of things we need to
do if we are to help consumers understand what they are drinking.”
He said the beer and spirits industries
had implemented successful ongoing educational campaigns such as the
“Rethinking drinking-you’re in control” campaign. Diageo recently launched an
advertising campaign for its Smirnoff Ice product designed to promote a
socially responsible message about drinking and driving.
Pollaers, who last week launched Diageo’s
own Code of Marketing Practice for Alcoholic Beverages, said he agreed with the
NSW Premier Bob Carr that the Alcoholic Beverages Code introduced by the
industry in 1978 as part of a self-regulatory system needs to “move with the
times”.
“That is a commitment we are prepared to
make. Let us get behind it and continue to improve it, “ he said.
6. New Johnnie Walker Ad as Alcohol Debate Hots Up
BT Marketing & Media
August 27, 2003
AS alcohol marketers come under the most
intense pressure ever scotch brand Johnnie Walker is this weekend launching a
new campaign for its Johnnie Walker and Cola ready-to-drink product.
Johnnie Walker marketing director Ed
Pilkington said the new campaign was an extension of previous ads which show
the embarrassing consequences of men who want to be taken seriously, but who
also want to hold onto their youth.
“We’re targeting men in their early to mid-20s who want to progress in life and
are beginning to think about careers and relationships, but who still want to
keep a hold on the fun things about being young,” Pilkington said.
“The new executions pick up where ‘PC
Game’ and ‘Wedding’ left off with some classic moments that will strike a chord
with our core audience.”
As the week long alcohol summit continued
Premier Bob Carr today again voiced strong criticism of the alcohol industry
today calling for alcohol marketers to take more responsibility for the
messages it conveys in its advertising and marketing communications.
7. Cleveland Found Guilty of Buying Alcohol for
Minors
The IowaChannel.com
August 28, 2003
Felony Charge First in Pottawattamie County
COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA - Tracy Cleveland was found guilty of 29 counts of providing alcohol to a minor and a felony charge of providing alcohol to a minor resulting in death. A Pottawattamie County jury ruled Thursday in the case.
The jury convicted Cleveland of
providing more than 200 servings of alcohol for tenagers at a house party in
April. Tyson McCain, 18, was
killed after the party as he walked home.
He was hit by the car of another party-goer, Hillary Harrill, 20, as she
drove home.
“I just want to say I didn’t mean
any harm to their family,” said Cleveland after the verdict. “I never meant for this to happen.”
The felony conviction is a first
in Pottawattamie County. Cleveland
faces $160,000 in fines and possible jail time.
8. No Simplistic
Solutions to Binging
By DI Editorial Board- The Daily Iowan
August 29, 2003
IOWA CITY
- This week, a UI professor of community and behavioral health released yet
another set of findings corroborating the widely held belief that the
university has a disproportionate number of student binge drinkers.
However, before
bestowing party-school status upon the school, serious scrutiny must be given
to the definition of binging.
The definition of
binge drinking as "the consumption of five or more drinks in one sitting
for men and four or more for women at least once in a two week period"
seems a bit draconian, if not overly generalized. The effects of five cocktails
on a 150-pound woman, for example, are vastly different from the effects of the
same on a 250-pound man.
A night on the
town in Iowa City will show that a large number of students are consuming more
than five drinks. Many students will have already reached this point before
they enter the bars.
To curb the
problem of over-indulgence, Peter Nathan, the professor in charge of the study,
suggests only allowing patrons who are over the age of 21 into bars.
Though
Nathan is most certainly an expert in the field, his 21-and-over mandate is
shortsighted. Making the bars 21-only will likely increase the number of house
parties. Though access may be a significant indicator of how much and how often
students binge drink, a bottomless keg cup at a house party makes alcohol much
more accessible than a night at the bars.
Binge drinking is
a complex issue; indeed, a national epidemic. In one of the most extensive
studies of college drinking, the Harvard School of Public Health found that, in
1999, 44 percent of the 14,000 students surveyed were binge drinkers.
So who's to
blame? Is it the students, the lack of police manpower, or the ineffectiveness
of the Stepping Up Project? None of the above. If there's any blame to place,
it should be on American culture. We're bombarded with advertisements, music,
television programs, and films that promote and glorify the wonders of
drunkenness.
The issue of
binge drinking is a force to be reckoned with and, as all indicators point,
will continue to be in the future. While surveys and studies are productive
means of assessing the problem, determining a solution will require feedback
from all parties involved.
9. Start
of Fall Classes Leads to More Alcohol Violations
Area law enforcement
will work together to patrol this weekend's UNI football game
By Jolene Hull – Iowa State Daily
August 29, 2003
An influx in people and warm weather led to a large number of alcohol-related
violations in the days before classes resumed for the semester.
ISU Police Capt. Gene Deisinger attributed the large
number of alcohol-related violations to a number of factors.
"There are a lot more people back in town, and
the weeks before classes start, you tend to see more activity in
Campustown," he said. "Also, the weather's been nice and has
encouraged people to get out more."
Deisinger added the large number of residents who are
new to Ames and Iowa State and unaware of law enforcement agencies may also
have contributed to the high number.
He said his team placed extra officers on duty this
past weekend in patrol cars, bikes and on foot.
Ames Police Sgt. Mike Johns echoed Deisinger's
sentiments.
"Any time we have [students] come back into the
population, we see an increased amount of alcohol-related violations," he
said.
Possession of alcohol under the legal age is a
scheduled violation. First-time offenders face a fine of $147, which includes
the scheduled fine, court costs and surcharges.
Public intoxication is a simple misdemeanor and
requires a plea or appearance before a judge.
The maximum fine, depending on the judge's ruling,
can range from $50 to $500 and/or up to thirty days in jail, Deisinger said.
Deisinger said the ISU Police will team up with the
Ames Police Department and the Story County Sheriff's Office to patrol Iowa State's
Saturday night football game against the University of Northern Iowa.
"We're maintaining a very similar level of
staffing to what we have always had in the past [at the football games],"
he said.
Deisinger advised those attending the game, especially
new students who are still learning their way around, to arrive early and be
patient with traffic flow.
"We hope they have a safe and enjoyable
time," he said. "We encourage people to be respectful and those who
choose to use alcohol, we hope they do so respectfully and be of age,"
Deisinger said.
