The opening weeks of college mark an important transition, but they can easily be marred by college dangers that are unfamiliar to freshman students.

The first five weeks of freshman year and the last five as a senior are statistically the riskiest for students with respect to alcohol consumption, sexual abuse or rape, and other related accidents.

‘There’s often a lot of ambivalence and chaos in terms of reestablishing yourself socially,’ said Dessa Bergen-Cico, associate dean of students, of the transition. ‘Trying to navigate and identify their tolerance, they run into trouble.’

Nearly a quarter of the rapes reported in the 2002-2003 academic year occurred within the first five weeks of the fall semester, and first-year female students accounted for 42 percent of the yearly total, according to the R.A.P.E. Center.

Alcohol and drug use was a factor in 84 percent of all incidents of sexual assault on campus.

‘If you take your cues from MTV Spring Break or goofy movies, people might think everyone has anonymous sexual encounters and drinks to excess,’ Bergen-Cico said. ‘They assume everyone is having more sex than they are and play up to this social norm about sexual values, so they push their behavior up to what they think is the normative range.’

By trying to play the role of a college student or allowing insecurity to stifle their judgment, Bergen-Cico said, freshmen can end up blindly following other students without considering the consequences of what is occurring.

R.A.P.E. Center stories revealed that, when questioned in a group, 80 to 90 percent of students responded that they were sexually active, when less public studies showed that only about half of students actually are.

To avoid an incident, freshmen are encouraged to actively set limits with respect to alcohol consumption and sex while they are sober, before becoming too impaired to weigh the consequences of their decisions.House parties and unrecognized fraternities are particularly risky for freshmen, Bergen-Cico said, since the familiar atmosphere can lull trusting students into a sense of security.

‘Look at entering into their college experience as a journey with intent, and plan it out and seek maximizing experiences instead of just letting the four years go by,’ Bergen-Cico said. ‘They should be the planner of their own agenda, from relationships to organizations.’

Published on August 29, 2004 at 12:00 pm