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CNN Live At Daybreak
Drug and Sex Awareness at Colleges
Aired August 31, 2001 - 08:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Sex, drugs and alcohol, not to mention rock and roll, Jason. Well, they are among the diversions for college freshmen away from home for the first time and trying to mix in.
And, Jason, they get their first hard lessons as soon as they walk through the door at college orientation.
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She was the second day. The freshmen were only on campus for two days when they went through orientation programming that many weren't expecting. It's the kind of thing that they would not have heard when they were in high school. Even the most liberal high schools wouldn't have dared to say some of the things that were said on that stage.
They got lessons in the -- in sex, drugs, alcohol and some really tough words and tough lessons about that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the last thing you want when you're home for Christmas is for mom to call Joe the plumber at 4:00 a.m. to fish out the wad of condoms that you stuck in the toilet.
BELLINI (voice-over): Was that a joke?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This one is vanilla -- actually not too bad.
BELLINI: Did she just say what I think she said?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Most of you won't last that long anyway.
BELLINI: Is it OK to laugh now?
So read the expressions on the faces of Duke University freshmen in an orientation seminar dealing with sex, alcohol, and the two in combo.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of that is talking about how easy she was and how they couldn't wait to hook up over the next weekend.
BELLINI: Many universities, aware of the risks and temptations confronting freshmen when they arrive on campus, are trying to reach students right away, and in a way, they hope will engage rather than insult.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I knew I was going to get some now. I knew she wanted me to stay the night by the way we went straight to her bed.
BELLINI: This skit demonstrates how rape doesn't just occur in back alleys -- that rapists don't always realize they're committing a crime. But not everything is black and white in college or in life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. I can't understand girls.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't think it's going to be you, and a couple of years ago, it was one of you.
BELLINI: Different presentation -- same assumption of maturity.
CYNTHIA KUHN, PROFESSOR, DUKE UNIVERSITY: I am not here to discuss the legality of things.
BELLINI: And same emphasis -- personal judgment. Buzz is the name of Professor Cynthia Kuhn's lecture.
CYNTHIA KUHN, DUKE UNIVERSITY: Now, I'm done scaring you. There are a lot of things you can do besides drinking slowly to keep yourself safe, and a very simple one is to simply eat something before you go drink.
BELLINI: This is the first time she has been allowed to deliver this lecture to the incoming freshmen.
KUHN: Marijuana. Now, I have to tell you I will say up front -- I say this in my class -- you couldn't take enough marijuana to kill yourself if you set out and tried to do it.
BELLINI: A how-to guide for drinking and doing drugs? Or a how- to guide for not dying should these students choose to experiment with them.
Dr. Kuhn's intention is the latter.
KUHN: The biggest mistake I think most drug education makes is to lie -- is to overemphasize the perils and not admit that drugs feel good, and that alcohol feels good. And then if you don't tell them that, they know you're lying.
It gives you a wonderful sense of warmth and empathy and love for everybody around you.
BELLINI: Dr. Kuhn's favorite topic these days is her least favorite drug -- ecstasy.
KUHN: First of all, you can take enough at one sitting to kill yourself. And it's not all that much. If it takes two pills to get you off, four or five pills could kill you.
BELLINI: For these students, a candid orientation -- a way to draw their own map. We're here to help is the message Duke University hopes to send. We don't want to see you get lost.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BELLINI: Two years ago, a student at Duke University died of alcohol poisoning, and that's what prompted Dr. Kuhn to create this programming for freshmen.
LIN: Does she have a lot of credibility with these kids?
BELLINI: The freshmen that I spoke to said they appreciated her honesty. She told them when she was speaking about the drug, ecstasy, that if she were in college now, she would be very tempted by it. But knowing what she does as a biology professor, she would recommend strongly against trying it -- that there really isn't that much known about the long-term effects of the drug. And she doesn't want them to be human experiments for it.
LIN: Yes. And that's not what you're thinking at the moment the temptation hits. All right, thanks, Jason.
BELLINI: (INAUDIBLE).
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