"Alcohol is a No. 1 drug of choice for teens in Hawai'i," wrote Aiona, who, with Gov. Linda Lingle, has made reducing underage drinking a high priority for the administration.

"Commonly recognized as a gateway drug, the continued use of alcohol often leads to illicit drug use," he wrote. "As the majority of UH students are under the age of 21, the sale of alcohol on campus does not promote a healthy, drug-free environment for students."

At the same time, Aiona suggested UH ban alcohol advertising or sponsorship of any campus sports.

"Hawai'i is proud of its University athletic teams," Aiona wrote. "These students strive for excellence while maintaining a healthy and fit lifestyle. Sponsorship by a vendor whose product is not in line with this healthy lifestyle is inappropriate. Moreover, we do not want to provide our youth with the wrong message that there is a positive connection between athletic excellence and alcohol."

This year, several UH students were rushed by ambulance to local emergency rooms with alcohol poisoning. In 2002, a 23-year-old student died from a lethal combination of alcohol and methadone.

McClain said he has already called his administrative team together to look at options.

"We certainly agree we have a problem in this area," McClain said. "We're probably going to focus our response initially on the dorm area and the suggestions in the letter are pretty much along the lines that the Manoa administration was thinking of pursuing on our own."

A special university task force is now gathering information from students, faculty, administrators, parents and the community and will make recommendations to the Manoa chancellor in the next month for changes in alcohol policy on campus.

UH policy follows state law — underage drinking is illegal and alcohol will be confiscated. Violations also carry consequences through dorm policy.

Ron Cambra, associate dean of arts and sciences and a special assistant to the chancellor, told a UH community task force yesterday morning that a total ban is "being weighed, but it's not the goal." Cambra spoke at a meeting at Honolulu police headquarters with representatives of UH, police, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the state Health Department, the military, students, parents, and others.

"The goal is to address underage drinking and excessive drinking on the campus," Cambra said.

"If it leads us to that conclusion (of a total ban), it's one we have to discuss. It's our chancellor, president and Board of Regents that would have to make that decision.

"My task is to come up with specific recommendations. ... Our biggest concern is student safety."

Task force concerns range broadly, from hopes that UH could become "dry," to recognize that excessive drinking on college campuses is a nationwide epidemic that has seen the deaths of several students from alcohol poisoning at Mainland colleges in recent months.

"I don't want a fatality to occur, and then we get serious," said Dr. Theresa Wee, president of Parents and Friends of UH-Manoa, at the meeting.

Said Rep. Lynn Finnegan, R-32rd (Aliamanu, Airport, Mapunapua), a member of the House Higher Education Committee, "You have a safe haven at UH (for underage drinking) ... and we have to make sure we follow through with the laws that have been put in place. Campuses across the Mainland are becoming dry and it's for a reason. Underage drinking is not safe."

Joy Bounds, a task force member from MADD, said 17 state universities on the Mainland have already "gone dry."

Students on the task force said a goal should be putting more resources into late evening activities on the weekends as alternatives to drinking.

"If we can switch resources to provide more activities, I've personally seen that it works," said student Matt Savage.

UH Residential Life Coordinator Dee Uwono said that on a recent Friday night, a dodgeball game attracted 200 students, tiring them out in the hours between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., when most of the drinking occurs.

"They're sweating, running around, and by the time they come back, they're tired. We'd be happy to continue it with the support from all of you," she told the task force.

Cambra said there's a large silent majority of students who want more assurance their dorms are safe havens. Savage agreed, saying outreach to students by housing staff discovered many students saying they were fed up with weekend binge drinking, which occurs primarily on the open walkways linking the Noelani apartment complex.

UH is already restricting access to dorm areas on weekend evenings by setting up a roadblock and imposing time limits for nonresidents.