Alcohol awareness week focuses on myths, education, prevention

April Klaassen - Features Beat

How much does drinking alcohol really affect college students?
According to the Core Institute, an organization that surveys college drinking, 300,000 of today’s college students will eventually die of alcohol-related causes. Of today’s college freshmen, 159,000 will drop out by their second year due to alcohol-related reasons.

Statistics like these give the Aware Committee, a committee within the Alcohol and Drug Assistance Program, a reason to increase Appalachian State University students’ awareness of the effects of alcohol.

With October, the National Alcohol Awareness month, recently coming to a close, the Aware Committee is coordinating events and campaigns in order to raise alcohol awareness on campus, said coordinator of the Alcohol and Drug Assistance Program, Dale
Kirkley.

Witness a date rape, determine the outcome

One of the main events, an interactive theater program called “Sex and a 6 Pack,” will be held on Wednesday at 8 p.m. in Legends. As actors act out a date rape situation, the audience will learn valuable information about the effects of alcohol and the legal issues that coincide with alcohol and date rape.

Scott Casey, a local criminal attorney, will speak about the legal issues concerning alcohol. A panel of campus and town law enforcement and counselors will answer questions concerning the issues of alcohol and date rape in order to hopefully quell misunderstandings.

“There’s a panel who will answer real questions from the audience about legal, ethical and moral issues related to alcohol and sexual assault,” said Kirkley. “Usually there are a lot of questions. There’s a lot of misunderstanding about that and a lack of awareness about some of the laws.”

Another theater presentation will be presented where the audience will determine the outcome by making decisions concerning alcohol, sex and the law.

Having been successful the past two years with good turnouts and a lot of support, the Aware Committee hopes the third annual “Sex and a 6 Pack” will provide students with as much legal information possible while teaching them responsibility for others as well as themselves.

“It’s a very important area for students to know everything they can possibly know about their legal rights, responsibilities and obligations to each other,” said Kirkley. “Part of that is the obligation of care and concern and respect for each other and our community. This [alcohol and sexual assault] is an important issue
to be considered and addressed.”

Attacking the issue of alcohol and sexual assault is difficult in itself but seeing positive results from such events as “Sex and a 6 Pack” are even more difficult to measure. However, there is a correlation. “It is really difficult to pinpoint if one thing we are doing changes and makes an effect,” said Kirkley. “For example, you could actually see an increase in reporting of certain incidents as a result of doing a campaign. That doesn’t mean the problem is getting worse. It means that people are more aware of the issue or
more aware of the legal rights and responsibilities.”

Showing the truth
about alcohol abuse

Making students aware of the effects of alcohol is not the only goal of the Aware Committee. They also seek to provide students with the truth about the use of alcohol on campus with their continuous media campaigns. “We’re giving students information on true norms,” said Kirkley. “We’re giving that information to students because there is a misconception. Students on this campus and on other campuses overestimate how much people drink.”

The statistics show the proof. According to a survey of 800 Appalachian State students, conducted in February 2001, 55 percent of Appalachian students have five or less alcoholic beverages when they party. However, the majority of Appalachian State students believe 81.7 percent of their peers drink more than five drinks.

These statistics, said Kirkley, are consistent with national statistics taken from colleges around the nation. “These statistics show that the misconception is also very big and there’s a big misperception on every campus,” said Kirkley.

Because of this misconception, the Aware Committee floods the campus with posters telling students the facts about how many Appalachian students actually drink and how much they drink. In learning the facts, students will most likely feel less pressure to drink. “The more our students understand how many people don’t abuse alcohol, the more they’ll make those same choices,” said Kirkley.

The Aware Committee’s main goal through the media campaign is not to persuade students not to drink, but to simply present them with the facts. “Most students drink zero to five drinks. I’m not defining that as being healthy. It’s just a fact,” said Kirkley.

The committee does hope the campaign will reduce the pressure on students to drink. “The possibilities are that it can reduce pressure students feel to conform to misperceptions,” said Kirkley. “There is a growing body of evidence that knowing the facts decreases abuse and use of alcohol and other drugs.”

A pledge to be
alcohol, drug free

Another attempt to bring awareness about alcohol is the Campus Resident Student Association (CRSA) sponsored Red Ribbon Pledge. Students can pledge to be alcohol and drug free for Thursday or for the entire weekend. “The purpose of that is to give people a chance to step back, and it’s just a reminder that life can be a whole lot of fun,” said Kirkley. “ It doesn’t have to include alcohol, and it doesn’t have to be centered around it. One’s lifestyle can be very satisfying with less involvement of alcohol.”

Red ribbons will be available at “Sex and 6 Pack” and at contact tables in the Plemmons Student Union.

Plans and
hope for the future

With a new $8,000 grant from the state, the Aware Committee plans to develop a strategy within the campus and community to continue to change the environment, attitude and culture in regards to alcohol and drug use, according to Kirkley.

The transformation is already seemingly evident. “I think that there is a change that is slowly occurring on this campus that has to do with the overall attitude and environment on this campus,” said Kirkley. “It may not show up today, but I think we’re in the process of change. There are promising signs and indications that students are moving toward healthier decisions about alcohol and drug use. We’re hoping to see that change reflected in surveys.”