2008 Woodie Awards
Alcohol Awareness
Julia Haney-Montanez
Issue date: 11/3/04 Section: News
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These tags read, "This is Alcohol Awareness Week. You have just been made the victim of an alcohol related incident. Two out of 3 murders, 1 of 3 rapes, 1 out of 3 suicides, and 2 out of 5 assaults involve alcohol. Today, if you accept this mark, you agree to remain completely silent in all silent zones of campus (Tomas Hall, The Quad) in observance. You have also received 3 other marks to hand out to your friends-symbolic of not recognizing the consequences of alcohol poisoning. 25,000 Americans die in alcohol related crashes and 40,000 young adults are disfigured by alcohol related car accidents each year. Please meet at 4pm in front of the Chapel de la Salle to receive a gift for your participation."
Blair Lampe, the Vice President for Resident Student Affairs helped develop Alcohol Awareness Week within the Student Peer Educators-Awareness and Responsibility (SPEAR). "We just started it up [this year]. Drinking rates have been going up on campus; alcohol assaults rates have been going up, as well. We felt that it was something people should be aware of.... It's not something most people can appreciate before it happens to them directly."
When asked about the posters and Grim Reaper theme, Lampe said, "We wanted to do something that people would notice that wasn't too overbearing of mothering, that people would respond to. We thought we would make it kind of creepy so people wouldn't know what it's about and maybe spark some interest [among students]." She went on to say, "we just wanted to reach out to students when it's not the first thing they think of when they drink a beer, or six beers. A lot of people don't drink responsibly [and] in cases where it could prevented, it's a tragedy."
Did the SPEAR group find the awareness week successful? "More people were supposed to come to Smith Auditorium to get prizes," Lampe said. But apparently the outcome was lower than expected. "If people want to go to the counseling center on the 5th floor of Miguel 501, they can still pick up their prizes [in exchange for their Tombstones]."
The dean of resident life, John Mark, spoke enthusiastically about alcohol related incidents at Manhattan College. "We have been cracking down on these incidents, and students have been removed from housing, [However] I've experienced students who have owned up to their problems, some have even asked for counseling, which is a big step." Mark also suggested that previous Quadrangle articles covering the topic of alcohol abuse have also influenced students to be more aware of these situations.