Grant awarded for awareness
“The Young Adult Program Grant is given to universities that have a goal to reduce fatalities on the road. While speeding is a major cause of these fatalities, the school has chosen to focus its efforts on reducing alcohol-related deaths,” said Dr. Barbara Funke, a professor in the department of kinesiology and director of GCSU’s alcohol awareness programs.
In a state where 36 percent of accident fatalities were alcohol-related, the grant will further enable the school’s efforts in reducing that number, one person at a time.
The money will go to GCSU’s “Safe and Sound” program, which includes the student peer education organization, P.A.W.S.: Peers Advocating Wellness Successfully and other campus initiatives focused on reducing high-risk alcohol use and promoting seatbelt use.
“The money from the grant is used in a variety of ways. Printed materials are purchased, brochures are purchased, as well as giveaways. All of these help us provide information for college age young adults meet the stated GOHS mission goals,” said Chris Lamphere, counselor and coordinator of alcohol and other drug education.
The money will also go into funding the different awareness events on campus like the recent Alcohol Awareness Week and other activities that are not budgeted by GCSU or the Board of Regents.
GCSU has partnered with the Bacchus Network, a non-profit organization that actively promotes student leadership on healthy and safe lifestyle decisions. Another portion of the money from the grant, will finance the training of GCSU students under the Bacchus system.
“We believe the peer education model is the most effective form of prevention,” said Funke.
There are currently 18 students signed up to begin training with the Bacchus Network on Friday. They will become nationally certified peer educators and will have a platform to speak to students across the campus about safety and prevention.
Some students have already become involved with alcohol awareness on campus.
“We are surveying a randomly selected class about alcohol and drug use as well as other risky behaviors. This is part of the core survey and is administered every two years,” said Suzy Eissner, a GCSU senior and one of the 18 who will be trained as a peer educator. “We will also be hosting a conference in February for peer educators.”
The GOHS chose GCSU as a recipient for the grant based on the demographics of the school and community, statistics about alcohol-related issues and the objectives that the school set and planned to meet if the money was granted to them.
According to Lamphere, the mission of the GOHS has been to educate the public on traffic safety and facilitate the implementation of programs that reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities on the Georgia roadways. They recognized GCSU’s commitment to safety, and accordingly, rewarded them the money.
Lamphere summed up the commitment of the faculty and students in one sentence.
“Our goal is to help students make wise decision in relationship to driving and their safety,” Lamphere said.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Oct 31 2008. Filed under News.
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