A List
3/29/04

SLU TO PARTICIPATE IN NATIONAL ALCOHOL SCREENING DAY

CANTON – St. Lawrence University will participate in National Alcohol Screening 
Day on Thursday, April 8, with a series of events aimed at helping students 
increase awareness about responsible alcohol use.
	A major study released in 2002 revealed some alarming statistics about 
alcohol use on college campuses nation-wide, including that some 1,400 students 
die each year because of alcohol and that approximately 400,000 have unprotected 
sex because they were drinking. Study results regarding assault, accidents 
and incidences of sexual abuse were similar.
	On April 8, the University's counseling services office will offer 
students a brief self-assessment, to determine drinking habits and if behaviors 
ever change when alcohol is involved. In addition to taking the written self-test, 
students will have the opportunity to talk one-on-one with a health professional. 
If appropriate, students will be directed to support or treatment services on 
campus. Screenings will be held at the Student Center from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
      Bill Burns, director of counseling services, says "The focus of National 
Alcohol Screening Day is to give students the facts they need to draw the line 
for themselves. Most students drink responsibly, but too many do not realize 
the potential costs of at-risk drinking, the signs of alcohol poisoning, or how 
even a moderate amount of alcohol can interact with common medications and 
affect academic or athletic performance."
      According to Burns, alcohol abuse and at-risk drinking can cause more that 
just a nagging hangover. The college drinking study, released by the National 
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Task Force on College Drinking 
(http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/facts/snapshot.aspx ), reported that 
excessive drinking affects all students, whether they choose to drink or not. 
Some of the findings include:
      - Academic Problems: About 25 percent of college students report academic 
consequences of their drinking including missing class; falling behind; doing 
poorly on exams or papers; and receiving lower grades overall.
      - Health Problems/Suicide Attempts: More than 150,000 students develop an 
alcohol-related health problem and between 1.2 and 1.5 percent of students 
indicate that they tried to commit suicide within the past year due to drinking 
or drug use (Presley et al., 1998). 
      - Drunk Driving: 2.1 million students between the ages of 18 and 24 drove 
under the influence of alcohol last year. 
      - Vandalism: About 11 percent of college student drinkers report that 
they have damaged property while under the influence of alcohol. 
      - Property Damage: More than 25 percent of administrators from schools 
with relatively low drinking levels and over 50 percent from schools with high 
drinking levels say their campuses have a "moderate" or "major" problem with 
alcohol-related property damage.
      National Alcohol Screening Day is a program of the nonprofit Screening 
for Mental Health (SMH) funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and 
Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For additional 
information about alcohol or the screening program, visit 
www.NationalAlcoholScreeningDay.org  or contact St. Lawrence University Counseling 
Services, 315-229-5391.

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