by Ryan Floersheim
Daily Lobo
A concerned group of students from the Communication and Journalism Department organized an open forum on DWI prevention Monday, which showcased the "shockingly" high statistics of people aged 21-24 involved with, or causing, DWI fatalities.
The forum, which was held in Woodward Hall, was intended to discuss the students' findings from a class project on alcohol abuse among college students.
Joan Fleetwood of Albuquerque's DWI Resource Center said the event was unique because it was specifically geared toward young people in that it did not condemn college students' desire to have fun, while still promoting alcohol abuse prevention through innovative uses of the resources on campus.
"Far too often, college students hear about the tragic reality of DWI but don't have the personal experience to relate it to their own lives," Fleetwood said. "It is good to put the issue in perspective for them to realize just how close to home this problem is."
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The forum, which was produced as part of a Business and Professional Speaking class assignment, included video clips, New Mexico DWI statistics, student testimonials on how DWI has affected their lives and a guest appearance by Margot Davis. Davis is an Albuquerque resident whose son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter were killed by a drunk driver.
"The dangers of DWI don't seem real until there is a police officer at your door telling you that your family is dead," Davis said. "There are steps than can and must be taken to prevent this kind of tragedy from happening again."
Members of the group said that the statistics on DWI's involving college students are very sobering.
Their report stated that people between the ages of 21-24 cause an overwhelming majority of DWI-related car accidents in the United States. They said that in 1999, two alcohol-related deaths occurred every hour, with the chances of a person being involved in an alcohol related crash sometime in their lives more than 80 percent.
"We were hoping to provide a unique twist on alcohol prevention education," said Kathy Graf, a UNM student whose best friend was killed four years ago in a DWI-related car accident. "We wanted to show them, in non-traditional ways, just how real the dangers are and what they can do to prevent themselves or someone they know from becoming a victim."
Courtney Hale, a UNM student participating in the group, said that while many people have a preconceived image of people who drive drunk, almost half of those arrested for it have no prior police record.
"Ninety-nine percent of the people who end up killing someone through their driving under the influence never thought it would happen to them," Hale said. "Aside from the fact that New Mexico has nearly the highest rate of DWI in the country, nearly one in seven cars on the road between one and 6 a.m. is driven by a drunk driver."
