by Sunnie Redhouse
Daily Lobo
The UNM college experience is not just about tailgating and getting drunk.
That is one message the Campus Office of Substance Abuse Prevention is trying to relate to students, said Program Manager Jill Yeagley.
"Yes, college is a lot of fun," she said. "It's exciting, and doors open to freedom, but people need to take freedom responsibly."
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COSAP was awarded the College and University Drinking Prevention Award for 2005 on Wednesday. It received a plaque and $5,000 from AAA New Mexico and the Center for College Health and Safety, which gives out the annual award.
The office was awarded the grand prize for Project Target, which was initiated by Yeagley and other staff members in response to tailgating on campus parking lots.
COSAP members and concerned neighborhood representatives documented alcoholic behavior of fans tailgating and notified the media of the documentation in order to get the University administration's attention.
As a result, the administration and others established regulations such as fencing off the parking lots to keep drunk people from entering neighborhoods, according to the Project Target summary.
"Most schools don't have a lot of money for programs like this so we had to be creative and resourceful," Yeagley said.
Participation consideration included the submission of a completed and creative project informing the public about drinking and driving. Original experiment results were required, as well as ideas for possible future programs.
Jeannie Chavez, AAA New Mexico spokeswoman, said UNM had some tough competition against the nine other universities in the running.
"We're proud UNM is so creative," Chavez said. "We want them to make good choices to live a happy life."
AAA New Mexico has held the competition for eight years, Chavez said. In two of those years, 1998 and 2001, UNM won the overall state award, but this year took home the regional award.
Yeagley said despite good work by the staff, she would like to see more students working to raise alcohol awareness.
"There is no magic bullet when it comes to preventing alcohol abuse," she said. "I would like to see more involvement."
The students involved are mostly members of the Associated Students of UNM, Yeagley said, but they play a big role in their program.
"When it's peer to peer, it has more validity," Yeagley said. "I think student leaders are a very important piece."
Although the attendance of the award ceremony was small, some students who participated in the events of Red Ribbon Day were glad to see COSAP's recognition.
Student Gian Chaves said the ceremony and awareness day was about educating people on how alcohol can influence their lives.
"It's for the basic knowledge, some people don't know about the detrimental effects alcohol may have," he said.
UNM student and event coordinator Brittany Emerson said it was a good opportunity for students to utilize the resources available to them on campus.
"We want to empower people with information about alcohol," she said. "Our goal is to provide UNM students with the most information of drug and alcohol abuse - we want to make a difference."
