For about two decades, Jerome Romero has been raising awareness of the dangers of consuming alcohol during pregnancy.
As program manager for UNM’s Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Addictions, Romero focuses on preventing fetal alcohol syndrome, which happens when women drink alcohol during their pregnancy.
“I go around statewide and I promote UNM,” he said. “I work a lot with high school students educating them about fetal alcohol syndrome. It’s a good fit. You’re promoting health and wellness and you’re also promoting going to school, graduating from high school and going on to college.”
And his work progresses, as Romero was appointed as the acting director of UNM’s Campus Office of Substance Abuse Prevention two weeks ago.
Romero, 52, has worked at UNM for 17 years now. Born and raised in Santa Fe, Romero graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from New Mexico State University in 1986 and has worked with the state’s Developmental Disabilities Planning Council.
New Mexico has a major problem with fetal alcohol syndrome, Romero said. He said the affliction causes mental retardation and physical deformation in a fetus.
“A fetal alcohol syndrome brain is 30 percent smaller than a regular baby’s brain,” he said. “The alcohol concentrated in that brain when it was developing, and eventually, the brain cells, when they had to migrate into the brain, there was alcohol there. The brain cells had to go somewhere else. When the alcohol evaporates and leaves the brain, it just leaves empty spaces.”
And awareness is key, Romero said. That’s why he said he travels around the state to talk to high school students about the condition and to encourage them to moderate their alcohol intake.
But Romero said that through his positions at the University, he aims to focus on preventing alcoholism in the state in general.
“I know we’re one of the leaders in the United States with our alcohol problems,” he said. “The more you have alcohol more readily available, the more you’re going to have people abusing it. So the more information we can get, the more preventive things that we can do.”
To do this, he said COSAP provides designated-driver programs, which provide participants discounts at restaurants and free movie tickets. He said COSAP also holds “Alcohol 101” lessons in fraternities and sororities and distributes handouts and brochures on available programs.
Romero said that in the future, he aims to make COSAP more visible to students. He encourages the University community to find out more about his office and the programs it offers.
Besides his positions at UNM, Romero has also worked in television. But he said the industry was too hectic for him, especially when he had to start a family.
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“Working in the TV station is pretty fun,” he said. “I got to go into balloons, fly in helicopters … But working in the TV business took time away from your personal life. You’re always on call. It was just really, really busy.”
Romero said he has lived all of his life in the state. And he loves it, he said.
“You have great weather,” he said. “You experience the elements.”
