The first two months of college are a formative time for freshmen, who are developing academic and social habits on and off campus.
"The first six weeks of the first semester are critical to a first-year student's success," confirms a fact sheet put out by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).
Western Illinois University -- which counts among its four core values opportunities for personal growth and social responsibility -- is developing a comprehensive alcohol risk-reduction plan to help ensure the academic and personal success of current and future WIU students.
According to Mary Margaret Harris, director of Beu Health Center, the endeavor of developing a comprehensive alcohol risk-reduction strategy not only ties in well with the 2008-09 theme "Health and Wellness: Challenges and Responsibilities," but it also has longterm implications.
"Although a dry campus could eliminate the consequences of alcohol use, that may not be a realistic objective for many colleges and universities," Harris said. "One of the ultimate goals of the alcohol risk-reduction plan is to reduce the negative effects to the students and WIU campus as well as to the Macomb community, thereby creating a healthier campus, improving the academic environment and benefitting the surrounding community."
Recommendations to formulate the alcohol risk-reduction plan were presented to Western's administration in September 2007; they were approved by the office of the vice president for student services in December 2007.
"The recommendations -- as well as the plan itself -- reinforce Western's overall 'Higher Values in Higher Education 2008-2018' strategic plan," said Garry Johnson, vice president for student services. "We'll continue to monitor this ongoing endeavor and support the groups and individuals within the University helping to implement the recommendations."
Gathering Minds and MeasuresImplementation of the plan's recommendations will take time, however, some of the components are in the works now, according to Harris.
"Last April, we formed a steering committee of various stakeholder departments and groups at WIU. These individuals will also be part of a few subcommittees that will work on various tasks toward implementing the recommendations," Harris explained. "We've also started the data-gathering process with Alcohol-Wise, an online course we've disseminated to all new Western students."
Developed by 3rd Millennium Classrooms, Alcohol-Wise, according to the course developer, "was created as an effective and affordable pre-matriculation alcohol education course for large student groups. Our online programs are designed to help students clarify their thinking about alcohol and other drugs."
Harris noted the online course has a solid independent research base to support its effectiveness.
"The program is designed to provide initial, consistent education regarding risks and consequences of alcohol use," she said. "The course's pre-test and post-test measure changes in knowledge and attitudes. The results provide us with data, which will ultimately help us with the overall plan."
Knowledge Is PowerIn addition to the pre-test and post-test, the Alcohol-Wise course administers an e-CHug (short for "electronic CHeck Up to Go") self-assessment, which tallies the information about the test-taker's drinking patterns, caloric intake of alcohol and monthly expenditures on alcohol.
The course also provides a look at the "physical cost" of alcohol consumption. For example, the e-CHug assessment compares the number of calories in alcoholic drinks an individual consumed in the last month to the number of equivalent calories in a single cheeseburger (about 670 calories). So if an individual had 50 drinks in the last month, at approximately 100-140 calories per drink, the individual will learn he or she consumed the equivalent calories of seven to 10 cheeseburgers.
"Even more powerful information is the calculation of the number of hours of exercise it would take to burn off those empty calories consumed from alcohol," noted Harris.
A quick tabulation using the "calories burned calculator" on the Health AtoZ website (healthatoz.com) reveals that to burn off just the calories in 50, 140-calorie drinks, a 140-lb. woman would have to engage in about 16 hours of high-impact aerobics, and a 170-lb. man would have to engage in just over 15 hours of vigorous effort weight lifting to burn off the 50, 140-calorie drinks.
Other Steps Along the WayIn addition to Alcohol-Wise, Harris' recommendations for developing a comprehensive alcohol risk-reduction plan include reviewing compliance with federal rules for educational institutions (such as Part 86 of the Drug Free Schools and Campuses regulations); conducting a policy inventory and review, as well as an inventory of WIU-based programs and services related to alcohol use prevention; and evaluating prevention efforts, such as the Core Institute Alcohol and Other Drug survey, which the University participated in two years ago (2006).
The final step is the implementation of the comprehensive alcohol risk-reduction plan.
"More than anything, we want our students to be educated about the risks of alcohol, to use good judgment, to act responsibly and to stay safe and healthy. We believe this comprehensive program will help students better understand alcohol-related risks," Harris said.
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