UNM AWARDED GRANT TO BOOST ALCOHOL DANGER AWARNESS

August 20, 2003

UNM AWARDED GRANT TO BOOST ALCOHOL DANGER AWARENESS

UNM's Campus Office of Substance Abuse and Prevention (COSAP) in conjunction with The Albuquerque Partnership, a non-profit organization dedicated to substance abuse prevention, has received a grant from the United States Department of Education Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools.

The $140,000 grant will help fund COSAP's effort to increase awareness on the dangers of alcohol and underage drinking on the UNM campus and the surrounding community.

UNM was one of 13 schools chosen to receive grant money out of 155 applications submitted to the US Department of Education. COSAP partnered with The Albuquerque Partnership in applying for the grant.

The grant will allow COSAP to undertake three major campus/community initiatives. These include:

" Research and implementation of the "Electronic Checkup to Go" (E-CHUG) program which provides a group of selected "at risk" students feedback and analysis on their drinking habits and is designed to motivate change in their consumption behaviors. E-CHUG will allow students to take part in the analysis on-line.

" Development of a "social norms" marketing program to increase students' ability to accurately assess UNM drinking norms and reduce binge drinking.

"Creation of programs to reduce binge drinking and underage drinking through community initiatives involving neighborhood associations, the Albuquerque Police Department, students and businesses that sell alcohol.

The grant is extremely meaningful to COSAP Director Jill Anne Yeagley.

"We lost a lot of teens (due to underage drinking) last year and we're not going to tolerate it," Yeagley said. "Our goal is to have an even healthier and safer environment for the campus and our community."

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