Arkansas Tech University students will receive information about the dangers of alcohol abuse during 2019 National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Day activities hosted by the ATU Health and Wellness Center on Tuesday, Oct. 8.
Representatives from the ATU Health and Wellness Center will be available at Hindsman Tower and the Doc Bryan Student Services Center Courtyard from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. They will communicate with the university community about survey data regarding alcohol and other drugs usage among ATU students, provide substance screenings and share printed materials related to alcohol and other drugs abuse.
Program participants will receive free T-shirts, non-alcoholic margaritas and an opportunity to drive a golf cart while wearing goggles that simulate the experience of being under the influence of a substance.
According to the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 53.6 percent of full-time college students ages 18-to-22 drank alcohol in the past month; 34.8 percent engaged in binge drinking (defined as five or more drinks on a single occasion for men or four or more drinks on an occasion for women) in the past month; and 9.7 percent engaged in heavy alcohol use (binge drinking on five or more days in the past month). These rates are higher than those for their non-college-attending peers.
Recent statistics from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) indicate that drinking by college students ages 18-to-24 contributes to an estimated 1,519 student deaths each year. In addition, there are an estimated 696,000 assaults by another student who has been drinking and 97,000 cases of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape involving college students each year.
Learn more about the ATU Health and Wellness Center at www.atu.edu/hwc.
