October 07, 2009

Events focus on students’ alcohol, tobacco use

by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- A pair of special events from the Alcohol and Other Drug Program at Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Student Health Center-Wellness Center offers students a chance to get their creativity and competitive spirit going while helping spread important messages about alcohol and tobacco use.

Grab your video cameras and create a video for the Live Free Tobacco Free “Viral Video” Contest for a chance to win cash prizes. All current SIUC students can compete in this contest utilizing videos to promote the Live Free Tobacco Free program, the Wellness Center smoking cessation program, and the Illinois Tobacco Quitline.

Videos should carry a no-smoking message of some type and they are due in DVD format no later than 4:30 p.m. Oct. 23 at the Wellness Center or by e-mail sent to cfralish@siu.edu. Eight prizes ranging from $100 to $1,000 are up for grabs.

“We wanted to use students’ natural creative energies to develop messages regarding tobacco cessation. The Viral Video Contest lets them use insights from their own experiences and world in modern ways to get the point across. The contest can benefit their professional development and the incentives for placing in the competition are generous,” said Christopher Julian-Fralish, coordinator of the Alcohol and Other Drug Program at the Student Health Center- Wellness Center.

The Jackson County Health Department is co-sponsor of the contest. You can find complete contest rules and entry forms online at www.shc.siu.edu/. Just click on “Wellness.”

The Alcohol and Other Drug Program is also teaming with University Housing for Trivia Night. Set for 6 p.m. Oct. 23 in the Grinnell Hall lower level, it’s a night of fun in honor of National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week Oct. 18-24. Teams of four-eight members will face off, answering 10 questions in each of the 10 rounds. The winning team will get to select a charity of their choosing for the $500 prize. There will also be raffle drawings in between rounds with cool prizes for student participants.

Since it’s happening during Saluki Family Weekend at SIUC, parents and family members are welcome to join in the fun at Trivia Night. However, only SIUC students are eligible for prizes.

“The Trivia Night event wrapping up National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week is about engaging young people in ways that are fun and enjoyable and that can build group awareness and cohesiveness. Challenging perception, in fact misperceptions, about alcohol use in ways that are non-judgmental and without demanding how someone live life is important to facilitate intrinsic change,” Julian-Fralish said.

You can find registration forms and complete details about the Trivia Night contest on the Web by going to www.shc.ediu.edu/ and clicking on “Wellness.” All registration forms are due at the Student Health Center-Wellness Center no later than 4:30 p.m. Oct. 21.