Southwest Texas State University Honored for Drinking and Driving Prevention Program; SWT Students Earn Prize for Developing Life-Saving Program

    SAN MARCOS, Texas--May 15, 2001--Southwest Texas State University has been awarded a $1,000 prize for developing a program that helps educate students about the dangers of drinking and driving.
    The Drinking & Driving Prevention Award will be presented by Anne O'Ryan, Public and Governmental Affairs Manager for AAA Texas, at the Student Recognition Awards ceremony at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Student Center on the campus of Southwest Texas State.
    "Rates of drinking and driving are at levels that raise great concern and have shown notable increases among students that drink," said O'Ryan. "A study by the Harvard University School of Public Health indicated that, in 1996, 36 percent of students drove after drinking, compared to 32 percent in 1993."
    "Levels of drinking and driving among binge drinkers are even more pronounced," O'Ryan explained. "Among occasional bingers in the latest survey, 43 percent drove after drinking; among frequent bingers the level was 59 percent."
    Students from Southwest Texas State partnered with students from the University of Texas at Austin to produce a video and mock trial program entitled "A Night to Remember: The Truth About DWI." The video depicts a college student leaving a party after having a few drinks. The student is pulled over by a state trooper and arrested for DWI. The process is shown from beginning to end, including consultation with an attorney, and a mock trail. The goal of the program is to decrease the number of drunk driving incidences involving students and to educate them about the costs of DWI.
    To address problems associated with drinking among college students, the College and University Drinking and Driving Prevention Award was developed four years ago. The award recognizes campus programs and activities that reduce drinking and driving or prevent alcohol or other drug use that can result in impaired driving.