The Pendulum
NEWS
i
Friday, August 23, 2002 •Page 17
Campaign spreads the truth
about alcohol consumption
Erin Cunninsham
News Editor
The truth about ycohol con
sumption at Elon is surfacing this
year as professors and students
come together to begin an aware
ness campaign.
“Our research showed that
freshmen come to Elon with mis
perceptions about drinking and
how to fit in,” said Resa Walch,
assistant professor of health educa
tion and substance educator. “The
misperception is that most students
drink a lot. Our goal is to correct
those misperceptions with student-
led initiatives.”
These initiatives involve a part
nership between Walch and assis
tant professor Jessica Gisclair,
whose public relations classes
developed a campaign to inform
students about the truth concerning
alcohol consumption at Elon.
“This is a truth campaign,”
Walch said. “We are changing mis
perceptions in line with what is
accurate.”
The truth is the majority of Elon
students have zero to four drinks
when they go to parties, and Elon
students rarely miss class because .
of alcohol, Walch said. One-third
of Elon students drink infrequently
or not at all.
“A” students drink significantly
less than others. Few Elon students
are hospitalized for excessive
drinking, and those who are usual
ly have been drinking large
amounts of alcohol quickly, Walch
said.
Truth messages such as these
will be displayed on buttons and
worn by campus leaders as part of
the campaign, Walch said.
“We are really trying
strengthen peer initiatives with
alcohol awareness,” she said-
“These are student-initiated and
student-created campaigns.”
Gisclair’s classes learned about
the issues and the truth and put
together campaigns to get the
information to their peers. Parts of
these projects will be seen and
heard around campus as part of the
alcohol truth campaign.
“I felt it was a social issue that
Some facts about alcohol at Elon...
The Elon community endorses a range of low-risk
drinking choices, including the choice not to drink at
all.
Most Elon students drink zero to four drinks per
week.
Most Elon students, 57 percent, do not drink to the
point of engaging in behavior they later regret.
Low-risk drinking includes setting limits in advance.
Very few Elon students are hospitalized for exces
sive drinking, and those who are usually have been
drinking shots.
Avoid drinking games — they are always high risk.
Our research showed that freshmen come to Elon with misper
ceptions about drinking and how to fit in. The misperception is
that most students drink a lot. Our goal is to correct those misper
ceptions with student-led initiatives.
—Resa Walch, assistant professor of health education
and substance educator y y
needed to be addressed,” Gisclair
said. “The job is to reach as many
people as possible.”
The campaign will include pub
lic service announcements on
advertisements in The
endulum, messages posted on E-
net and a Web site. Student leaders
ave asked to endorse the
campaign, student lead-
ers to buy into this,” Walch said,
e campaign will progress in
segments throughout Jy^. “We
*”'P*®nient different
^ ° „^^^Paign throughout
the year, Walch said
cr^wiicr '-^Paign to
SGA. which
message.
“As the SGA, we thought it was
important to endorse the universi
ty’s low-risk stance on alcohol
consumption,” SGA President
Christian Wiggins said. We want
to be socially responsible as stu
dent leaders.”
The program focus is on the
first-year student. “Our primary
appeal is education, and then we
hold you responsible,” Walch said.
“Our goal is to reduce the risk for
every student who chooses to
drink and recognize the student
who chooses not to drink.”
Walch said the campaign is not
expected to work overnight. “We
^heck out The Pendulum online:
http://www.elon.edu/pendulum
Recent grads' company sells
the latest in dorm-room chic
Becky Bartindale
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — As
students across the country head
to college, a team of new gradu
ates from Santa Clara University
is competing on the Internet to
equip them with the latest in
dorm-room chic.
Whether it's a compact
microwave-refrigerator combo
($319), posters of Jimi Hendrix or
Britney Spears ($6.99), or those
elusive extra-long twin-sheet sets
($24.95), AIIDorm.com strives to
deliver every wholesome thing a
student might want or need, all
from one handy Web site.
AllDorm, Inc. grew from a
class project and bloomed into an
Internet company all before its
founders started their junior year.
The company opened for business
in July 2000 selling about 50
items. Since then, it has added
hundreds of products and attract
ed outside investment.
AllDorm operates out Santa
Clara and pitches itself as a one-
stop site for a range of dorm-room
products at bargain prices.
At least one observer who has
followed AllDorm's progress says
he thinks the company has a
decent shot at surviving and thriv
ing, despite fierce competition
and a tough economy. In fact, he
argues, the downturn might have
helped.
"That's different from Internet^
companies that needed a lot of
money to create a product,"
Burnham said. If AllDorm "can
stay alive long enough to start
growing revenues," he said, "in
another year they will be quite
attractive to investors."
The company is ever-mindful
about projecting a wholesome
image. The last thing it wants to
do is turn off parents. That is why
there is no "over 18" section on"
the site, as some competitors
have, selling products such as
kinky sex kits, furry handcuffs
and edible undies.
But selling to students via the
Internet is tricky business, mar
keting experts say.
"One would be hard-pressed to
find many examples of using the
Internet to market products to col
lege students that have been high
ly successful," said Eric Weil,
managing partner of Student
Monitor, LLC, a market research
company focusing exclusively on
college students.
How fast to grow is one of the
biggest challenges AllDorm
faces.
OfficeMax would like to welcome back all
Elon Students and Faculty!
OfficeMax’
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