Program seeks to raise awareness

By Jennifer Kanne

TSC Writer

The posters plastered campus-wide, featuring students who have promised to take a responsible approach to alcohol, represent a renewed effort to inform Santa Clara students about alcohol consumption.

On Oct. 7 representatives from the Alcohol and other Drug Abuse Prevention Team (ADAPT) began going into freshmen residence halls, knocking on doors and asking students if they had put up the poster. The residents who did have the poster on their walls were awarded $5. The goal of this program is to bombard students with the facts and let them decide what to do.

When students arrive on campus they want to know what the social scene is like. "If students believe that most other students drink, they'll adjust their behavior to fit the perceived norm - so perception is important," Health Educator Laurie Lang said.Communication Professor Christine Bachen's research methods class designed and implemented a survey for Santa Clara students in February 1998. This survey is the source of the statistics on the poster and on the table tents in Benson. The ad suggested the average consumption of alcohol is four drinks per week.

"The goal is over time, with exposure, people will begin to internalize the correct figure," Bachen said.

Ninety-three percent of those surveyed felt the average Santa Clara student drinks three times per week or more but only 40 percent report actually doing so. This advertising campaign was designed specifically to close this gap between perception and reality.

Lang hopes the use of Santa Clara students on the poster will help students identify with the statistics and will lend credibility to the information.

According to Lang, the techniques employed in this social-marketing program have been proven to work for other health-related issues such as tobacco use.