This week marks the commencement of the 10th annual National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week, featuring free activities designed to educate students about the prevalence of and problems associated with alcohol abuse.
As part of the program, a performance titled "Stages" will take place tonight in Webster Hall at 8 p.m. The performance, part of the Greek system's New Member Orientation Program, will examine alcohol and relationships and will be followed by a discussion.
The Women's Resource Center will host a discussion given by Janet Sullivan, a certified alcohol and drug abuse counselor, at noon on Wednesday. The discussion is titled "Connections: Making the Link Between Alcohol and Domestic Violence" and is offered in conjunction with National Domestic Violence Week.
On Thursday, the Health Education Programs Office will present "Last Call ... An Exciting New Game Show!" at 7:30 p.m. in Collis Common Ground. The game show will be hosted by Joseph Leslie '72, a Beta Theta Pi fraternity alumnus who is currently working with the football team.
The format of the show will be similar to the television show "Family Feud." According to College Health Educator Gabrielle Lucke, if only a small number of people attend, the group will be divided in half and the two sides will compete. If there is a large group, 20 volunteers will be chosen to play the game and the rest will serve as the audience.
Asgard, a substance free student organization, will host a square dance open to all Dartmouth students, faculty, staff and administrators on Friday from 9 p.m. to midnight in Webster Hall.
While it will be difficult to determine the impact that the week's activities will have upon the Dartmouth community, Lucke said, "Our goal is just to plant some seeds for people, to have people take a brief moment to see what role alcohol plays in their lives."
Lucke said alcohol is a big problem at Dartmouth and at colleges across the country on one level simply because it is the students' drug of choice, and on a second level because it creates the problem of secondhand drinking, in which people who don't drink are adversely affected by those who do.
According to Lucke, drinking becomes everyone's problem when it results in dorm damage or disagreements between roommates and friends. Lucke said students should "be aware that their behavior affects the community."
