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Western Kentucky University TopSCHOLAR® WKU Archives Records WKU Archives Winter 1989 UA12/4 APPLE Tips, Vol. 1, No. 2 WKU Health Services Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/dlsc_ua_records  Part of the Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, Higher Education Administration Commons, Journalism Studies Commons, Mass Communication Commons, and the Public Health Education and Promotion Commons This Newsletter is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in WKU Archives Records by an authorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact topscholar@wku.edu. Western Kentucky University A Planned Program for Life Enrichment Volume 1 Number 2 "An ounce of prevention ls worth a pound of cure." Winter 1989 STAGE SET FOR NATIONAL COLLEGIATE DRUG AWARENESS WEEK Every year. National Collegiate Drug Awareness Week (NCDAW) is scheduled on campuses across the nation to focus attention on vari-ous aspects of alcohol and other drug use and misuse. Th is year. Western Kentucky University stu-dents, faculty and staff will have the opportunity to benefit from a week-long schedule of activities which have been planned by Resi-dence Life staff members. The opening ceremonies will fea-ture the B.G. PRIDE Musical Group, performing songs and dance to convey the message that life is a ,elebration drug-free. The PRIDE .nusical group is comprised of about 30 of the 200 student mem-bers in the "parent" organization at Bowling Green High School. Formed in January, 1987, the mu-sical group performs plus conducts rap sessions in the elementary and junior high schools in Bowling Green. Monday evening, Westem's Pub-lic Safety Department will set up displays and lead discussions about various drugs and drug use. These discussions will be hosted in the residence halls according to the schedules posted on fliers around campus. SCHEDULE OF EVENTS February 6 - 12, 1989 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Information Table li'J1 ® IB <fil Ill~ , 12:45 a.m. - 1:45 p.m. Opening Ceremonies PRIDE Theater Group 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Public Safety Drug Demonstrations 'frm@~@llfi~ 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Panel Discussion ~@@lIB@§<fillllW 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Sportathon '89 'fr lli m n'~ <fil Ill W Halftime Closing Ceremony Basketball Game DUC Lobby DUC Theater Residence Halls West Hall Cellar Diddle Arena Diddle Arena Tuesday evening, a panel of peo-ple who are recovering from drug dependency plus area profession-als will explore getting "hooked", why some people become drug de-pendent and others don't, what it takes to "get free" and where people who might have a drug problem can find h elp in the community. CHILDREN OF ALCOHOLICS: PATTERNS WHICH REPEAT The Sportathon, scheduled to be held during the day in Diddle Are-na on Wednesday will give the mes-sage to "Get high on exercise--and life!" (It's a lot safer than drugs). Proceeds from this event will go to the Muscular Dystrophy Associa-tion, so Hilltoppers who partici-pate will have the chance to exer-cise the positive addictions of h ealth and helping others. at the same time as winning prizes. • 1 out of every 6 families in the U.S. is directly affected by alcoholism. • 50-60% of all alcoholics are also children of alcoholics (CoAs). ' Biological offspring of alcoholics are the group at highest risk for alcoholism. even when they are raised in a non-alcoholic envi-ronment. • Only 5% of adult children of al-coholics (ACoAs) are receiving help in understanding and cop-ing with their problems. Alcoholism is a family disease and no family member is immune from its effects. which can be dev-astating. CoAs have grown up in an environment of acceptance of drug abuse (alcohol or other drugs) (continued on page 3) (continued on page 3)(CO AlP!PlLE TI.JPS Legislative Briefs The 1988 Drug Omnibus Ac t passed by Congress and signed into law by President Reagan calls for an expansion of drug prevention and treatment pro-grams serving women and in-travenous drug users. Funding for prevention programs is to remain stable at 20 percent. Support for professional and teacher training is also mandat-ed, along with a $100 million funding increase for the drug-free schools and communities program. The U.S. Congress has adopted legislation requiring the place-ment of warning labels on all alcoholic beverages. as part of the 1988 Anti-Drug Abuse Act. Within a year of being signed into law. the following label will be placed on all containers of beer, wine (including wine coolers), and distilled spirits sold in the U.S.: GOVERNMENT WARNING: l)Accordlng to the Surgeon General , women shoula not drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy because of the risk of birtli defects. 2)Consumption of alcoholic bev-erages impairs your abWty to drive a car or operate machinery and may cause health problems. Labeling advocates have lauded the action. but have expressed concern that the message given about the health risks of alco-hol is not strong enough. A recently passed veterans bill (S.2049) provides that the "dis-abling effects of chronic alco-holism shall not be considered the result of willful miscon-duct". This bill enables recov-ering alcoholic veterans to APPLETips Is published at Weatem Kentucky Unlver•lty bimonthly during the academic year. It ts Lhe newsleller of the A.P.P.L.E. (A Planned P roject for Life Enrichment) Projec t for alcohol and drug education and preven· tion, under the direction of Student Health Service. Subscriptions are free. News conln· butions are solicited. News Items or articles should be sent In at least two weeks prior to the next publication date. For additional Infor-mation, call A.P.P.L.E. at (502) 745-64 38. The A.P.P.L.E. Office Is located on the 2nd floor of the Student Health Services in the Academic Complex. Editor: Nancy Givens, A.P.P.L.E. Coordinator. apply for an extension of educa-tional benefits without the threat that benefits will be un-justly denied due to their illness being assigned the stigmatizing label of "willful m isconduct". This b ill p romotes the under-standing of alcoh olism as a treatable disease. Two third year UK medical stu-dents working with the Lexing-ton Urban County Council and supported by the UK medical community, advocated the pass-ing of an ordinance which re-quires that posters warning pregnant women about the dan-gers of alcohol use be displayed where alcoholic beverages are sold. Alcohol use during preg-nancy can result in fetal alcohol syndrome, which causes low birth rate, physical abnormali-ty. and mental retardation. It is the No. l preventable cause of birth defects. A How-To guide published by the Center for Science in the public interest. "Alcohol Warning Signs: How to get Legislation Passed" will be available in the A.P.P.L.E. Li-brary shortly. APPLE UPDATE The WKU Athletic Department in conj unction with the A.P.P.L.E. Project is introducing a mandatory drug education seminar for all university ath-letes called "Calling Your Own Shots". This seminar will ad-dress why athletes are at special risk for drug use, effects and risks of performance enhancing drugs as well as recreational drugs. and problem recognition. intervention and prevention. The basis of the seminar will be the NCAA 4-part video series "Athletes At Risk", plus supple-mental materials. A survey to determine patterns of student drug use at Western is being conducted by A.P.P.L.E. 1000 student will be surveryed by a random class sample. The surveys will be administered during the week of February 3-7 . 2 Dr. Glenn Lohr. of the Depart- ( ment of Health and Safety is the project evaluator who will be administering the survey. A student awareness group for campus alcohol and drug educa-tion and prevention, is now be-ing formed. Twenty interested students attended the formation m eeting on January 24. Bylaws are now being drawn up. At the next general meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, February 4 at 3:30 in Academic Complex Rm 107, the bylaws will be ratified and officers selected, to be submilted to the University for approval. The meeting will be open to all interested parties. WINE COOLERS NOT "SOFT" The fruit juice base of wine coolers makes them seem al-most healthful. or at least more like soft drinks than alcoholic beverages. Because they are not perceived to be alcoholic. wine coolers h ave emerged as a drink ( of choice for many young peo-ple. The media has encouraged the use of wine coolers by young people, inclu ding those under the legal drinking age, by de-signing advertising campaigns which appeal to young interests. Wine coolers are causing a stir in other countries as well as in the U.S. In Australia, public concern and pressure caused a cooler manufacturer to change labeling, packaging and other m arketing strategies to be less attractive to young people. The alcohol content will also be re-duced from 4-7% to 1.5-3.5%, or about the equivalent of a light beer. California's Wine Institute has taken a s imilar step by re-vising its voluntary Code of Ad-vertising Regulations to disal-low any form of advertising that: 1) appeals especially to young people under the drinking age: 2) features sports celebri-ties. entertainers. etc.; 3) shows the product in conjunction with u se of motorized vehicles; or 4) is directed to pregnant women. AlP!PJL.lE1'4ps CHARACTERISICS OF ClilLDREN OF ALCOHOLICS • have trouble developing trusting and intimate relationships • may do poorly in school, have few friends and frequently get into trouble, resulting from low self-esteem • may become overachievers, but at the expense of personal needs • have dependent personalities and are terrified of abandonment; will do anything to h old onto a relationship, good or bad, not to experience these feelings • confuse love and pity and often choose as a love object someone who needs to be "taken care or· rather than someone who is autonomous • are at high risk to many an alcoholic and\or to become an alcoholic themselves • may be likely victims of sexual assault (CoAs continued from page 1) abuse. They must adopt to the chaos and inconsistency of an al-coholic home. CaAs develop coping 1echanisms to relieve the unpleas-antness of the family envir-onment. They may assume the role of "peacemaker" or take on respon -sibilities for which they are not prepared in order to help the fami-ly survive. In so doing, they sup-press their own feelings and needs as children. As they grow up, the "cost" to these individuals is high. An ina-bility to trust self and others. an extreme need for control, and an excessive sense of responsibility a re common characteristics of ACoAs. Low self-esteem, dissatis-Don't mess up your life. faction, depression, isolation, difficulty in forming or main-taining satisfying rela tionships and guilt may result. Patterns which are learned in an alcoholic home are part of an intergenerational legacy. Accord-ing to Cathleen Brooks. author of The Secret Everyone Knows, these patterns can be passed on from generation to generation wheth er or not the CoAs become alcoholic themselves, due to the flawed pa-renting skills that are learned from adult parents. ACoAs are prone to a wide range of clinical and subclinical problems, including anxiety, de-pression. eating disorders. learn-ing disabilities, and a variety of stress related medical problems. Above all ACoAs run a special risk for developing alcoholism themselves. a risk four times h igher than that of the general public. An ACoA support group is being formed through th e campus' Counseling Services Center in 408 Tate Page Hall. To find out more abou t this group and when it will meet, call Saundra Starks at (502) 745-2159. 3 NEW APPLE RESOURCES Cocaine-A Deadly Elective. pub. by the University of Pittsburgh. Students in interviews, Delvin Williams. former NFL pro-football star, and professionals reveal attitudes a nd discuss the effects of cocaine on health. ca-reer and reputation. 1 /2'VHS. 25 minutes. To Your Good Health: Women and Drinking, pub. by by Wellesley College's Project WAIT (Wellesley Alcoh ol Information Theater) presents six short vignettes which explore issues relating to women and alcohol use. including sexual roles, family patterns, relation-ship problems, peer pressures, de-nial. sexual victimization, etc. 1 /2"VHS, 18 minutes Twelve Steps. published by Hazel-don Publishing, presents the twelve steps in the treatment model which is the basis of Alco-holics Anonymous (AA). Narcot-ics Anonymous (NA) and the many other Anonymous groups. This model, which calls for a spiritual renewal, has revolution-ized treatment for people who are recovering from dependency. 1 /2'VHS, 36 minutes Not Me!, distributed by J.C. Pen-ney. is an excellent and realisti-cally portrayed drama about crack/cocaine use and abuse by young people. The film presents no solutions but is intended to raise awareness and to encourage discussion. 1 /2'VHS, 55 minutes (NCDAW continued from page 1) Participants' instructions can be obtained at r esidence halls' desks. NCDAW will be wrapped up with a closing ceremony during the halftime at the Thursday night basketball game. Informa-tion tables will be set up from 11:00 a .m. to 1:00 p.m. daily in DUC lobby. With all of these great activities planned, don't be "a sitting duck". Join the fun! AlP!Plt.E T!JPS Smokeout Followup Followup calls to campus par-ticipants in the Great American Smokeout, a one-day break from tobacco for smokers, chewers and dipper which was held on Novem-ber 1 7 last year. has so far not turned up any long-term quitters. Many do claim to have cut back on consumption. About half of the participants h ave thus far been reached. For Smokeout participants and other campus smokers alike, here are some "tidbits" which may help to motivate you to try again: • Two recent independent surveys of the U.S. Office of Smoking and Health (OSH) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have confirmed that the prevalence of adult smoking has continued its decline from almost 50% at its peak to less than 25% in 1986. • Kentucky has the dubious des-tinc tion of having the highest smoking rate and the highest smoking-related death rate in the nation. West Virginia comes in a close second. • Sales of smokeless tobacco products declined 6.2% in 1986. attributable in part to new health warnings and increased taxes on smokeless products. • The California State Communi-ty College Board on Athletics banned the use of any type of to-bacco by athletes and athletic staff during competitions. The NCAA is also considering ading tobacco to its lis t of banned sub-stances. If you want to quit but are still finding it hard to do so, think about how the tobacco industry is helping to keep you "down". The tobacco industry was the highest payor of speaking honoraria to Congress in 1985-86 {latest fig-ures available) and may still be. according to Common Cause. The Industry also tops the money spent on advertising. Tobacco conglomerates Ph11lip Morris Company and NRJ Nabisco (Re-ynolds Tobacco) ranked second and third among the largest pur-ch asers of media space in 1986, according to Advertising Age. Motivation is a key to being able to successfully quit smoking. Keep working at building your motivation. Remember that most smokers quit several or many times before they succeed In quit-ting permanently. Each failed at-tempt is another lesson learned! The A.P.P.L.E. Project plans to of-fer a Stop Smoking program next year for smokers who would like some help. Marijuana Smoking Hard On Lungs Most people are aware of the se-rious health risks of smoking cig-arettes. But did you know that the respiratory burden In smoke par-ticulates and absorption of car-bon monoxide from smoking one marijuana "Joint" is approxi-mately four times greater than from smoking a single tobacco cigarette. A study by two UCLA research-ers attributed these findings, in part, to the differences in the smoking "dynamics" between the two substances. Marijuana smok-ers take a larger pull, inhale deep-er and hold the smoke longer than tobacco smokers. Marijua-na smoke also carries one-and-one-half the amount of tar as is found in cigarette smoke. Smoking: Smoke free: Glamour don't! Glamour doll 'M<U-Prlnllng pole! ftom 11•10 funds, ~RS 67,376, 4 REHEARSE HOW YOU'LL HANDLE A STRESSFUL SITUATION IN YOUR MIND BEFORE IT HAP-PENS. (PRACTICE MAKES EVERYfHING EASIER) A LONG SOAK IN A HOT (PRE-FERRABLY BUBBLE) BATH WITH YOUR FAVORITE MUSIC OR A GOOD BOOK TO ACCOMPANY YOU CAN SOOTHE AWAY THE WORST ACHES IN TI-IE BODY AND 1HEMIND. KEEP YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR. LAUGHTER TRULY IS TI-IE BEST MEDICINE. Alcohol and Drugs Fit Hand In Glove Everyone of us is directly or in-directly affected by problems of drug abuse. We may be aITected by parents or frtends who use, or for many of us by crime. While it is conjecture, it would fit a typical pattern if the series of parking lot robbertes on Westem's campus re-cently was drug-motivated. Many times people do not rec-ognize the intergral link between problems we are expertencing and alcohol or other drug use by our-selves or others. Did you realize that alcohol use was involved in: • 70% of all child sexual abuse • 50% of all rapes • 50% of all homicides • 50% of all fatal car crashes • 40% of all divorces • 25% of all suicides The link of drugs with crime is based on at least two primary fac-tors: reduced inhibition and in-creased aggression and need for money to support a habit. ( ( 

UA12/4 APPLE Tips, Vol. 1, No. 2

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UA12/4 APPLE Tips, Vol. 1, No. 2

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