Wellness Coalition brings awareness to binge drinking with new program

With a presentation titled “Cocktails and Camelbaks, members of the Wellness Coalition are taking a new approach in educating students about the dangers of underage drinking by going where they’ve never gone before: the residence halls.

On Monday evening, the Coalition, which aims to advance behavioral health and wellness for USD students through prevention programming, held a presentation in the basement lounge of Beede-Mickelson where students could win Coyote Cash and Camelbak water bottles. Attendance was mandatory.

Michele Turner, prevention coordinator of the Wellness Coalition, organizes events to help students understand the effects of alcohol. A top priority is to educate the incoming first-year students about the ramifications of underage
binge drinking.

“This is the first time we’ve done anything like this,” Turner said.

The presentation was designed to help students understand how alcohol affects different parts of the brain.

Graduate student Tyra Thomas-Moore gave one of the presentations on Monday night.

“The prefrontal cortex goes to sleep, affecting your judgement,” Thomas-Moore said. “Next is your limbic system, affecting your emotions. This is when you get your happy, angry and sad drunks. Then, your cerebellum goes to sleep, causing your movement to
be impaired.”

When people begin stumbling after heavy drinking, it’s a good idea to stop all alcohol consumption, they advised students.

“Your brain stem is the next to go to sleep, causing your involuntary systems to shut down. You are now suffering from alcohol poisoning,” Thomas-Moore said.

Thomas-Moore told students to call an ambulance if they think someone is suffering from alcohol poisoning, adding that it can be the difference between life
and death.

Turner assured students they wouldn’t get in trouble if they called an ambulance for their friend, citing the new Good Samaritan Law in South Dakota.

More than 1,000 students around the nation die every year from alcohol poisoning, Turner said.

“It’s the dumbest statistic I’ve ever heard,” she said. “People are afraid of getting their friend in trouble if they call an ambulance for them. I’d rather have an angry friend that’s alive than a dead friend.”

Turner also recommended having a safe buddy, or someone who will make sure the other person isn’t drinking too much.

First-year Dylan Stahly enjoyed the presentation and thought it was
very informative.

“You think a lot more about decision-making,” he said. “I learned more about how the mind works when it’s under the influence
of alcohol.”

Another program the Wellness Coalition runs is the Safe Rides Program, which gives people a ride back home if they’re drunk, no questions asked.

The program was in dire straits earlier this year when Turner learned she would need almost $20,000 to match the Block Grant’s award to keep the buses running, but the USD Student Government Association donated the money to keep the program afloat.

“The SGA has a portion of our budget unallocated to spend on any projects that we choose,” Nathaniel Steinlicht, president of SGA, said. “Turner approached us saying she needed matching funds she needs. It was a good way to help
the students.”