11:30 a.m., Oct. 22, 2002--National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week will be celebrated at the University of Delaware with special activities planned through Oct. 25.

All week, from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m., students can pick up something fun with a healthy message about drinking in the Trabant University Center and in the Perkins Student Center.

From 8:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 23, Youth to Eliminate Loss of Life (YELL) will hold its annual leadership conference at the Dover Sheraton. Members of UD’s registered student organization, The V8’s, will be attending the conference in support of the great work of many local high school students who draw awareness to the issues of drinking and driving and other alcohol-related safety issues.

On Wednesday, Oct. 23, in the spirit of the PRISM Awards, which honor accurate depictions of drug, alcohol and tobacco use and addiction in feature films, television, music videos and more, the film “Body Shots” will be shown at 7:30 p.m., in the theatre of the Trabant University Center. Directed by Michael Cristofer and released in 1999, the drama is said to define a decade. It tells the tale of the mysterious, but necessary, mating ritual between men and women of today and everything they think about sex but are afraid to say.

On Thursday, Oct. 24, and Friday, Oct. 25, the Road Scholar College Tour comes to Harrington Beach. The tour is visiting 37 college campuses across the country, providing students with information on road rage, drinking and driving, safe driving tips, what to always pack in the trunk for a road trip and what to do in case of an accident. Giveaways abound, as do the opportunities to enter sweepstakes for a lease, trips and speaker sets. Tower Records, Lipton Iced Tea, Reebok and Coppertone will also be there, handing out samples and gifts to the students.

At 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 24, local resident Phyllis Stahl, member of the Delaware chapter of MADD, will be on campus to talk about the death of her teenage son, Aaron. Aaron was only 15 when he was killed, in March 2001, by a drunk driver on Otts Chapel Road in Newark.

At 9 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 24, an open mike night, hosted by S.C.E.N.E., will be held at the Art House on Delaware Avenue, with free beverages and finger foods provided.

The week concludes with Get Wacky Not Wasted from 8 p.m.–12:30 a.m., Friday, Oct. 25, in the Perkins Student Center. The evening of unusual activities, novelties and entertainment will include caricaturists, card readers, palm readers, soothsayers, clowns, jugglers, body artists and balloon artists. Virtual Reality Pods will be set up in the Hen Zone, and pool and other video games will be free for this night only. Free snacks, beverages and mocktails also will be provided.

In addition to these events, a student writing competition on alcohol abuse issues is being held now through Nov. 8 with the theme, “Be Part of the Solution.” Sponsored by The Inter-Association Task Force on Alcohol & Other Substance Abuse Issues, with funding from Anheuser-Busch, the competition has a top prize of $2,000 and two second prizes of $1,000 each. To be eligible, students must be enrolled as full-time undergraduates at the time of application and registered at an accredited four- or two-year college or university.

Entries must be postmarked on or before Friday Nov. 8, or delivered to Tyler Haynes Commons, University of Richmond by 5 p.m. on that day.

The essay topic is “What advice would you give to someone you care about on the ways college students can play a positive role–emphasizing personal responsibility and respect for the law–when it comes to their choices around drinking alcohol?” See [www.iatf.org] for additional information and submission requirements.

For University of Delaware alcohol-free events throughout the academic year, visit the S.C.E.N.E. web site at [http://udel.edu/stu-org/scene].