|
July 5, 2002--The Building Responsibility Coalition (BRC), a campus and community partnership advocating policies for the responsible and legal use of alcohol, has launched a new web site [www.udel.edu/brc] to help advance its mission–promoting a healthy environment for students, residents and businesses that would reduce the harm to people and property caused by high-risk drinking.
According to Tracy Bachman, project coordinator of the BRC in the Center for Counseling and Student Development, “The site will prove very useful in educating people about the approach the BRC is taking to address high-risk drinking. I receive many requests from around the country about our efforts, and being able to direct them to the web site for more information will be beneficial.”
To keep University and Newark community members aware of the coalition’s activities and programs, the BRC began sending out monthly e-mails this summer in place of its monthly mailings.
These e-mails inform coalition members and others to visit the web site for the latest details on committee and task force meeting minutes, the meeting schedule and other BRC news.
“In the past,” Bachman said, “we have sent out monthly mailings of committee and task group meeting minutes, meeting schedules and other information to over 130 BRC members. Since most BRC members have e-mail, this new method of keeping them informed will save us time and paper. We will still mail information to the handful of Coalition members who do not have access to e-mail or those who request hard copies.”
The University of Delaware and the city of Newark have received two successive grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to address high-risk drinking among college students.
A new brochure on the Building Responsibility Coalition also has been published, featuring comments from members, guiding principles and a look at the group’s progress in its efforts to change campus culture.
The coalition has worked to share its philosophy that there is a legitimate place for alcohol in society, but that it must be used responsibly and legally.
Many of the problems that are experienced both on the campus and in the community are related to the bad behavior exhibited by those who drink to excess, John Bishop, the co-chair of the BRC Coordinating Council, said. Because of these negative consequences, it is no longer possible to view high-risk drinking as solely the problem of the person who is doing the high-risk drinking, Bishop said.
More than 130 individuals, representing a wide range constituencies-residents of Newark–students, UD faculty and staff, elected officials, city and state employees, business owners and alcohol licensees, clergy, school nurses, public safety personnel, civic association leaders and many others–participate in the project.
For more information, visit the new site, which provides lists of staff, members, links, committees and task groups, frequently asked questions, research and statistics, goals and objectives and news and events.
To request to be placed on it’s the “BRC Monthly News” e-mail list or for additional information, contact Bachman at 243 Laurel Hall, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, call her at 831-3115 or send an e-mail to ttbach@udel.edu.
The site was developed by a team that included Laura LaPonte, a recent UD graduate who interned in the Office of Public Relations; Laura Brodie, web developer II in Informational Technologies-Management Information Services; Kari Brown, a BRC graduate assistant who will be maintaining the site; Pam Finkelman, BRC communications coordinator; and Bachman.
|
