Getting excessively drunk with friends on your 21st birthday might be a thing of the past thanks to an e-mail message from the Undergraduate Student Government.
That’s what senators hope will occur after debating the benefits of sending out a cautionary e-mail at last night’s general assembly meeting.
The resolution, which called for an increased awareness of the effects of drinking, was passed although numerous senators doubted the effectiveness of the e-mails.
‘There is no way this e-mail will stop students from drinking on their birthdays,’ Vice President Nick Gamero said. ‘However, it will create awareness and let students know that there is a way to be safe and have fun at the same time.’
The e-mail, which would personally be sent to each student on his or her 21st birthday, would call for students to be safe if they choose to drink and would include a list of numbers for students to call.
‘A resolution to include the phone numbers of 2-Ride, the shuttle services, Supercab and any other relevant phone numbers will be discussed,’ said Speaker Jeremy Lehman, who was also a part of the e-mail creation process.
Gamero decided to propose the idea to USG senators Liesyl Dye and Jessica Molina, who wrote the resolution, after he witnessed a similar idea being used at Ohio State University.
According to Gamero, a friend of his who attends OSU received an e-mail on his 21st birthday, which told the story of a student’s death due to alcohol and the effects it had on his remaining family members.
Although Gamero followed the general idea behind the OSU e-mail, he decided to make his e-mail less graphic and lower key in order to appeal to University students.
‘We want people to read the e-mail so it has to be in a language that the students can understand,’ he said. ‘If we can reach out to one person, then the e-mail will have made a difference.’
Senators were also concerned with the wording of the e-mail.
According to Dye, several of the sentences included in the e-mail could be seen as crude, and possibly misleading. However, legislation has already been set to change the text of the e-mail as soon as possible.
‘We want to make the message clearer, but at the same time we want the students to take the time and read it,’ Dye said. ‘However, I am being realistic, and I’m not expecting every student to read what we send them.’
Dye emphasized the fact that USG senators are not the ones studying the effects of alcohol. Instead, they hope to refer students to the experts, namely the Wellness Center and Bacchus Gamma.
‘This is the first step in a long process,’ Dye said. ‘It’s a small step, but if we can help one student, then it’s worth all the time we put into it.’
Reporter’s Notes: According to Senator April Jackson, 481 signatures have been collected for the proposal of a new dining hall in Harshman. As of right now, Jackson in planning on creating a dining option similair to Destinations, which was eliminated from the quads this year.
An open forum will be held on Wed., Jan. 30 at 9 p.m. in 208 Union to discuss parking issues on campus. Senator Leo Almedia is in charge of the program.
A discussion panel explaining the potential switch of Spring Break to coincide with St.Patrick’s Day will be held on Wed., Feb. 20 at 5:30p.m. in the Falcon’s Nest.
