3/07/08
With next week marking the one week almost every college student looks forward to all year, Baker University hosted a Safe Break Day event in order to help students realize some of the dangers in society.
No break from studying for some <a href="/news/2008/03/07/Features/No.Break.From.Studying.For.Some.Baker.Students-3256451.shtml">No break from studying for some </a> <br/>Students heading far from Baker<a href="http://media.www.thebakerorange.com/media/storage/paper1028/news/2008/03/07/Features/Students.Heading.Far.From.Baker-3256459.shtml">Students heading far from Baker</a> No break from studying for some
Students heading far from Baker
Ruth Sarna, director of student health services, said that for the past 15 years, Baker has been putting on this event the week before spring break in order to leave a lasting impression on the students to take care of themselves.
“The main reason we do this every year is to reinforce the dangers of what could happen on spring break,” Sarna said. “We like to have them think about the effects of binge drinking and their behavior.”
If students signed a pledge saying they will not drink and drive, they got to put their name in a drawing and enter to win a number of gift cards or movie tickets, Sarna said.
“There were a lot of key chains, pamphlets and information guides to get everyone to start thinking about ways to have a safe spring break,” she said.
Kathryn Brown, employee of the Kansas Traffic Safety Resource Company, said the beer goggles always make students think twice before drinking and driving.
“We have them put beer goggles on that measure different levels of blood alcohol content,” Brown said. “The goggle stimulates hand-eye coordination and balance with the intentions of having students recognize how different levels of alcohol effect everything.”
Sophomore Landon McLerran, who participated in the beer goggles beer toss, said it was a lot harder than he thought it would be.
“It was pretty crazy and really hard to focus,” he said. “When the ball was tossed at me, I completely missed it because it looked like it was being thrown somewhere else.”
Brown said she thinks having such an experiment where students can have a hands-on first look at how the body reacts to the consumption of alcohol really helps drive home the concept not to drink and drive.
Along with the beer goggles, students had the opportunity to see what they would look like when they are old using age progression software.
Kellie Werley, employee at the Douglas County Community Health Center, said she thinks being able to see the damages certain things can have on your body is really important for people of all ages to see.
“We are able to show a side-by-side comparison of what someone currently looks like with what they could possibly look like at the age of 72 if they regularly partake in smoking, sun tanning, poor diet and obesity,” Werley said. “Basically, it is a way to show students the physical harms that are current in everyday temptations.”
