Westminster College will be observing National Alcohol Screening Day, Thursday, April 5, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. in the TUB Grill area of the Walton-Mayne Student Union Building.

Westminster College's wellness program has earned national recognition from the John Templeton Foundation.

Students will have the opportunity to fill out a brief self-assessment form asking about drinking habits and if their behavior have changed as a result of their drinking. In addition to taking the anonymous, written self-test, students will hear an educational presentation on alcohol problems, and have the opportunity to talk one-on-one with a health professional, and if appropriate, will be directed to services on campus on in the community for further evaluation.

Although statistics indicate that college drinking is down from a decade ago, recent studies show that frequent binge drink - defined as drinking five or more dirnks in one sitting for men, four for women, three or more times in a two-week period - has increased over the past ten years.

"The purpose of National Alcohol Screen Day is to educate students about alcohol problems," said Babs Quincy, counselor at Westminster College. "National Alcohol Screening Day accomplishes this by teaching students how to recognize a drinking problem, where you can go for help if you are concerned about yourself or a friend, and the long term effects of alcohol on your mind and body."

"Drinking during the college years is often seen as rite of passage, but it can lead to more than a nasty hangover," said John Lechner, assistant dean of student affairs at Westminster College. "Binge drinking can result in disciplinary problems, poor academic performance, property damage, risky sexual behavior, physical injury, illness and even death."

For more information, contact Quincy at (724) 946-7340 or e-mail quincybi@westminster.edu.

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