Alcohol education program supports responsible drinking

By Luis Jiménez
Summer Reporter

A special alcohol education program developed and ran by a Purdue Police Department officer has gotten lots of attention lately exactly what he wanted.

Officer Dan Larson created the "Alcohol Student Awareness Program" to encourage responsible drinking behavior among Purdue students. The most important part of the program is the seminars he presents to students on the dangers of misusing alcohol.

He said the goal of the program is not to tell students not to drink, but to educate them about the abuse and misuse of alcohol. "It's not don't drink, but it's what happens when a person drinks so much it kills him," he said.

Larson combines audio-visual presentations and brochures to educate and illustrate the signs and symptoms of alcohol poisoning. During the 50-minute seminar he tells real stories about students who have been endangered because of alcohol abuse. "I'm just trying to educate the young person on what happens and what to do if I got a buddy that comes home from a party (intoxicated) and I don't know if he's sleeping it off or he's dying."

But in addition to the seminars, what sets apart this program from ordinary alcohol-education programs is the way he attracts people toward his campaign.

Larson drives in a black Pontiac Trans Am police car, which might seem a bit fancy compared to the ordinary Crown Victorias driven by the rest of the department's officers. However, he said, the sporty looks of the car have been successful in inviting people to approach him.

"When I envisioned this whole program, I envisioned it with the Trans Am in mind because it's marketed toward the college-age group," said Larson. "How (the car) has been used and how initially I dreamed of it would be that model car with those graphics, the A.S.A.P. lettering on it and it being a police car. That would attract people, especially in the target 18 to 22 age group we are looking at."

Larson said the car, which was a donation from Mike Raisor Pontiac dealership, has allowed him to get in contact with students, with whom he talks about responsible drinking, and with professors, whom have invited him to give alcohol-education presentations in their classes.

"I felt that if I pulled that car anywhere on campus and stopped, people would come over and talk to me, look at the car and check it out; which has happened," said Larson. "People may not see me around campus a lot, but that's because I am so busy as a result of that initial contact that I have very little time to stop the car."

He said the opportunity he's had of meeting professors has led him to give presentations in big classrooms such as Class of 1950 Lecture Hall, to classes of more than 200 students.

Larson has conducted 42 seminars over the past 11 months reaching more than 1,000 students. Students, he said, have provided positive feedback about the program through presentation evaluation sheets he hands out at the end of every presentation. A student once wrote: "I thought the information (of the seminar) was very relevant to my life and my friends. I'll pass the info that I've learned. Nice car."

Ron Fosnaugh, captain of special services at the Purdue Police Department, said that in addition to the seminars in the classrooms, Larson also goes to every home football game, to Day on Campus and to the Tippecanoe Mall, reaching thousands of people. "I think the program has been very successful," Fosnaugh said.

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