Nelson Correia Abreu
Section
1781
11/29/2000
DATE: November 29, 2000
TO: Dr. James E. Scott, Vice-President
Student Affairs
FROM: Nelson C. Abreu, Student
SUBJECT: Proposal for Addressing Drunk-Driving Problem
PROBLEM
Drunk driving is the most frequently committed violent crime in the United States. Over 40% of all the 16-to-20-year-olds who died in 1994 were killed in car crashes, about half of which were alcohol-related. Although the University of Florida implements several awareness initiatives to reduce drunk driving and alert to dangers of alcohol, a recent Harvard study shows that most of the heaviest drinkers too easily ignore all of this.
According to a 1999 UF Campus Alcohol and Drug Resource Center survey, one-fifth of our student population is drinking 60 percent of the alcohol on campus, implying most don’t drink or drink in moderation. Twenty percent may seem like a small figure, but it is large enough to degrade the school’s overall academic performance, reputation and atmosphere and can potentially expose non-heavy-drinking peers to physical assault. Therefore, I propose a non-conventional, mandatory course to decrease the number of heavy-drinking and resulting injuries. The first part of the course focuses directly on the drunk-driving and alcohol abuse problem, while the other motivates students not to drink through research results of two new sciences called Conscientiology and Projectiology.
PROGRAM
Course Description
Part A. To reduce the cases of drunk-driving, students should take a course titled Seminar on Alcohol Consumption and Introductory Conscientiology as a graduation requirement. As expected, the course would stress the dangers of alcohol consumption such as stomach problems, memory loss, sexual impotence, and liver damage and erroneous myths like the speeding of sobering by drinking coffee. To stress the seriousness of the risks, rather than simply telling these effects, the course would describe alcohol’s chemical nature and how it affects the nervous system and the rest of the organism. Legal, social, professional, and economical consequences of alcohol abuse would be covered as well.
The school could conduct statistical research about the most common reasons for drinking among our student population. These results could be used to set up counseling sessions to address the psychological motivations for alcohol consumption, especially binge drinking. The course would motivate student participation to understand the sources of the problem and proposing solutions through open discussion and paedeia seminars, since half of all students, nationally, believe that alcohol is a problem on their campus.
IMPLEMENTATION
To develop the course Seminar on Alcohol Consumption and Introductory Conscientiology, I recommend the following plan:
- January 8 – March 1, 2001:
o Compiling information of existing UF alcohol-awareness programs
o Find updated alcohol-related medical information
o Compile an extensive list of alternatives to heavy drinking for entertainment and alternatives to drunk-driving
- March 1, 2001: Submit the course curriculum and plan to the Florida Department of Education for approval
- March 1, 2001 – May 1, 2001 or Course Approval Date:
o Develop survey to evaluate student reaction to parts A and B of the course
o Develop a survey to determine the most common reasons for drinking among our student population
- 30 days: If necessary revise course’s program & re-submit proposal
- Once approved: Begin offering course as a three-credit elective
- End of semester 1: Evaluate surveys’ results to improve course
- By end of semester 4: When optimized, begin offering course an a graduation requirement
Campus Alcohol and Drug Resource Center staff and volunteers would organize committees to develop the course curriculum and surveys. After the course’s curriculum is approved, the school should hire enough psychology or sociology majors to have 10 instructors and 20 teacher assistants. The International Institute of Projectiology and Conscientiology (IIPC) would send an instructor to train the UF teachers.
Classes would take place at an auditorium such as Carlton 100. Projectiology and Conscientiology books and journals would be purchased for the library. Copies of documentaries such as IIPC’s “OBE: A Glimpse of Immortality” would be purchased for the course.
BUDGET
The following are the approximate, projected expenses for this project:
Additional Personnel up to $450,000
IIPC Training up to 400,000
Two copies of 20 Books and Journal Subscriptions 650
Three copies of Video 90
Total Cost $850,740
With 5% Contingency $893,277
To break even, it would require 3971 students to take the 3-credit course (at $75/credit).
CONCLUSION
Students driving drunk are dangerous to the Gainesville community and to themselves. To reduce the number of drunk-driving and alcohol abuse among University of Florida students, they should take a mandatory course that provides alternatives to drunk-driving and alerts to and scientifically explains risks of alcohol consumption. This document proposed the course Seminar on Alcohol Consumption and Introductory Conscientiology that could result in a significant drop of drunkenness by exposing students to the out-of-body experience and rewarding activities they can participate out-of-body that require and encourage full consciousness.
REFERENCES
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Someone You Know Drinks and Drives.
Available online: http://www.madd.org/VICTIMS/someone.shtml (11/25/2000)
Vieira, Waldo. Our Evolution. International Institute of Projectiology and Conscientiology (1999)
Wechsler, Henry et al. From Knowledge to Action. Available online:
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/cas/test/articles/change2.html (11/25/2000)
NOTES
This proposal was written simply for a University of Florida technical writing class (ENC 2210). The budget figures mentioned may be inaccurate, since they were not carefully researched and may not account for some expenses. Also, it does not mentioned estimates of benefits in terms of monetary savings. The proposal has not been sent to University of Florida Student Affairs.