College Station, TX —  Today The Century Council and Texas A&M University announced the use of a dynamic new interactive CD-ROM program designed to help college students stop the misuse of alcohol on campus, Alcohol 101 Plus™. at a press demonstration today at Texas A&M University, Governor Rick Perry, Michael O’Quinn, Vice President for Governmental Affairs at TAMU and Elmer Schneider, Interim Director of TAMU Police Department, joined Ralph Blackman, President and CEO of The Century Council, to announce that TAMU will include the new program as part of its ongoing efforts to prevent campus alcohol problems. Developed by The Century Council, a national not-for-profit organization funded by America’s leading distillers, Alcohol 101 Plus™ is available free-of-charge and over 2,000 colleges and universities across the country have requested the program to-date.

Set on a “virtual campus,” Alcohol 101 Plus™ specifically targets at-risk populations of the student body: Freshmen, Greeks, student-athletes, and judicial policy offenders. Through interactive video scenarios users have an opportunity to make “virtual” decisions for “virtual” characters. for example, users can visit a first-year dorm and choose whether or not the freshman character takes a drink, or visit the off-campus bar and decide whether the basketball star should take a drink, days before “the big game.” When the wrong decision is chosen on the virtual campus, students are presented with the consequences of their bad decision.

“I am proud to be here today to launch The Century Council’s Alcohol 101 Plus™ program at Texas A&M University, and I am confident that it is, and will continue to be, an essential and effective tool to help college students make right choices concerning alcohol,” said Governor Perry. “While the good news is the percentage of students who reported daily drinking has declined by 18 percent proportionally from 1982 to 2002, it is no secret that college students drink alcohol. We must continue to promote safe and informed choices among our college students.”
“By systematically incorporating Alcohol 101 Plus™ into substance abuse prevention programming, we hope to have significant influence on our students’ ability to make safe and responsible decisions about alcohol,” said O’Quinn. “The program’s ability to hit so many of these challenging issues gives it the potential to be one of the most important tools available to college administrators today.”

Representing a more than one-million-dollar investment, the creation of Alcohol 101 Plus™ brought about the broadest alcohol industry-government partnership designed to prevent the misuse of alcohol on college campuses including the U.S. Department of Education; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Additionally, more than 50 on-campus practitioners,
student focus groups, as well as representatives from; National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); and the BACCHUS and GAMMA Peer Education Network.

“The fact that the most recent data shows 80% of freshman report they have consumed alcohol in the past year, consuming about 6 drinks a week, is a fact of college life that must be countered with effective education.,” said Blackman of The Century Council. “We must continue to fight underage drinking and the misuse of alcohol to keep our students safe and alcohol-free. the entire campus community must become involved in this important fight.”

Alcohol 101 Plus™ is user friendly, entertaining and informative. in addition to video scenarios and “pop-up” messages, the CD includes an interactive game developed by SONY, b4udrink, which tests a user’s knowledge about how alcohol affects the body, friends and school, sex, and the truths and consequences of college drinking. the CD-ROM also includes a “Virtual Bar,” where a user can “virtually” drink and obtain personalized information on the impact of alcohol on their individual blood alcohol concentration and a “Virtual Brain,” which conveys information about the physical and mental affects of alcohol.

Students perceive that their peers are drinking more than they actually are…On average, a majority (63 percent) of college students think their peers on campus use alcohol three or more times a week. Yet, by comparison, only 24% report they have used alcohol three or more times within the past year. Cutting edge education tools, like Alcohol 101 Plus™, can help coaches, teachers, and administrators help prevent underage drinking among college students.

The Century Council’s mission is to promote responsible decision-making regarding drinking or non-drinking of beverage alcohol and to discourage all forms of irresponsible consumption through education, communications, research, law enforcement, and other programs. Recognizing over thirteen years of progress, America’s leading distillers, Allied Domecq Spirits & Wine North America, Bacardi U.S.A., Inc., Brown-Forman, DIAGEO, Future Brands LLC, and Pernod Ricard USA, have promoted the Council’s mission by investing over $130 million in its programs to fight drunk driving and underage drinking. for more information about Alcohol 101 Plus™ or The Century Council, or to order a copy of the program free-of-charge, please visit www.alcohol101plus.org or www.centurycouncil.org.

Launched in 1991, The Century Council is funded by America's leading distillers. The Council's mission is to promote responsible decision-making regarding beverage alcohol and discourage all forms of irresponsible consumption through education, communications, research, law enforcement and other programs. For more information on the Council, log onto www.centurycouncil.org.