Westfield State Attends APPLE Conference
Four members of the Westfield State College community recently attended the APPLE Conference, focusing on substance abuse prevention, at the University of Virginia.
WESTFIELD STATE ATTENDS APPLE CONFERENCE
By Zach Farley
Four members of the Westfield State College community recently
attended the APPLE Conference, focusing on substance abuse
prevention, at the University of Virginia.
Westfield State's team at the three-day conference were associate
athletics director/senior women's administrator Nancy
Bals, junior student-athletes Brett Ralph
and Marlee Berg, and Chaltali
Brahmbhatt, a residential life staff assistant who
oversees the college's ACE (alcohol choices education) program.
At the APPLE Conference, student-athletes obtained information on
alcohol education and promoting wellness. They discussed various
aspects of these important issues with their peers from 40
colleges.
The APPLE model includes seven components, or slices, of program
areas such as policies, drug testing, sanctioning and
education.
"The conference is designed to inform participants about alcohol
education, and the format encourages the students to lead the
discussions on how we can improve our efforts on campus," said
Bals.
"My favorite part was interacting with the other student athletes.
It's just not something you get to do every day," said Ralph, a
tight end on the football team. "You are exposed to so many
different perspectives, which really expands your thinking about
other schools you see and hear about everyday."
The conference also allowed students to learn facts that might not
appear so obvious, such as 25 percent of college athletes don't
drink at all and 86 percent drink less or not at all when
in-season.
"The perception student-athletes have of themselves as pertaining
to alcohol is very tainted," said Ralph. "It was quite shocking to
see how few actually drink, never mind in season. It reverses your
thinking about student athlete drinking."
One focus of the conference was to inform student-athletes of their
bodies' nutritional requirements if they do drink. For example, the
body needs an additional cup of water for every alcoholic drink
consumed. Athletes generally require 12 cups of water per day;
therefore, an athlete who drinks a six-pack would then need about
18 cups of water that day.
Another focus area discussed was alcohol servings and exactly how
they are measured. For this enlightening topic, there was a keynote
address by Linda Hancock, a faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth
University.
"I would feel bad for any student who missed her presentation. She
was funny, down to earth, filled with information... just great
overall." said Berg, a track and field and cross country captain.
"She also really stuck in people's minds, not just as a speaker but
the information within her presentation."
"We would love to have Linda speak at Westfield State; she was an
excellent source of information and very engaging," said Bals, who
noted that Hancock has an excellent Web site:
www.yourstrategy.org.
Westfield State is actively implementing new ideas from the APPLE
conference along with improving current strategies. For any student
on campus, it is important to know that peer alcohol education is
available. Two peer workshops are being offered this month at
Westfield State - Feb. 12 and Feb. 25, both at 7:00 p.m., in
Scanlon Living Room.
"Overall, the conference allowed us to come back with some really
good ideas to enhance our ACE program," said Bals.
"Absolutely, I would go again. It was an excellent opportunity to
interact with the administration and fellow student athletes," said
Ralph. "Everyone was extremely motivated, and some great action
plans came together. The speakers and presentations were
outstanding. Overall, it was definitely an experience that I'm
happy I did not pass up."
"My favorite part was interacting with the other student athletes.
It's just not something you get to do every day," said Ralph, a
tight end on the football team. "You are exposed to so many
different perspectives, which really expands your thinking about
other schools you see and hear about everyday."
The conference also allowed students to learn facts that might not
appear so obvious, such as 25 percent of college athletes don't
drink at all and 86 percent drink less or not at all when
in-season.
"The perception student-athletes have of themselves as pertaining
to alcohol is very tainted," said Ralph. "It was quite shocking to
see how few actually drink, never mind in season. It reverses your
thinking about student athlete drinking."
One focus of the conference was to inform student-athletes of their
bodies' nutritional requirements if they do drink. For example, the
body needs an additional cup of water for every alcoholic drink
consumed. Athletes generally require 12 cups of water per day;
therefore, an athlete who drinks a six-pack would then need about
18 cups of water that day.
Another focus area discussed was alcohol servings and exactly how
they are measured. For this enlightening topic, there was a keynote
address by Linda Hancock, a faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth
University.
"I would feel bad for any student who missed her presentation. She
was funny, down to earth, filled with information... just great
overall." said Berg, a track and field and cross country captain.
"She also really stuck in people's minds, not just as a speaker but
the information within her presentation."
"We would love to have Linda speak at Westfield State; she was an
excellent source of information and very engaging," said Bals, who
noted that Hancock has an excellent Web site:
www.yourstrategy.org.
Westfield State is actively implementing new ideas from the APPLE
conference along with improving current strategies. For any student
on campus, it is important to know that peer alcohol education is
available. Two peer workshops are being offered this month at
Westfield State - Feb. 12 and Feb. 25, both at 7:00 p.m., in
Scanlon Living Room.
"Overall, the conference allowed us to come back with some really
good ideas to enhance our ACE program," said Bals.
"Absolutely, I would go again. It was an excellent opportunity to
interact with the administration and fellow student athletes," said
Ralph. "Everyone was extremely motivated, and some great action
plans came together. The speakers and presentations were
outstanding. Overall, it was definitely an experience that I'm
happy I did not pass up."
