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."