UWM Program Aims to Keep Students Safe During Spring Break

Next to the “Seize the Keys” booth at the UWM Union, Kristin Enbarbiaux, a graduate student in occupational therapy, earned a Frisbee by participating in a demonstration for Officer Craig Rafferty of the UWM Police Department. The exercise was designed for Alcohol Awareness Week and to encourage students to have a safe spring break.

MILWAUKEE - With spring break looming on the horizon for University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students, a special effort is under way to encourage them to make healthy choices while off-campus March 18-23.

Students will staff a booth March 11-13 in the UWM Union Concourse, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd., where their fellow students will be encouraged to join the "Seize the Keys" program. (At other times, students will be informed about "Seize the Keys" at UWM's Sandburg Halls of Residence.)

"Seize the Keys" involves students signing a pledge that they will not drink and drive, not ride with an impaired driver, and always will wear a seatbelt when in a car.

As students sign the pledge, loops will be added to a construction paper chain that will be a symbol of how many students are signing the pledge. Another reminder for students is a "Seize the Keys" key chain that they will receive after signing the pledge.

At the booths there also will be social norms messages based on research collected as part of the "Just the Facts Project." This information will convey, for example, the "Just the Facts" statistic that 80% of UWM students are not drinking and driving.

Another part of the program is a display case near the UWM Bookstore with student pictures and testimonials about their limited use of alcohol (0-4 drinks per week), and the many things that these students do for fun. A display board with these same student pictures will also be at the booths where students sign the pledge. In addition, a large banner with the social norms message will hang in the UWM Union Concourse.

Students running the pledge campaign include representatives from Norris Health Center, School of Nursing, College of Health Sciences, and Peer Health Advocate Program, and a class of journalism and mass communication majors.

The Spring Break program is part of the "Just the Facts" project and the UWM Young Adult Impaired Driving Prevention Program, which is funded by the Wisconsin Bureau of Transportation and the National Institute on Alcohol and Alcohol Abuse.

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