A total of 53 employees from seven liquor licensees were trained during the period of January, 2010 through June, 2010 in conjunction with a program offered by C-COMPASS which subsidized a portion of the cost of the Responsible Alcohol Management Program (RAMP) Server/Seller trainings.  This program was funded through a grant from the Northwest Regional Highway Safety Office of the Erie County Health Department. 

Attendees of the trainings indicated in surveys that they would be able to apply the knowledge learned from the sessions immediately and that the training helped improve their sense of Server/Seller responsibility.  The most useful topics mentioned were carding for fake ID’s, liability, PA Laws vs. House Rules, and handling minors.

Congratulations to the following establishments for their participation in this program:

 Andy’s Ale House & Grill

 Erie Port Authority - Eight Great Tuesdays

 Molly Brannigan’s

 Scott Enterprises

 Sherlock’s Park Place 

 Sluggers Sports Bar & Grill

 The Brewerie

Although additional funding through this program is not available at this time,  C-COMPASS encourages all liquor licensees to continue to participate in this important program which will assist them in working with their employees to serve alcohol responsibily and protect themselves and their businesses.

For more information regarding RAMP, go to:

 http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=612017&mode=2

C-COMPASS was awarded a grant in the fall of 2008 for $2,500.00 from the Northwest Regional Highway Safety Network to work with local establishments to get their servers/sellers trained through the Responsible Alcohol Management (R.A.M.P.) Training Program, offered by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB).  This grant will help to subsidize the cost of training for 120 employees of local taverns and beer distributors in detecting fake ID’s, identifying intoxicated patrons, and in knowing the Pennsylvania laws regarding alcohol.

The cost of R.A.M.P. training is $25 per employee.  C-COMPASS is encouraging liquor licensees to participate in this program and will reimburse the owners/managers $15 per employee trained.  The trainings are facilitated by Robert Raphael, an independent R.A.M.P. trainer approved by the PLCB and are held at either Gannon University or Penn State Erie, The Behrend College.                                                          

Eighty employees of fifteen licensees have participated in the program through May 2009.  Two additional training dates are remaining:  Saturday, July 25^th and Sunday, August 9^th.  Both of these sessions will be held at Gannon University from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.  For more information about the trainings or to register, contact Ms. Julie Srnka, Gannon University, at 814-871-5649 or srnka001@gannon.edu.

Over 1,000 colleges and universities in the United States participate in National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week in October of each year to recognize the importance of campus prevention efforts addressing alcohol abuse and impaired driving prevention. 

Locally, Gannon University, Mercyhurst College, and Penn State Erie, The Behrend College prepared and presented programs for the students at each of their schools to increase student awareness of alcohol abuse issues and to provide students with alcohol-free options.

     ►   Gannon University provided informational displays and activities during

            each day of the week in the campus center which were sponsored by

            student groups and campus departments.  The displays included facts

            about alcohol and about laws pertaining to alcohol use, tips for responsible

            decision making, and information about the signs of alcohol poisoning. 

            Social norms messages were also displayed around the campus to

            encourage students to make healthy and safe choices.

            Students were invited to attend “A Round on Us” social event, which

            provided mocktails, games, and information about alcohol issues.  On

            another evening, a student group sponsored an OcSOBERfest Halloween

            party with a haunted maze, games, activities, music, food, and prizes.  That

            event was followed by a late night movie for students.    

     ►   Mercyhurst College planned a variety of activities and assorted

            giveaways in observance of Alcohol Awareness Week.  Throughout the

            week, students were encouraged to sign pledges to make safe and healthy

            choices regarding alcohol use. Alcohol-related information was distributed

            at various campus locations as well.  Free, confidential screenings for

            depression were available on campus, since alcohol and depression are

            often related issues.

            Students could test a simulator outside the student union which is designed

            to illustrate the dangers of drinking and driving.  On another evening, a

            speaker, Matt Eby, shared his story with Mercyhurst students of being

            charged with DUI Manslaughter in Palm Beach County, Florida several

            years ago in hopes of dissuading others from making life-altering

            mistakes such as his. 

            The week ended with two social events whereby students could compete

            with their peers to create ice cream with the chance of winning an ice

            cream maker and a “Greek night” at which students wore their best toga,

            enjoyed alcohol-free refreshments, and competed for prizes.

     ►   Penn State Erie, The Behrend College presented innovative displays

            around campus as part of a “Don’t Be A Statistic” Poster Campaign which

            pointed out current relevant statistics regarding alcohol consumption and

            the dangers of underage and binge drinking.  Informational tables with

            giveaways, such as breathalyzer key chains, were staffed by Personal

            Counseling and Health and Wellness individuals to spread the word about

            responsible choices.

            The DUI Simulator was available on campus for students to experience

            the dangers of drinking and driving.  Matt Eby, the speaker charged with

            DUI manslaughter, also spoke to students about the impact of his decision

            to drink and drive.  Another speaker, Joel Goldman, presented “Sex

            Under the Influence” to encourage students to make smarter decisions

            regarding sex and alcohol. 

Spring Break is a time to have fun and relax.  Whether you are hangin’ with friends or catching up with family you need to make sure to have a fun SAFE break.  This brochure gives a few tips on how to make sure everyone is comfortable with the choices you are making during your downtime.

We Don’t Serve Teens, a new national campaign to reduce underage drinking, is focusing on the social sources that may provide teens with access to alcohol. The campaign’s centerpiece is www.DontServeTeens.gov, a website sponsored by a coalition of public and private sector organizations, including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency.

Most teens who drink get alcohol from social sources: parents of other teens, older siblings, and other relatives and friends. People who provide alcohol to teens not only undermine the efforts of parents to protect their kids, they also break the law. The legal drinking age in the United States is 21. Studies show that adults strongly support this law a recent national survey showed that most parents said the drinking age should remain 21 or be raised. But parents need help to make sure their teens don’t have access to alcohol. The message to neighbors, relatives and friends is “Don’t serve alcohol to teens.” said Gannon C-COMPASS representative, Julie Srnka. “It’s unsafe. It’s illegal. It’s irresponsible.”

Srnka added, “The age when drinking starts affects future drinking problems. For each year that the start of drinking is delayed, the risk of later alcohol dependence is reduced by 14 percent.”

The FTC prepared and maintains www.DontServeTeens.gov. Other organizations providing assistance in disseminating program materials are: the U.S. Department of Treasury Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association, the Century Council, Students Against Destructive Decisions, the National Liquor Law Enforcement Association, the Responsible Retailing Forum, the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors, Inc., the National Consumers League, and the American Beverage Licensees.

For more information on stopping teens’ easy access to alcohol, practical tips on talking to kids about alcohol and alcohol advertising, and what to say to friends and neighbors about serving alcohol to teens, visit www.DontServeTeens.gov.

Representatives from six establishments attend the various coalition events

On Wednesday, June 20, representatives from all three coalition schools and two local establishments attended the final coalition dinner for the current grant period. The dinner was held at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. During the meal, a robust discussion about coalition accomplishments and future plans was facilitated by Alan Swigonski, Director of the Waldron Campus Center at Gannon University.

The dinner was the final meal scheduled for the 2006-07 grant year and was proceeded by a luncheon hosted at Gannon University and a breakfast hosted by Mercyhurst College. The breakfast, entitled “Making the grade: Understanding the age compliance program” was presented by Seargeant Wolinsky and Officer Orzechowski from the Erie bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement. The PA LCE began implementing compliance checks in the commonwealth in early 2005 as dictated under the authority of Act 141. Underage Buyers, interns from the various colleges/ universities throughout Pennsylvania, work in conjunction with Liquor Enforcement Officers to enter liquor-licensed establishments and attempt to purchase alcoholic beverages. If the establishment serves the Underage Buyer, a Liquor Enforcement Officer immediately notifies them about the Age Compliance Check and administrative action is taken.

Six local establishments were represented throughout the year at the various events, including representatives from the One Way Inn, the Shaggy Dog, the Gaslight, Sherlock’s, Cornerstone, and Papermoon. The meals provided a forum for owners and managers from local bars, taverns, and restaurants the opportunity to advise coalition members on strategies for engaging other establishments and curbing underage and high-risk drinking in our community.

In its first Call to Action against underage drinking, the U.S. Surgeon General’s Office appealed today to Americans to do more to stop America’s 11 million current underage drinkers from using alcohol, and to keep other young people from starting.

Acting Surgeon General Kenneth Moritsugu, M.D., M.P.H., laid out recommendations for government and school officials, parents, other adults and the young people.

“Too many Americans consider underage drinking a rite of passage to adulthood,” said Dr. Moritsugu. “Research shows that young people who start drinking before the age of 15 are five times more likely to have alcohol-related problems later in life. New research also indicates that alcohol may harm the developing adolescent brain. The availability of this research provides more reasons than ever before for parents and other adults to protect the health and safety of our nation’s children.”

Although there has been a significant decline in tobacco and illicit drug use among teens, underage drinking has remained at consistently high levels. The 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health estimates there are 11 million underage drinkers in the United States.

Nearly 7.2 million are considered binge drinkers, typically meaning they drank more than five drinks on occasion, and more than two million are classified as heavy drinkers.

The report identifies six goals:

• Foster changes in society that facilitate healthy adolescent development and that help prevent and reduce underage drinking.
• Engage parents, schools, communities, all levels of government, all social systems that interface with youth, and youth themselves in a coordinated national effort to prevent and reduce underage drinking and its consequences.
• Promote an understanding of underage alcohol consumption in the context of human development and maturation that takes into account individual adolescent characteristics as well as environmental, ethnic, cultural, and gender differences.
• Conduct additional research on adolescent alcohol use and its relationship to development.
• Work to improve public health surveillance on underage drinking and on population-based risk factors for this behavior.
• Work to ensure that policies at all levels are consistent with the national goal of preventing and reducing underage alcohol consumption.

“Alcohol remains the most heavily abused substance by America’s youth,” said Dr. Moritsugu. “This Call to Action is attempting to change the culture and attitudes toward drinking in America. We can no longer ignore what alcohol is doing to our children.”
Copies of The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking and other related materials are available at www.surgeongeneral.gov or by calling the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information at 1-800-729-6686.

Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, announced today that it is the recipient of an $11,500 grant from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) to support the college’s mission of preventing underage and high-risk alcohol use. The PLCB has awarded more than $664,000 in grant funding to 62 organizations throughout the Commonwealth for 2006-07—a 34 percent increase versus last year.

“Penn State Behrend has established three primary goals for this grant,” said Amanda Knerr, associate director of student affairs. “We plan to increase the visibility and awareness about alcohol expectations and enforcement on-campus; use the social norms campaign model to educate students; and provide Penn State Behrend’s support services with the tools necessary to create a culture of discussion surrounding alcohol choices and behaviors, campus culture and student wellness.”

Penn State Behrend will use the grant to address four key projects.

• Students will complete the CORE Institute’s alcohol and drug survey to determine their perceptions about and behaviors related to alcohol use.
• Penn State Behrend will develop a new social norms campaign based on the CORE survey’s results, including marketing initiatives to target students’ feedback.
• An additional officer will be assigned to campus during the late evening/early morning hours on Friday and Saturday nights throughout the year and on certain holidays, such as Halloween and St. Patrick’s Day.
• Penn State Behrend will purchase an Alco-sensor FST for its campus police to administer on-site blood/breath alcohol concentration (BAC) tests to students.

The grant is co-sponsored by Penn State Behrend’s Partnership for Prevention Task Force to reduce underage and high-risk alcohol consumption, as well as Police and Safety Services and Residence Life.

Knerr added that the C-Compass Coalition, which is comprised of representatives from Penn State Behrend, Gannon University and Mercyhurst College, received a PLCB grant to cover the costs of several new initiatives aimed at reducing underage and high-risk alcohol consumption by college students at local bars, taverns and beer distributors. The grant will allow the C-Coalition to collaborate with local establishments to address and combat this behavior.

Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, offers 31 baccalaureate, five associate, four pre-professional and two graduate degree programs with 21 minors to more than 3,700 students. Focused on providing a student-centered environment, Penn State Behrend is the link that connects its students to a major research and land-grant institution on a campus enriched by more than 90 clubs and organizations, 21 NCAA varsity teams, 19 intramural sports and modern facilities. For more information, visit www.pserie.psu.edu.

C-COMPASS, Campus & Community Partners Advocating for Safe Students, a coalition formed by Erie colleges and universities was awarded $11,500 in grant funds today by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to support its mission of preventing underage and high risk alcohol use.

The PLCB selected C-COMPASS and 62 organizations throughout the commonwealth to receive a share of over $664,000 in funding for comprehensive community-based initiatives. The grant to C-COMPASS will be dedicated specifically for building relationships with local establishments in their communitment to reduce underage and high-risk alcohol use in the Erie community.

“Today’s awards continue the Board’s dedication to engaging local partners in the fight against underage and high risk college drinking,” said PLCB Chairman Jonathan Newman. “This grant money will bolster the collaborative effort between the PLCB and C-COMPASS and expand the resources in the fight against underage and high risk consumption.”

This year’s total grant award is an increase of 34 percent over the ’05-’06 funding level and is the largest award, to-date, by the PLCB for prevention and high risk use initiatives.

“This increase in grant funding shows the PLCB’s unwavering commitment to protect youth and communities by heightening the effort in the fight against underage and high risk alcohol use,” said PLCB Board member, Thomas F. Goldsmith. “The Board will continue to set higher and higher goals and dedicate the financial support and resources for continued successes in education and prevention initiatives.”

The ’06-07 grants targeting underage and high risk use of alcohol, are one component in support of the PLCB’s mission to provide leadership and resources in reducing alcohol misuse in the commonwealth.

“Today’s awards are part of the PLCB’s comprehensive approach to fighting alcohol misuse,” said Patrick J. Stapleton, a PLCB board member. “The PLCB recognizes that strategies which change the college environment affect a change in perception about alcohol among young adults. Providing funding to support these environmental changes is one of the best ways the PLCB can help prevent life-long alcohol misuse.”

The PLCB grant monies will support a range of initiatives including law enforcement training and community and youth outreach and prevention programs. The PLCB is an independent state agency that manages the alcohol beverage industry in Pennsylvania. It is responsible for licensing the possession, sale, storage, transportation, importation and manufacture of wine, spirits and malt or brewed beverages in the commonwealth, as well as operating a system of liquor distribution (retailing) and providing education and prevention services to reduce the harmful effects of alcohol misuse. The PLCB grant program is administered by the Board’s Bureau of Alcohol Education.

For more information, visit www.lcb.state.pa.us and www.dontletminorsdrink.com.