Cottey student honored for work in promoting responsibility, health

At the helm of a group of students little more than half dozen or so strong (there are seven consistently active members and others who help as time allows) Amanda Akers feels she's made a difference during her time at Cottey College. Quick to give others the credit for their role in the organization's success, Akers nonetheless admits she's "very proud" of her two years as president of the schools' chapter of Boosting Alcohol Consciousness Concerning the Health of University Students.

The Forney, Texas, native was awarded the BACCHUS Area 5 Outstanding Student Award at the Meeting of the Minds 2009 conference, April 4, in Kansas City, Mo.

According to a press release from Cottey College, Area 5 honors the outstanding programs and people who focus on prevention and education efforts at colleges and universities in the Midwest with awards presented annually, and Akers was recognized for her achievements in leadership as the president of Cottey College's BACCHUS chapter.

According to information provided by Cottey, the organization "provides cutting edge resources and programs for students on a wide variety of health topics on alcohol issues and beyond."

The group and its purpose appeals to its members in a variety of ways. "Each of us joined BACCHUS for different reasons. Some joined because they were in organizations like this in high school; others of us have combated some of these issues personally and want to inform others so they can be safe," Akers said.

To do so, the group identifies and carries out activities aimed at raising awareness of a multitude of health and social issues affecting college students.

For example, "We participate in Alcoholic Awareness Week, in which we created a simulation of what it would be like to be intoxicated," with fatal vision goggles, distributed information about alcohol and alcohol poisoning and more. As a practical supplement to that effort, the group also distributed information for those who choose to drink alcohol on how to keep themselves and their friends as safe as possible when doing so.

For Sexual Respon-sibility week, the group put beds in the residential hall parlors with various shapes on them. If they thought the bed looked good, the students were to take a shape -- which they would later learn represented one of three sexually transmitted diseases.

At the end of the week, BACCHUS members distributed information about STDs and sexual responsibility.

Eating disorder awareness was also addressed by the group, through documentaries and discussions on how women view one another and themselves, Akers said. Last year, students put sticky notes in each suite which students were to use to write a positive message on and stick it to the mirror when entering the bathroom.

Cottey's BACCHUS group also works with other campus organizations on similar projects and has hosted parties for prospective students, where "mocktails" served in cups labeled with tips on avoiding abuse of drugs or alcohol flow freely.

Akers said most of the programs carried out by the club are well received, and garner at least a little participation. "Depending on the program, we get anywhere from five people to 90 people at our events," Akers said; but she doesn't mind when the turnout is small; the effort was still worth it.

"Our main goal is to reach at least one person. As long as one person is touched we have succeeded because in turn that one person can share what they have learned with others," she said.

Akers admits to some sadness as the end of her second year at Cottey approaches and her tenure as the group's leader comes to an end, but "with (fellow students) Tess Mann and Erin Dalvini as our new president and vice president I know that they will continue to grow and keep the programs afloat."

A survey members are preparing now is aimed at collecting feedback on the programs conducted this year, to help with future planning, and Akers is leaving the group with a confident view and high hopes for the group's next steps.

The Cottey group, she said, "has only been really active in the past two years, so we have been doing trial and error stuff here at Cottey, and we hope in the next year or so we can take things to the community."