By Beth Flynn
The Grim Reaper will be on campus today to acknowledge Alcohol Awareness week and the number of people killed daily in accidents caused by drunk drivers.
This year, UNO took a different approach to addressing Alcohol Awareness week with the “Grim Reaper” Project.
The project, which is sponsored by sponsored by the Panhellenic, Student Health Advisory and Interfraternity councils, was launched on Monday.
The Grim Reaper has one mission. He will wander campus randomly selecting students. If the Reaper touches your shoulder, you will be given a sticker to wear to show that you are the victim of a drunk driver.
The idea of this program came from students who participated in similar awareness projects in their high schools. The councils hope the project will have an effect on the students. They also hope to educate students about the impact caused from drinking and driving.
“We are hoping it will be effective,” said Whitney Merz, public relations chair for the Panhellenic Council.
The event was publicized in UNO’s What’s Up and the groups will write sidewalk chalk messages notifying students of the project.
The program aims to make students aware of the consequences of drinking and driving.
At noon today, Mothers Against Drunk Driving will sponsor a speaker in the Milo Bail Student Center’s Dodge Room. The speaker will inform and educate UNO students on how drinking and driving can impact their lives.
In 2001, based on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data, out of 246 traffic deaths in Nebraska, 96 were alcohol related.
The total number killed in an alcohol-related crash was 44.1 percent.
Through this project, it is hoped students will realize that alcohol- related accidents and deaths can happen to anyone. The groups sponsoring the event expect it will influence the ways students look at drinking and driving and will make them think twice before getting in a car and driving while drunk.
