Alumna To Discuss Losing Son For RID Week Kick Off
Over two out of every five of all college
students are binge drinkers, having at least five drinks
in a row for men and four drinks in a row for women.
The highest prevalence of binge and heavy drinking in 2002
was for young adults aged 18 to 25, with the peak rate occurring
at age 21. The rate of binge drinking was 40.9 percent for
young adults and 50.2 percent at age 21, according to Mothers
Against Drunk Driving studies.
“
I know they are supposed to be adults when they turn 21,
but that isn’t the case,” said Susan Wagener,
a school counselor in the Aldine Independent School District.
Not just a school counselor, Wagener is the mother of a 21-year-old
who died on his birthday of alcohol poisoning.
An SHSU alumna, she will discuss the loss of her son, Michael,
on Monday (Feb. 28), at 7 p.m. in Academic Building 4’s
Olson Auditorium. The event, “Tragedy with a Personal
Touch,” will kick off the SHSU Alcohol Abuse Initiative’s
Reducing Irresponsible Drinking Week.
Described as someone who “wasn’t a big drinker,” Michael,
a student at Texas A&M, and his friends went out for “power
hour,” between midnight and 1 a.m., in 1999 to celebrate
his ability to legally drink. Within 30 to 45 minutes, Michael
drank eight or nine shots and later died of alcohol poisoning.
“
The intent from his friends that night was to get him drunk
because that’s what you are supposed to do on your
21st birthday,” his mother said.
“
Susan’s son didn’t know what he was doing; his
friends didn’t know what they were doing when they
bought him all those shots and alcohol,” said assistant
dean of students Mary Ellen Sims, who is also a committee
member for the Alcohol Abuse Initiative. “She’s
just trying to say, ‘think about it.’”
Now dedicating her time to raising awareness about alcohol
poisoning, Wagener has worked with state Rep. Rob Eissler
(R-The Woodlands) and Texans Standing Tall, a coalition aimed
at preventing underage drug and alcohol use, to promote Eissler’s “Cinderella
Bill.” The bill, if passed, would make it illegal for
someone to drink alcohol at a bar or restaurant before 7
a.m. on the person’s 21st birthday and before noon
if the birthday falls on Sunday.
Wagener’s speech will also kick off SHSU’s 21st
birthday card program, a program Wagener and her husband,
Bodie, also a SHSU alumnus and educator, helped bring to
Texas A&M after their son’s death.
Through the program, a birthday card will be sent to students
on their 21st birthdays reminding them to be safe, Sims said.
“
What we’re going to do is design a birthday card, and
it is going to say, “have a happy birthday, but celebrate
responsibly,” she said. “It will have an information
card in it about alcohol poising and consuming excess amounts
of alcohol (as well as treating alcohol poisoning).
“
Honestly, we don’t want to tell students not to celebrate,
but what we’re saying is do it responsibly,” she
said.
Sims said as an educator, Wagener knows how to communicate with young people
and her presentation has received positive feedback in the past.
“
I think what is so touching is how much she cares about young people,” Sims
said. “The Wageners were determined that their son’s death would
not be in vain, that something positive would come out of his death, because
he had a very positive life. He was a very bright young man with a great future.”
—END—
SHSU Media Contact: Jennifer
Gauntt
Feb. 24, 2005
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