"College 101- Depression, Suicide, And Binge Drinking From Their Eyes

A Free, Public Domain Satellite Teleconference

a.  Sponsors:  This program is sponsored by the non-profit Peers Influence Peers Partnership working together with the Elks National Drug Awareness Program, Continental Limousines of Montrose, New York, Social Services of Putnam County, NY and with the cooperation of NYU, SUNY Purchase and Claflin University of South Carolina.

b.  Program Summary:  "College 101 – Depression, Suicide and Binge Drinking from Their Eyes” is a 60 minute previously recorded program that features youth in front of and behind the camera.  Students work on every aspect of the production, the only youth national broadcast in the country.

This year's program will feature Alex Rivera, an NYU film student, who will address a recent series of student suicides at New York University.  The Centers For Disease Control says that suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students ranked only behind accidents.  The National Vital Statistics Report of 2002 reports that the suicide rate among 15-24 year olds has nearly tripled with one successful suicide occurring every two hours and eleven minutes.  An American College Health Association survey of 16,000 students across 28 campuses showed that 9.5% of students had seriously thought about suicide and that 1.5 had actually made a suicide attempt. 

In this program, Mr. Rivera and his fellow students from NYU’s renowned Tisch School of the Arts, wrote, produced, edited and appeared in the production.  Using NYU’s experience as an example, they will probe the reasons for and responses to college student signs of depression and campus suicides.  The show will combine an original screenplay, "Nod and a Smile" and interviews with student and experts on understanding depression and preventing student suicides.  Also participating was Emmy Award winner Daniel Howard of Claflin University in South Carolina.  Its content will explore the contributing factors to student suicides, as well as the resources that students have to find help in avoiding or dealing with those factors.  This original screenplay will have a running time of approximately 35 minutes.  The additional time will accommodate a documentary style production by Peers Alumnus, Samantha Sklaar concerning “Binge Drinking.”

c.  Program Objectives:  College Youth and other audiences watching this program will learn:

-  How college youth speak to their peers about suicide and its effects on others
-  How to increase peer sensitivity to the factors that contribute to student suicides
-  How to minimize the factors at play with those contemplating suicide and respond to their needs
-  How at-risk students will become more aware of resources they have to help themselves.
-  How binge drinking effects behavior and academic success on today’s campus. 

d  Target Audience Statement:  College aged students are the primary audience for this program.  Secondary audiences include high school students, teachers and faculty, school administrators, school health care workers and parents. 

e.  Availability:  This free, public domain program will be available on C-Band Analog satellite downlinks.  No analog KU coordinates will be available.  Subscribers to the Dish Network small dish satellite network will also be able to see the program on the afternoon and evening of  Tuesday 14 March 2006.  Many local cable access stations will also carry this program one or more times.  (Check with your cable access provider for their schedules.) 

Will this program be Video streamed or Webcast?  It is expected to be available as a webcast.  The sponsors are working to provide this capability.   

f.  Registration:  All satellite site coordinators MUST register for this program to receive the necessary satellite coordinates and other supporting information.  Please register on-line here: Peers Registration Site or by calling this toll free number if the server is down; 877-820-0305. 

g.  Satellite Coordinates and Site Support Materials Packet:  Satellite coordinates are never publicly posted, you must register to receive them.  Satellite coordinates will be sent to all site coordinators and their supporting satellite technicians (if you listed an email address for them) about 5-7 days prior to the broadcast.  If available, site support materials will be available to all registered participants on line.  Details will be sent in the final satellite coordinates message.  If you need assistance in locating a satellite downlink location to view this program, please call Ed Kronholm, our satellite/registrations coordinator, toll free at 1-877-820-0305 or 480-820-0305 or email: dlnets@aol.com.   

h.  CEUs, CMEs, Certificates: There are no CEUs, CMEs available for this program. 

i.  Videotape Availability:  Please email dlnets@aol.com or call Ed Kronholm at 877-820-0305 for details on getting a videotape of this program. 

j.  Videotape release (if taping from broadcast):  This FREE program is unclassified and non-scrambled.  There are no copyright restrictions on this program, however it MAY NOT be videotaped and re-broadcast where fees are attached to its showing.  It may not be used for commercial purposes or for profit purposes without additional permission of the sponsors.   

k.  Web Site Support and Materials:  See: http://peerspartnership.org/

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