Come to Boozin’ and Cruisin’ at OWU on Saturday
OWU students will use a golf cart and beer goggles as shown here when they participate October 30 in a drinking-and-driving simulation. (Photo courtesy of the National Park Service)
OWU junior Lauren Leister is on a mission involving golf carts, beer goggles, an obstacle course, and one of the most dangerous and deadly combinations imaginable: drinking and driving.
“Boozin’ and Cruisin’,” an OWU event scheduled for October 30 from 2-5 p.m. on the Hill, will allow students donning the goggles to drive any of three golf carts through the obstacle course, with assistance from Ohio Wesleyan public safety officers.
“The goggles are designed to impair vision replicating blood alcohol levels of .08 for night vision and .12 for day vision,” says Leister, a resident advisor in Welch Hall. Boozin’ and Cruisin’ is a campus-wide program co-sponsored by CLEAR, OWU’s fraternities, residential life, and the public safety office.
“We want to show students the difference between driving with and without [consuming] alcohol,” says Leister, who is coordinating the event. Scheduling it during the party atmosphere of Halloween weekend was anything but an oversight.
“Students have to make choices in all kinds of situations,” says Leister.
Besides the driving exercise, students attending “Boozin and Cruisin’” will enjoy food, music, mocktails, and a variety of educational games involving alcohol consumption.
“Any time we can engage our students on these topics and provide good information, it hopefully is beneficial to them,” says Bob Wood, director of public safety at Ohio Wesleyan. “The hope is that with good information, they can make good and, we hope, wise decisions.”