COLUMBUS -- “Understanding Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Issues in Minority Communities” is the topic of Ohio State’s Wellness Symposium 2001, from 9:15 a.m. to 2 p.m., Friday, April 13, in Room 150 of the Younkin Success Center, 1640 Neil Ave. Ohio State University President William E. Kirwan will give opening remarks.

This year’s Wellness Symposium will help to explain why alcohol and drug abuses persist in Hispanic, African American, Asian American and American Indian communities, and examine culturally specific prevention strategies to deal with these problems.

Anthereca Lane, graduate associate for alcohol and other drug abuse prevention at the Student Wellness Center, organized this year’s Wellness Symposium to increase public awareness of substance abuse issues.

“The Wellness Symposium will offer a rare opportunity to have discussions with individuals who have a complete understanding of the critical issues facing their communities and who know how to influence change,” Lane said. “This is just one step the Student Wellness Center is taking to implement a strategic approach to addressing the needs of a diverse student body at Ohio State.”

The event is sponsored by Ohio State’s Student Wellness Center in collaboration with the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, the Ohio Substance Abuse Prevention Network, and Ohio State’s Office of Minority Affairs and Ethnic Student Services.

This event is free to the public and registration by April 11 is required.

The schedule for April’s Wellness Symposium is as follows:

• 10:20 to 11 a.m., “Keys to the Provision of Professionally Cultural Competent Services to Hispanic Clients and Consumers.” Evelyn Vansant, executive director of the Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Program in Lorain, Ohio, will explore aspects of developing culturally competent services for alcohol and other drug abuse programs.
• 11:05 to 11:45 a.m., “American Indians and Alcoholism.” The Reverend Jesse David Hill, a member of the Lumbee American Indian Tribe of North Carolina and campus minister for Columbus’ University Lutheran Chapel, will discuss the origins of alcoholism among American Indians and issues that play a role in the addiction cycle.
   Carol L. Welsh, executive director of the Native American Indian Center of Central Ohio (NAICCO) and enrolled member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, will present “American Indians and Multigenerational Trauma” during the second half of this session.
• 11:50 a.m. to 12:35 p.m., “Drugs and Alcohol – The Destruction of the African American Family.” Geron Tate, executive director of the Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Program in Mansfield, Ohio, and chair of Mansfield’s Minority Chamber of Commerce, will discuss how some African American men are following a lifestyle that has destroyed the African American family.
• 12:35 to 1:50 p.m., Lunch and panel discussion. Dr. Dennis Alexander, clinical psychologist for Counseling and Consultation Services, will moderate a panel with four experts: Angela Cornelius, director of Project Linden; Jason Lai, consumer and family advocate for the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMH) Board of Franklin County; Jewel Neely, diversity liaison for the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, Division of Prevention; and Sylvia Pacifico, executive director of Women’s Alliance for Recovery Services, Inc. in Cleveland. The panelists will help the symposium’s participants apply the information they learned during the previous sessions to a university campus.

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