The news site of Santa Barbara City College.

The Channels

The news site of Santa Barbara City College.

The Channels

The news site of Santa Barbara City College.

The Channels

Project Hope offers an alternative to binge drinking

Courtesy+Art
Courtesy Art

Puppy cuddling, martial arts and rock climbing are some of the distractions that Project Hope is bringing to campus next week to lure students away from Spring Break binge drinking.

Emphasizing the importance of safety while partying, Project Hope and the Alcohol and Substance Awareness Program are hosting a Safe Spring Break event Tuesday, March 18.

For the event, many business communities are providing fun activities for City College students.

“Why drink so much? Making yourself sick and not having fun,” said Ben Murphy, student program advisor. “We are just encouraging students to make healthy choices during spring break so that they do not get in trouble.”

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Project Hope is trying to organize the event not only for education, but also for having fun. They are planning to educate on drugs and alcohol, providing free massages, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu among other martial arts demonstrations, a rock climbing facility, puppies that students can play with and more.

“We really want the event to be fun,” Murphy said. “We are going to have a lot of businesses from around the town coming out to encourage students and show them fun things to do.”

Spring Break is known for college students getting carried away partying, and making poor decisions.

On March 8, a stabbing and two other violent offenses happened on 6600 block of Del Playa Drive in Isla Vista. According to KEYT News Channel 3, less than an hour after the stabbing an estimated 1,000 partying students crowded the scene like a riot and harassed the police. Two UCSB students were also charged and spent the night behind bars in addition to the attempted murderer.

Murphy mentioned that these kinds of tragedies are what the groups really want to discourage.

“When students drink, sometimes they drink way too much,” said Murphy. “They make themselves sick, they black out, they get hurt, they fall, and all that kinds of bad things happen.”

The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in front of the Luria Library and all are encouraged to come.

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