The LSU Health Center’s Health Promotions staff plans to use recent surveys on University students’ alcohol and drug use to help students stay mentally and physically healthy this fall.
The National College Health Assessment II and the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey gathered data on alcohol and drug consumption of students from each university nationwide. The Core Alcohol and Drug Survey found 88.6 percent of respondents from LSU drank within the last year, and more University students drove after drinking than most other colleges.
These surveys, which were released this spring, allow universities to compare their statistics with national averages of others. They also polled student’s information on sexual violence, stress, time management, impediments to academic success, campus safety, exercising and nutrition.
“We have a lot of data from both of those surveys that would be beneficial in just about any subject area you want,” said Kathy Saichuk, LSU health promotions coordinator for the Student Health Center.
The information will be incorporated into presentations and programs used to publicize important issues, Saichuk said. She teaches the TEAM, or Tiger Education on Alcohol/Drug Matters, class, which offers alcohol and drug education to University students and will likely use the information from these surveys this fall.
“We use it to look at what’s happening with our students,” Saichuk said. “What areas of health issues we need to address … to see what kind of programming we need to do and see what kind of messages we need to get