My First Oral Presentation: National Saferide Activities
My First Oral Presentation: | Oral Report #1: Nat'l Saferide Activities | Summary | Questions/Answers | My Reaction | Comparison | Suggestions |
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National Saferide Activities
SummaryMy first oral presentation was on a Web site about National Saferide activities called "National GRADD-Group Rides And Designated Drivers". This site promotes the establishment of saferide programs/organizations in college communities to prevent driving tragedies. This site mentions a bunch of interesting statistics that support their theory that saferide programs are needed in college communities. Some of these statistics are: "Binge drinking is the number one substance abuse problem at colleges today." (Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University), "Alcohol-related highway crashes are the leading cause of death for adolescents and young adults in the U.S." (U.S. Department of Transportation), and "Approximately 240,000 to 360,000 of the nation's 12 million undergraduates will ultimately die from alcohol-related causes - more than the number that will get MA's and PhD's combined." (Eigen, 1991). For more statistics, click here. These are scary statistics.
The National GRADD program suggests that students from college campuses around the nation should take initiative and establish programs that either provide drunk college students
with a safe ride to their destination or promote designated drivers. The National GRADD program can help to establish such a program for free.
Click here if you're interested. It's a free service, sponsored by corporate funding and private donors.
Questions/Answers1) Ike Matsunaga: "Knowing that each person has a different tolerance level for alcohol, do you think that teaching people to understand their own limits and tolerance levels could decrease the risks to bad driving? What kind of solution would you come up with?"
I do agree that people should know their own tolerance level for alcohol, and that this would help reduce the risks of bad driving. However, it is the responsibility of that person to know his/her own tolerance level...no one can teach it to them. I have strong feelings that after one drink, one should not drive at all - why even take a risk at all?
2) Chris Flores: "Was there anything about a correlation between the accidents and how much alcohol was consumed? What do you think about the .08 BAL as being a law? Shouldn't they take into account body size, gender, etc.?"
There was no correlation found in this web site. About the .08 BAL, I don't think they should take into consideration body size, gender, etc. because that would involve too much variation, which would just complicate things. To me, .08 BAL is very low, and that is probably the point. I think that the law is there to set a limit (a very low limit) for everyone so no one would chance even drinking more than one drink and driving. In my opinion, any hint of alcohol in the blood should be considered drinking and driving.
3) Dr. James: "Is the rule 'Don't Drink and Drive' realistic? It's not illegal (below .08 BAL) and it is part of our culture to drink at restaurants and parties. What's your take on this?"
To me, the rule is very realistic because I don't value drinking. I think if people cared enough about their lives and that of others, it should be a very realistic rule. So the real question is, Do people care enough? That I don't know the answer to. All I want to ask is would you drink and drive with a baby in the car? Most people would say "no" because they truly value the life of that baby...and that is how we should value all human life, including our own.
4) Jason Thompson: "Why has drinking and driving declined since the 80's?"
I think people are slowly becoming more aware of how dangerous it is to drink and drive. An example of this would be the many different organizations that have been established since the 80's, such as MADD (Mothers Agains Drinking and Driving), RADD (Rockers Against), and National Saferide Organizations. Also, I think the law has been cracking down on it more as well.
5) Alma Valvieja: "Do you support the thought of the saferide programs? What kind of organizations would you come up with to reduce the number of accidents among college students?"
I do support the idea of saferide activities. However, I believe that the Group Ride approach (actually providing a ride for students) is better in comparison to the designated driver approach (promoting designated drivers among groups), simply because out of a group, no one really likes to be the odd man who can't drink throughout the night. Provided rides are a good idea, and I myself would use them, especially in Hawai'i, where it is hard to find parking.
6) Don Huynh: "Do you think that the plans these safety groups have will really make a difference in terms of preventing drunk driving related accidents?"
Yes I do think they would make a difference. Most students drive after they drink because they don't have any other options. These activities will provide them with a safe alternative to drinking and driving. I myself would use the free service.
My ReactionMy reaction to the presentation was that I was surprised to realize that students in this class are very willing to drive after drinking. Some may not even see it as dangerous as long as you/they don't "drink too much", or "stay under their own tolerance". I feel that even though you may not drink that much, or stay under you tolerance level, it is still a risk to drive after drinking. Drinking has different effects on everyone, on different days, under different circumstances. To drive after you drink is to take a risk, and my whole approach is why take a risk at all? I fear that I may take a risk someday, and something bad happen, then I would regret even taking a risk. I never want to be in that situation, so I would like to avoid it by all possible means. I hope it doesn't take a bad experience to make people realize what taking risks are all about.
Comparison to Other's Reports(This applies for both Oral 1 and Oral 2). My comparison to others in the class would be I feel that I have done what was asked of me. I like to make my page as visually stimulating as would make me satisfied. I like to put pretty colors and icons because when I read others reports, I like the page to be "pretty". Sounds pretty girly, huh? Well, I realize that other people may have different opinions in this matter, some think that too many icons or colors aren't good because they distract from the report. But for me it is just the opposite. I don't like to read a page that looks boring, so I don't want my page to look boring.
Suggestions for Future Generations(This applies for both Oral 1 and Oral 2). My suggestions to future generations are to take notes on whatever it is that you are going to present on. It helps a lot when you are doing your written report. Make sure to take note of all the important features of the page or chapter you are reporting on. Also, do the written shortly after your report, before you start forgetting all the details of your oral. You also might want to take short note of the reactions of those in your class as you will be asked about it later. My own personal suggestion is that you make your page look visually stimulating. I personally like to read pretty pages. But not too fancy, Dr. James doesn't think that "too fancy" is appropriate.
