Lights,
Camera, Action!
As most of our readers
know, Michael Windle, Ph.D. accepted the position of professor
and director of the Doctoral Program in Developmental Psychology at
the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1998. He left the data collection
component of his Middle Adolescent Vulnerability Study (MAVS) at RIA
in the very capable hands of his project director, Linda King, Ph.D.
This summer, Dr.
Windle and his staff had an idea about how to contact or re-connect
with participants in this now 12 year old study: let’s make a video!
RIA researchers and staff saw lights, camcorders, and microphones throughout
the building over several days of shooting for this five-minute video.
The script was written by Rebecca Windle, M.S. who is a research
assistant on the study.
The video was a
unique way to reacquaint participants with the Institute and their previous
involvement in the study of adolescents’ use of alcohol, cigarettes,
and other drugs. It emphasized their own contributions to scientific
knowledge and advancement in the study of addictions and invited their
continued support and involvement. That’s a wrap!
Red
Ribbon Prevention
RIA’s annual “Take
A Stand Against Substance Abuse” event was held October 25 in conjunction
with the Erie County Council for the Prevention of Alcohol and Substance
Abuse (ECCPASA) as part of the National Red Ribbon Prevention Campaign.
The annual grassroots turnout provides an opportunity for individuals
and groups to show their opposition to alcohol and drug abuse.
“Take A Stand” originated
in memory of Federal Drug Enforcement Agent Enrique Camarena.
In 1985 in Mexico, Camarena was kidnapped and executed by drug lords.
National Red Ribbon Week now symbolizes the sacrifice made by Camarena,
and the commitment that must be made by all of us to protest the toll
substance abuse takes on our communities every day.
(Below) Jan Duffy,
executive director of ECCPASA (left foreground), and NYS Assembly Speaker
Arthur O. Eve (right), greet participants at the fourth annual Red Ribbon
event held October 25, 2000.
Longtime
RIA Supporter to Head Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Committee
During the last
round of leadership appointments in the State Assembly, Sam Hoyt
(D-Buffalo, Grand Island) was named to chair the Assembly’s Committee
on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse.
Assemblyman Hoyt
said, “I am honored by the opportunity to head this important committee.
Alcoholism and substance abuse are in themselves among the most serious
problems facing society today. Beyond their inherent seriousness as
problems, they are linked to almost every other social problem, especially
crime. The task before this committee is to help those suffering from
alcoholism and substance abuse overcome their disease, help reduce alcoholism
and substance abuse, and help reduce the crime that results from alcoholism
and substance abuse. It is an important task, which I take very seriously.”
NYS Senator Patricia
K. McGee (R-Olean), representing the 56th Senate District which
includes Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany Counties, and part of
Livingston County, chairs the Senate Committee on Alcoholism and Drug
Abuse.
RIA
Scientist Presents a Research to Practice Seminar
William Fals-Stewart,
Ph.D. presented information on “Couples Interventions/Treatment
for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse” in a research to practice forum sponsored
by the University at Buffalo’s Institute for Addictions Studies and
Training and the School of Social Work on December 18, 2000.
Drawing from his
background in Behavioral Couples Therapy (BCT), Fals-Stewart discussed
research which shows that working with the alcoholic or drug abusing
client together with a spouse produces better abstinence rates and fewer
marital separations over a one to two year follow-up than individual-based
treatment. BCT has also demonstrated substantial and significant reductions
in domestic violence and favorable cost-effectiveness and cost benefit
results. Participants learned BCT interventions for promoting sobriety,
increasing positive activities, and teaching communications skills as
well as recent findings from outcome studies of BCT for alcoholism and
drug abuse.
Fals-Stewart is
a senior research scientist at RIA and a lecturer in psychology at Harvard
Medical School. The presentation and training seminar was offered at
Daemen College in Amherst, N.Y.
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