HERO program comes to Rowan

By Nicole Reagan
Used by permission, The Whit Online

As the kickoff event for Rowan's Alcohol Awareness Week, the HERO campaign introduction was held in the Mark M. Chamberlain Student Center Pit on Oct. 15 and cased three different speakers.

Pam Negro, Director of Rowan University Center for Addiction Studies, spoke briefly about the numbers of students who are killed by drunk driving each year, as well as other startling statistics. She informed those in attendance of one of the driving forces behind Awareness Week.

"The focus is on keeping you well," she said. "The students are the reason we're here."

Next to speak was Robert Zlotnick, the Director of the HERO campaign. He said that though it was a solemn occasion, there's a very positive message still to be heard from the death of Ensign John Elliot.

His death was over seven years ago, but his life still impacts college students around the country.

The former Egg Harbor Township resident was a new officer just out of the Naval Academy. He was on his way home for his mother's birthday with his girlfriend when they were suddenly struck by another car, killing him and the other driver instantly and injuring his girlfriend. This was no normal case of drunk driving gone terribly wrong; no, this driver had been previously arrested for driving intoxicated, processed, and then released to a friend, who only gave the driver the car keys back.

Devastated by their son's death, the Elliot family came up with the HERO campaign, derived from "Human Education Resource Officer," which was the peer-elected position to which Elliot was appointed while in the Naval Academy. HERO was launched in August of 2000 with the express purpose of encouraging people to participate in designated driver programs.

Colleges such as the University of Maryland, Richard Stockton, and The College of New Jersey have already signed on with the HERO campaign. Rowan University is now included among them.

After telling the story of Ensign Elliot, he showed a video clip from the ABC news report that detailed the accident. Zlotnick also included a clip that explained John's Law - which requires police to impound the cars of those charged with drunk driving for up to 12 hours - and how in 2001, New Jersey was the first state to sign it.

The final speaker was Rowan University's own President Donald Farish, who proudly wore the HERO campaign hat that Zlotnick presented to him. He began his speech with the necessity of the HERO campaign on the Rowan campus.

"It's an important idea, if only because Elliot was our neighbor, from our neck of the woods," he said. "[Drunk driving] is something that never goes away."

The audience sat attentively as Farish endorsed not only the HERO program but also Alcohol Awareness Week.

"It's not an anti-alcohol campaign, it's a campaign for responsibility," the President said. "[The HERO campaign] is a dandy, and [Rowan University] is a position to show campuses around the country how to drink responsibly."

The two sororities Phi Sigma Sigma and Delta Phi Epsilon, and fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon were in attendance. They agreed wholeheartedly with Farish.
"I wanted to be a part," said junior finance major and Delta Phi Epsilon member Jenn Cinardo. "It really is a cause to be responsible."

"We felt that we should be involved because we have a lot of influence on campus," said Dean Spivey, a sophomore in biochemistry. "We wanted to show our faces because it's important to be responsible. [Drunk driving] is not something to be taken lightly."

He continued, "Greek life has a lot to do with Rowan; if we can be here to support it, we'll be a part."

Phi Sigma Sigma member Jessica Ward had a more personal connection to the HERO campaign.

"I actually knew the family; they are good family friends," said the junior elementary education major. "It meant a lot to me that I come and my sorority too."

"Plus we agree with the cause," added Phi Sigma Sigma sister and senior art education major Vanessa Telischak. "We know people who drink and drive, so we wanted to be here."

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