While party hopping one April night in 2000, Chris drove down a dirt road at 77 miles per hour and struck a car turning into its own driveway. The car split in two, leaving its two occupants dead.

Charged with two counts of DUI-Vehicular Homicide, Chris was sentenced to 13 years in a Georgia State Prison, and lost a good job and most of his close friends in the process. Now he travels to schools across the country sharing with others the story of his ill-fated night with alcohol.

On Thursday, March 2 at 10:30 am in Memorial Hall, Chris will be on the Dalton State campus to share his story with others.

This event will conclude a week of alcohol and safety awareness activities by the College’s BACCHUS Network, a student club dedicated to helping college students make healthy lifestyle decisions.

The College received a grant of $9600 in September from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety to help promote highway safety issues on campus, including seat belt use and awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving.

“We chose this week, the week before spring break, to be BACCHUS/Pre Spring Break Awareness Week to remind students of the importance of having a safe spring break,” said Jami Kuhns, ACE Center Coordinator.

“And of course having a safe spring break includes not drinking and driving, and making sure to buckle up,” she adds.

Other activities during BACCHUS Week include an “unannounced activity,” a Seatbelt Safety Check, on Monday, where students will monitor the use of safety belts on campus. The Chick-fil-A cow will be on hand to pass out coupons.

On Tuesday, the Dalton Police Department will be on campus to conduct a Beer Goggles Activity, in which students can wear beer goggles of various strengths to see how it feels to drive (a golf cart) in an impaired state.

The goggles, which simulate impairment ranging from a .17 to .20 to .25 blood alcohol level, give the wearers a sense of what it feels like to try to do normal activities in an impaired state. (The legal limit for blood alcohol is .08.)

“They’ll ask people to try to walk a straight line, toss a ball into a bucket, and drive a golf cart,” Kuhns says. “They should be able to see what it feels like to be highly impaired while doing these activities.”

On Wednesday, students will continue BACCHUS Week with a visit to Northwest High School, Kuhns says, to share lunch and to inform students about the dangers of drinking and driving.

For more information, please call Jami Kuhns at 272- 4573.