In about four years, an alcohol abuse awareness program that originated at MSU has spread to 73 schools nationwide.
B.R.A.D., which stands for Be Responsible About Drinking, began at MSU after parks and recreation junior Bradley McCue died from alcohol poisoning on his 21st birthday in November 1998. McCue drank 24 shots of liquor in about two hours.
After his death, friends and family developed the program, and along with MSU, began sending birthday cards to students just before their 21st birthday reminding them to celebrate responsibly.
The birthday cards include a laminated wallet-size card with information about alcohol poisoning.
Although the program is gaining momentum, the expansion has a depressing undertone, said Brad's mother Cindy McCue.
"It's encouraging in one way but sad in another because the need is there," she said. "We haven't done anything aggressively to spread it, only word of mouth."
Universities aren't allowed to release birth dates to the public, Cindy McCue said. Schools call to ask for a certain amount of cards and they are mailed to students by the registrar's office and similar departments on college campuses.
"We started out thinking that we were going to be addressing and mailing the cards ourselves," she said. "It puts the burden of the work off of us."
The University of Alabama started the program in January as a joint project sponsored by the Student Government Association and the university's Office of Judicial Affairs.
The cards have already had a positive response, said Tim Hebson, director of judicial affairs at University of Alabama.
"It's a great program," he said. "It does something proactive and it gives information that you can keep with you. We never expected to get such encouraging results as we have."
Hebson suggested the idea to the school's student government after seeing a message about the program on a list serve.
"It's a way to make something positive out of a tragedy," he said.
But some MSU students said the cards haven't made a large impression.
"I think it's a good idea, but it's not enough," said mechanical engineering senior Renee Long, who received a B.R.A.D. card in 2001. "People are going to read it and put it aside."
In a survey of about 1,700 MSU students taken during the 2001-02 academic year, 22 percent recalled thinking about the card on their birthday celebration and 98 percent said B.R.A.D. should continue sending cards to students.
Despite student opinion, Cindy McCue said the e-mails and handwritten thank-you notes she receives on a daily basis show a positive response to the program.
"It's good to know the schools are interested in helping us," she said. "We didn't expect this when we began, but we're glad it's happening."
