Oct. 12, 2001

The Department of Intercollegiate Athletics at Stephen F. Austin State University, in conjunction with R& K Distributors of Nacogdoches, have teamed to present an alcohol awareness seminar on the SFA campus Monday. Dr. Carolyn Cornelison will talk to SFA student-athletes Monday, at 1:00 p.m., in the Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus.

Dr. Cornelison presents speeches and seminars around the country under the auspices of an NCAA Sports Sciences Speaker's grant. The topic of the Monday presentation will include a discussion of the detrimental effects that alcohol and drug abuse can have on the athlete and team performance. She has presented similar seminars and speeches on over 300 college campuses around the country.

A former collegiate softball player and a 1981 graduate of Georgia State, Cornelison earned a master's degree from Southern Mississippi in 1983, and a Ph.D. from Florida State in 1991. A former collegiate softball player, Cornelison has also continued her education with classes on Women's Issues, Denial and Resistance and Violence Prevention at the Florida School for Addiction Studies. Dr. Cornelison worked for the Florida Department of Transportation from 1992-1999, serving as the Project Coordinator for the Student Alcohol Awareness Program.

She has been named an Outstanding Alumnus from the University of Southern Mississippi, and has been presented the Seminole Leadership Award from Florida State University.

The presentation on the SFA campus will get underway Monday at 1:00 p.m. in the Turner Auditorium and is open to all students. This marks the second time that the athletic department and R&K Distributors have teamed to bring a similar sort of seminar to the SFA campus. Last year, Bob Anastas, a member of the Anheuser-Busch speaker's bureau spoke to SFA students concerning the dangers of alcohol abuse.

Monday's presentation is part of the ongoing NCAA Champs/Lifeskills program on the SFA campus.