Cal U students team up with PennDOT on anti-drunken driving campaign”How many have you had?” is the new slogan created by a California University of Pennsylvania student group for PennDOT advertisements designed to make people think before they drink and drive.
The slogan appears in blurred letters, simulating the vision of an impaired driver, on billboards along Route 40 near the Grindstone Foodland parking lot; Route 88 toward Elco and Route 119 near New Stanton. Jay Ofsanik, safety press officer at PennDOT, said he hopes the billboards will make people think.
“Changing people’s behavior is a hard thing to do, so what I hope to do is to start people thinking about what they are doing,” she said.
Greg Harrison, assistant professor of the Department of Art and Design and advisor to Studio 224, the student organization that developed the campaign, agreed.
“I think people are aware of drinking and driving. We just wanted to come up with something to remind people to question themselves,” Harrison said.
Ofsanik said he approached Harrison, hoping to come up with an idea that would appeal to the 18-to-24 age group. According to Pennsylvania Crash Facts 2000, issued by PennDOT, 30 percent of the drivers in the 16-to-20 age group were drinking drivers, 46 percent in the 21-to-25 age group and 45 percent in the 21-to-30 age group.
Ofsanik said he was pleased when students came up with an entire campaign to help lower those statistics.
Harrison said his group was able to come up with several ideas that would appeal to young adults.
“These guys (members of Studio 224) are in that age group. They know what will have an effect,” he said. Studio 224 has about 30 members.
“This was a great experience. It’s not something that will only affect us, it will affect everyone and hopefully reduce drunk driving,” said Sasha Khusid, a Cal U graduate student.
Andy Link, president of Studio 224, said the project gave the group good work experience and something to put on their resumes.
Harrison said the group, which was organized only last semester, has done some work with non-profit organizations and some local and small businesses. He said that, with the addition of some new computer labs, Cal U began offering graphics media as a major only a year ago.
Ofsanik said this is the first time he is aware of PennDOT collaborating with Cal U or any university to develop educational campaigns, but he said it is something he expects to continue.
“We are always trying to come up with new and innovative ideas, but you can’t help but get a little stale sometimes. Working with (students), we constantly have a pool of creativity. Plus, it gives them an opportunity to show their work and have ownership of their ideas.”
The billboards created by the students do have a tagline giving the group credit for their creation.
All billboards also have a tagline, “DUI, You can’t afford it.” Ofsanik said he hopes that line reminds people of everything they could loose if they decide to drink and drive. He said it’s not just a matter of finances, though. In addition to costly fines, he said, people can’t afford to lose their driver’s licenses or worse, their lives.
Studio 224’s creation also appears on T-shirts and signs at each exit of the Washington Wild Things (minor league baseball team) stadium, where alcohol is sold.
The current billboards will remain up until the end of the month. Ofsanik said he plans to have new ads put on buses within the Mon Valley transit system and other billboards shortly.
Studio 224 has already come up with new ideas for future projects, including a picture of a blurred road, the slogan “License and registration, please?” and a picture of a visual math equation with a picture of one beer glass (+) one beer glass (=) .1 (the blood-alcohol percentage at which a person considered legally intoxicated in Pennsylvania).
Ofsanik said PennDOT and Cal U have developed a “good relationship” that he expects will continue: “We’re just getting started. This is our first billboard and there will be more.”