Governor's Office Grant Helps Prevent Underage Drinking

/PRNewswire/ -- The Georgia Governor's Office for Children and Families (GOCF) awarded a $60,000 grant to The Council on Alcohol and Drugs to prevent and reduce underage drinking through a statewide website, stopalcoholunder21.org. The grant also provides for radio PSAs and newspaper print ads in ten counties in Georgia determined to be most at risk via a 2010 Underage Drinking Needs Reassessment conducted by Georgia State University and The Council on Alcohol and Drugs.

Underage drinking and the consequences of juvenile alcohol use are serious issues in the state of Georgia. The Georgia Governor's Office for Children and Families (GOCF) has awarded a $60,000 grant to The Council on Alcohol and Drugs to prevent and reduce underage drinking by providing a statewide website, stopalcoholunder21.org.

The website includes features designed to help parents, youth, educators, alcohol retailers and others. Those features include downloadable:

* Public Service Announcements for Radio Broadcast
* Newspaper Print Ads
* Parenting Manuals for Parents of Children Ages 6-11 / 12-14 / 15-18/ and 19-20
* 1/2 Hour Video: "The Worst Drug of All"
* Video Vignettes on various topics related to Underage Drinking
* Resource Links to Other Web Sites related to Preventing Underage Drinking
* Additional Print Resources


The grant also provides for radio PSAs and newspaper print ads in ten counties in Georgia determined to be most at risk for underage drinking via a 2010 Underage Drinking Needs Reassessment conducted by Georgia State University and The Council on Alcohol and Drugs. The counties being served by the grant's Media Campaign are Ben Hill, Bulloch, Candler, Catoosa, Fannin, Lanier, Lowndes, Walker, Wilcox and Worth Counties.

This program is made possible with funding from the Governor's Office for Children and Families under a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Enforcing the Underage Drinking Laws Block Grant Program, CFDA 16.727.

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Engauge Helps Georgia Introduce New Business-Focused Website

(BUSINESS WIRE)--Engauge, a total marketing solutions agency, and the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD), announce the launch of a new business-focused website for the state of Georgia, www.Georgia.org.

Charlie Gatlin, GDEcD’s deputy commissioner for tourism and marketing said, “Particularly today, with the economy being an overriding theme in business, GDEcD recognizes the need to be a strong voice for commerce in the state. Georgia.org is a comprehensive resource for doing business in Georgia, and represents our commitment to supporting and growing industry in the state.”

Engauge designed the website to broadly address issues that are unique to businesses. The website provides information on:

* the benefits of choosing Georgia, such as low business and living costs and education opportunities;
* doing business in Georgia, covering topics like relocation and international business;
* specific Georgia industry information, covering a dozen key strategic industries;
* community development, addressing such things non-profit development and chambers of commerce.

From a technology perspective, the site was designed “modularly,” meaning that areas of the site are moveable and allow for new content to be added and shifted around without the complication of making it fit a fixed design. In addition, the site was developed to give GDEcD control of the content, through the use of a content management system (CMS).

“In many ways, what makes Georgia.org a success is what you don’t see,” said Al Skelton, group account director with Engauge. “It’s all the behind the scenes stuff. Not only does GDEcD have a large amount of control in terms of content, the site also has a flexible design that gives them freedom in the placement of content. All of these things make the site a long-term solution for GDEcD.”

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Holocaust Web Site at Emory Launches Non-English Versions

Holocaust Denial on Trial (HDOT.org), a Web site founded by Emory University professor Deborah Lipstadt to help readers identify and reject Holocaust denial, is launching in four new languages: Arabic, Farsi, Russian and Turkish. These translations are designed to spread the original site's messages to areas where Holocaust denial goes the most unchallenged.

According to Dr. Lipstadt, over the past few years there has been a serious increase in online Holocaust denial. "Deniers are attacking the entire history of the Holocaust piece by piece. Our site puts basic, easily accessible information into the hands of people encountering sophisticated content designed to confuse them," says Lipstadt.

At each of the new sites, visitors will be greeted by a complete parallel home page, site navigation and content in their language of choice. They will be able to search the site's database in the new languages as well. "This project significantly expands the reach of HDOT.org in regions of the world where a significant amount of Holocaust denial is happening," says Lipstadt.

In addition, HDOT.org has added significantly to its offering of more than 30 myth/fact sheets, available in all five languages. These fact sheets confront Holocaust denial head-on by listing various myths about the Holocaust versus actual facts. The myth/fact sheets have been HDOT.org's most popular destination.

In conjunction with this launch, HDOT also announces the creation of a new podcast series, available through Emory's iTunes University: "Holocaust Education and Online Hate Speech" includes podcasts featuring such figures as Lipstadt, renowned Holocaust historian Saul Friedlander and professor Ken Waltzer, who uncovered fraud in a recent and highly publicized Holocaust memoir.

"As so much of the strategy that deniers employ involves spreading their falsehoods on the Internet, we worked with Professor Lipstadt to have scholarly, authoritative resources available in podcasts. Some of the most respected experts on denial on the Internet are interviewed," observes, Emory University's director of academic technology services.

The podcasts will form the core of several new lesson plans being produced for advanced high school and college courses that will help educators and the public approach the complex of social, historical, political and ideological issues that emerge in the study of Holocaust denial.

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Georgia Disaster Mental Health Site is Online

The Georgia Disaster Mental Health website, designed and produced by University of West Georgia faculty, staff and graduate students, is operational and available for public use.

Sponsored by the Georgia Department of Human Resources, Georgia Division of Public Health and Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Addictive Diseases, the far reaching site for residents is one of the most comprehensive sites of its kind in the nation and addresses many of the stresses any kind of catastrophe can bring to an individual, a family or a community.

Dr. Larry Schor, associate professor of psychology, and Vicki Rogers, a service desk manager in Information Technology Services at UWG, worked with colleagues and students for six months to create the site.

“Common setbacks result from the chaos and confusion that occurs when people are affected by disaster,” said Schor. “My experience as a disaster mental health counselor is that people really want the life they had before the disaster. The challenge is to find ways to begin to move forward.”

The response from state agencies and the public has been positive and frequent with agencies in other states requesting information on how the site was developed. Rogers said it was quite an undertaking.

“As a technical consultant and webmaster, this was the largest project I’ve ever worked on,” said Rogers. “We have already begun to update the site and I plan on working on the project over the holiday break. It’s a huge undertaking with a lot of information. Larry’s passion and expertise on the subject of disaster mental health makes this a very good site.”

Schor has assisted in mental health counseling after many disasters including the aftermath of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina.

“I am optimistic that people will benefit from the website,” said Schor. “Although I think the challenge will be getting the word out and convincing people on the importance of being prepared. Just as we tend to think about changing our windshield wiper blades when it is raining, people tend to deal with disaster needs only when they are affected directly.”

Schor said that people could go to the site and read about preparedness before a disaster and use the internal search to find topics such as “preparedness kits.” The website is also available in Spanish and offers resources and information on how to cope and prepare for a disaster to the elderly, members of the military, persons with disabilities and public school systems.

The site also links to a wide range of organizations including the American Red Cross, Center for Disease Control and Georgia911.org, Georgia’s disaster and emergency website. For more information, go to http://www.westga.edu/~gadmh/.

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Georgia Launches Hurricane Preparedness Website

GEORGIA HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS WEBSITE: http://www.gadoe.org/hurricane.aspx

With hurricane season upon us in full force, the Georgia Department of Education has launched a Hurricane Preparedness website for Georgia's schools.

The website contains information and links that will be helpful to schools as they prepare for the possibility of severe weather and the impact it could have on schools.

"As a state, we must be prepared for the impact that severe weather, like hurricanes, can have on our schools and school systems," said State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox. "This website will serve as a clearinghouse of information should schools have to cancel classes, take emergency safety precautions or enroll students evacuated from other areas of the state or the country."

The Hurricane Preparedness website will be updated as necessary and will remain live throughout the school year.

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