IRVINE : Alcohol Awareness Week Opens at UCI

The international fair at UC Irvine was going well Monday, with the smells of exotic foods filling the air, when suddenly two students were being arrested for drunk driving and their Toyota was wrapped around a tree on campus.

But something was odd about the crash. No one had heard tires screeching or metal crunching. The driver and his passenger were unruffled.

In reality, the driver and his passenger were only acting drunk, and the arresting officer, Mark Arnold of the University Police, only simulated an arrest.

The car used for the mini-drama was so badly crushed from a real collision that it barely rolled off of the flatbed tow truck that brought it to the campus.

The accident was staged to kick off the first day of the National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week, said Ellen Thomas, director of UCI’m Aware, a drug and alcohol abuse prevention program.

A mock trial of Parker and Bushnell will begin at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday before Judge Calvin P. Schmidt in Harbor Municipal Court. The trial is intended to show students what happens in a drunk-driving case, Thomas said.

Other events during the week include: a “Positive Peer Pressure” program in the University Extension Center, at 3 p.m. Tuesday; a Sexuality and Alcohol Workshop with Dr. Michael Gonzalez, Wednesday at noon in the Women’s Resource Center; an Alternatives Fair at 11 a.m. in Gateway Plaza, followed by a comedy night, focusing on substance abuse, at 8 p.m. in the Koll Room in Bren Center. All of the events are open to the public, Thomas said.

UCI’m Aware is funded by a federal grant, The program also offers counseling.