Washington, DC — Alcohol 101 Plus™, a dynamic interactive CD-ROM program designed to stop the misuse of alcohol on campus, received the coveted FREDDIE Award in the category of Health and Wellness at the 29th Annual International Health and Medical Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles.

	The "Freddie" International Health and Medical Media Award

Alcohol 101 Plus was also a finalist in the categories of Community Health and Behavioral Diseases. Developed by The Century Council, a national not-for-profit organization funded by America's leading distillers: Allied Domecq Spirits & Wine North America, Bacardi U.S.A., Inc., Brown-Forman, DIAGEO, Future Brands LLC, and Pernod Ricard USA, Alcohol 101 Plus is available free of charge to colleges and universities across the country.

"On behalf of the distilled spirits companies that fund us, The Century Council is honored to receive the FREDDIE Award for Alcohol 101 Plus. We are proud that this user-friendly, entertaining and most important, extremely informative program has been recognized by experts in the field of prevention. The Council believes it is essential that every single college have access to this educational tool, designed to help students make safe and responsible decisions about alcohol," said Susan Molinari, Chairman of The Century Council. "By systematically incorporating this CD in orientation programs, fraternity gatherings and athletic programs, we hope to have a significant influence on students' ability to make safe and responsible decisions about alcohol."

The International Health and Medical Media Awards, also known as the "Oscars of Medicine," are recognized as a preeminent competition of educational health and medical media. Feature-length films, documentaries, series, shorts, videos, websites and CDs from around the world compete for the coveted FREDDIE Award and are recognized for excellence in exploring health-related issues that transform the lives of medical professionals, educators, and everyday people.

Representing an over one million dollars investment, the creation of Alcohol 101 Plus brought about the broadest alcohol industry-government partnership designed to prevent the misuse of alcohol on college campuses including the U.S. Department of Education; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Also involved were more than 50 on-campus practitioners and student focus groups, in addition to representatives from: National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and The BACCHUS and GAMMA Peer Education Network.

Set on a "virtual campus," Alcohol 101 Plus specifically targets at-risk populations of the student body: Freshmen, Greeks, student-athletes, and judicial policy offenders. Through interactive video scenarios users have an opportunity to make "virtual" decisions for "virtual" characters.

	"The Council believes it is essential that every single college have access to this educational tool" — Susan Molinari,  Century Council Chair

For example, users can visit a first-year dorm and choose whether or not the freshman character takes a drink, or visit the off-campus bar and decide whether the basketball star should take a drink, days before "the big game." When the wrong decision is chosen on the virtual campus, students are presented with the consequences or their bad decision.

In addition to video scenarios and "pop-up" messages, the CD includes an interactive game developed by SONY, b4udrink, which tests a user's knowledge about how alcohol affects the body, friends and school, sex, and the truths and consequences of college drinking. The CD-ROM also includes a "Virtual Bar," where a user can "virtually" drink and obtain personalized information on the impact of alcohol on their individual blood alcohol concentration and a "Virtual Brain," which conveys information about the physical and mental affects of alcohol.

The Century Council's mission is to promote responsible decision-making regarding drinking or non-drinking of beverage alcohol and to discourage all forms of irresponsible consumption through education, communications, research, law enforcement, and other programs. Recognizing over thirteen years of progress, America's leading distillers have promoted The Council's mission by investing over $130 million in its programs to fight drunk driving and underage drinking. For more information about Alcohol 101 Plus or The Century Council, or to order a copy of the program free-of-charge, please visit www.alcohol101plus.org or www.centurycouncil.org.

Launched in 1991, The Century Council is funded by America's leading distillers. The Council's mission is to promote responsible decision-making regarding drinking or non-drinking of beverage alcohol and discourage all forms of irresponsible consumption through education, communications, research, law enforcement and other programs. For more information on The Council, log onto www.centurycouncil.org.

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