LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commending Ardsley High School and the Ardsley
PTA Council upon the occasion of hosting the April 2009 Alcohol Aware-
ness Month event

WHEREAS, The Alcohol Awareness Month observance is an effort to encour-
age communities across the State of New York to focus on alcoholism and
alcohol-related issues; and
WHEREAS, This Legislative Body is justly proud to commend Ardsley High
School and the Ardsley PTA Council upon the occasion of hosting the
April 2009 Alcohol Awareness Month event; and
WHEREAS, This special function will be an open forum held for parents
at Ardsley High School on Tuesday, April 21, 2009, in Ardsley, New York;
and
WHEREAS, Alcohol contributes to 100,000 deaths annually, making it the
third leading cause of preventable mortality in the United States; and
WHEREAS, Nearly 13.8 million Americans have problems with drinking,
including 8 million who are alcoholics; about 43% of United States
adults - 76 million - have been exposed to alcoholism in the family, and
62% of high school seniors report that they have been drunk; and
WHEREAS, People who begin drinking before the age of 15 are four times
more likely to develop alcoholism than those who begin after age 21; and
WHEREAS, Nearly one fourth of all persons admitted to general hospi-
tals have alcohol problems or are undiagnosed alcoholics being treated
for the consequences of their drinking; and
WHEREAS, Based on victim reports, each year 183,000 (37%) rapes and
sexual assaults involve alcohol use by the offender, as do just over
197,000 (15%) of robberies, about 661,000 (27%) aggravated assaults, and
nearly 1.7 million (25%) simple assaults; and
WHEREAS, Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) which can occur when women drink
during pregnancy is the leading environmental cause of mental retarda-
tion in the Western World; and
WHEREAS, Alcoholism is a preventable, treatable disease; alcoholic-re-
lated problems are not likely to be reduced by strategies involving
single interventions directed solely at the individual; economic, poli-
tical, social, and environmental forces that work together to encourage
and perpetuate these problems must be addressed; and
WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body that it express its
strong concerns about alcohol and its impact on our youth and communi-
ties; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commend Ardsley High School and the Ardsley PTA Council upon the occa-
sion of hosting the April 2009 Alcohol Awareness Month event; and be it
further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to Ardsley High School, the Ardsley PTA Council, and to the
Ardsley Family Academy.