- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to offer responsible prescription drug disposal Oct. 26

��Vlog��ý Little Rock — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 14:26:25 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock police department will accept unused or expired prescription medications for disposal from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, at the campus police department in University Plaza, 5820 Asher Ave., Suite 700. Responsible disposal of prescription medications helps prevent in both natural and drinking water settings, and potentially tragic incidents like and triggered by the illegal sharing of narcotics such as opioids. “With your help, we can reach our goal of collecting 30,000 pounds of prescription drugs on Take Back Day,” said Assistant Police Chief Benjamin Rommel. Arkansas law enforcement agencies host Arkansas Prescription Drug Take Back Day events twice a year at various locations throughout the state. The events are held in partnership with rotary clubs, prevention resource centers, the Arkansas Drug Director’s Office, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. To locate additional collection sites, visit .

��Vlog��ýLR presents September Safety Month

Jenny Lambert — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 14:11:03 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock is celebrating September Safety Month with numerous on-campus activities. Students, faculty, and staff have been working tirelessly to prepare the campus for this month’s activities, which focus on Title IX, suicide prevention, active shooter training, Green Dot bystander intervention, and hazing prevention. A few of the September Safety Month activities that students can look forward to include the active shooter presentation, the chancellor’s campus safety roundtable and Department of Public Safety meet and greet, and the Green Dot Amazing Race. Suicide prevention activities are scheduled to run through the week of Sept. 19-24. The active shooter presentation, which will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27, in Ledbetter Hall, is an important event for students and faculty at ��Vlog��ýLR. During this event, campus police will show participants how to react and respond during a shooting crisis. The chancellor’s campus safety roundtable and Department of Public Safety meet and greet will run from 1 to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 28, in Ledbetter C. This event will give students the opportunity to have an open dialogue regarding safety with the chancellor and campus police. The final event of the month will be the highly anticipated Green Dot Amazing Race. It’s scheduled for 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, at the Coleman Sports and Recreation Complex. Students will team up in groups of six to 10 people and race through an obstacle course. After each obstacle, students must answer a question regarding campus safety. “September Safety Month truly concerns the overall safety of the campus,” said Mia Phillips, communications and special projects coordinator in the Office of the Chancellor. “Safety is the responsibility of all of us, not just DPS (Department of Public Safety). We have to protect each other.” Although many of the activities during this month will be fun, organizers seek to drive home the importance of students knowing their options. “We’re talking about heavy subjects, so we want to make it as engaging as we can while still trying to get the point across,” said Phillips. “When situations happen, some people don’t report it, know who to report it to, or know how to react. We want to show students how to not only protect themselves, but protect others even if they don’t know the person. That doesn’t mean jump in front of a bullet, but it could simply be calling the police.” University officials are pushing the culture of inclusion and non-violence on campus and in the community. During this year’s Green Dot race, the university will host a supply drive for Women and Children First, a shelter and safe-haven for battered women and children. Campus organizations that have contributed to September Safety Month include the Department of Public Safety, Counseling Services, Green Dot, and Student Affairs. Outside sponsor Verizon has also made major contributions to this month’s events. For more information on campus safety, visit ualr.edu/greendot.

Green Dot aims to create a culture of saying ‘no’ to violence

Taylor Aldana — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 16:56:33 +0000

Throughout September, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock hosted numerous training sessions and activities designed to highlight and emphasize safety. One of the featured safety initiatives — celebrated with the obstacle-style Green Dot Amazing Race on Sept. 25 — began with an effort to change the culture on campus in the fall of 2012. The ��Vlog��ýLR Green Dot website explains, “a green dot is any behavior‚ choice‚ word‚ or attitude that promotes safety for all of us and communicates zero tolerance for violence.” ��Vlog��ýLR was the first university in Arkansas to launch a Green Dot program. The initiative is built on the idea that a cultural shift is necessary to measurably reduce power-based violence.

Dr. Laura Barrio-Vilar

To create this cultural shift, a large number of people need to engage in new behaviors that make violence less sustainable in the ��Vlog��ýLR community. Green Dot teaches these intervention behaviors. Dr. Laura Barrio-Vilar, English professor and chair of the Green Dot steering committee, brought the program from her alma mater, the University of Kentucky, where it started. Green Dot was launched with the idea of using education and skills training to direct the power of peer influence to prevent violent crimes and to prepare bystanders to intervene should they occur. “Since I had a chance to witness how effective it was while I was a graduate student at the University of Kentucky, and as soon as the incident with Patricia Guardado happened, I wanted this right away,” Barrio-Vilar said. “I’m really happy that so many people gathered together to make it a reality.” Barrio-Vilar was a relatively new member of the ��Vlog��ýLR community when student Patricia Guardado was kidnapped near campus and killed in 2011. In initiating the program, concerned faculty raised funds to have a group of 50 faculty, staff, and community members trained to teach students how they can make the campus a safer place.

Getting involved

Anybody can become a part of Green Dot by attending one of the program’s free sessions. “We have our own student advisory committee who are incredibly important in terms of helping with advertising, helping develop programming, and making things more than just educational but also entertaining,” Barrio-Vilar said. Green Dot organizers would love to have more graduate students involved in the student advisory council, Barrio-Vilar said. For new program participants, free Green Dot sessions are held at least once a semester, using video, role-playing and other exercises to help students counteract power-based personal violence. The organization also hosts one-hour sessions for faculty and staff. The next bystander student training will be announced soon on the ��Vlog��ýLR Green Dot website. Students receive a certificate of participation that may be used in a resume. Students also earn numerous service-learning hours that can count toward certain programs on campus. In addition to the skills that students develop, participants also receive Green Dot T-shirts, pens, memo cubes, flashlights, and wristbands. “Our main goal, I think, is to have everyone go through the training,” Barrio-Vilar said. “The more people we can reach out to, the better. It’s all about raising awareness as to how much power we have just as bystanders, to put an end to power-based personal violence.” In the long run, Barrio-Vilar would like to expand Green Dot outside the community, to get off-campus residents and organizations involved, so they can start their own Green Dot programs. “The idea is to expand this culture of saying, ‘no’ to violence as far as we can,” Barrio-Vilar said.

A long-time safety focus

Before Green Dot took hold, the See Something, Say Something campaign was used on campus. “��Vlog��ýLR has always done some form of campus safety,” said Darrell McGee, associate dean of students. “It’s always been something we’re concerned about. What Green Dot did, it captured the campus community.” ��Vlog��ýLR also implements Title IX training which is mandatory for all employees and offered to students. “I’m happy to say over 40 percent of students are participating in the training,” said Richard Harper II, the assistant dean of students. “We have education and awareness programs throughout the year. We definitely don’t turn our backs on sexual assault or power-based violence around here. We’ve always been concerned about safety.”

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

����Vlog��ý Little Rock to offer responsible prescription drug disposal Oct. 26

����Vlog��ýLR presents September Safety Month

Green Dot aims to create a culture of saying ‘no’ to violence

- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to offer responsible prescription drug disposal Oct. 26

��Vlog��ýLR presents September Safety Month