Did you vomit on your birthday? Did you have unprotected sex? Did you eat ice cream?
UF wants to know.
UF's GatorWell Health Promotion Services offers incentives for students turning 21 to have good, clean fun on their birthdays, and a survey aims to find out whether the enticements work.
Seven days before every UF student's 21st birthday, UF sends him or her a card from Gene Zdziarski, UF dean of students, and a coupon for a free dinner at Godfather's Pizza, free ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery and a free movie ticket for Gator Cinemas.
The offers are only good on students' 21st birthdays between 8 p.m. and 1 a.m. with a UF student ID.
The survey, sent to students three days after their birthdays, asks them about how they celebrated.
It asks students if they received the coupons, took advantage of the free goods, talked to their parents, hung out with a significant other or drank alcohol.
If students did drink, they are asked if they experienced any post-boozing side effects such as hangovers, vomiting, injury or unplanned sexual activity.
"Some people drink so much that they don't make it through the night," said Tavis Glassman, GatorWell coordinator of alcohol and drug prevention. "That's no way to spend your 21st birthday."
Glassman said it seems the incentives have been successful based on the data GatorWell has gathered.
The most recent survey, taken in fall 2004, states that most UF students have zero to four drinks on their 21st birthday, he said.
The program doesn't cost UF much, he said.
In terms of "bang for the buck," he said the benefits of keeping students safe are worth any effort.
"I think it shows that the university cares and the community cares," Glassman said.
However, UF is realistic about students' habits, he said.
"Is this the solution? Is this the panacea? Is this the magic number?" Glassman asked. "No. Some people will probably just ignore it, but it's better than doing nothing."
