DATE:     11/11/99
CONTACT:  Dr. Brenda Vander Mey, (864) 656-3821
WRITER:   Giles Singleton, (864) 656-3876

Clemson University Hosts Safe Schools Conference

     CLEMSON -- Clemson University is offering a free event for
the public to share safety information on Nov. 15 at the Madren
Center on the university campus. "Information Fest: Efforts
Toward Safer Schools and Communities in South Carolina" begins at
10 a.m.
     If you're a concerned parent, school counselor, school 
administrator, law enforcement officer, counselor, teacher or 
student, this conference may interest you. 
     Speakers include Lt. Gov. Bob Peeler, who will speak on
safety in our schools at lunch; James F. Barker, president of 
Clemson University; and Chip Jackson and Catherine Long from 
the Office of Safe Schools and Youth Services, S.C. Department of
Education. 
     Topics include safe, drug-free schools, bullying prevention,
anger management, peer mediation, and safe decision-making for
teens who drive or ride with other teens.
     Also, two free videos from recent videoconferences will be
available on a first-come, first-serve basis: "Not in My School,
Not in My Community" and "Promising Practices for Safe and
Effective Schools."  In three different sessions there will be
drawings for free books.
     For more information about the conference, or to make lunch
reservations, call Brenda Vander Mey at (864) 656-3821.
     The conference is sponsored by the Clemson University Safe 
Schools Program, the S.C. State Department of Education, and 
Clemson University's Public Service Activities,  Extension 
Service, Police Department, National Dropout Prevention Center,
the Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life, Department of
Sociology and Colleges of Business and Public Affairs and Health,
Education and Human Development. Funding was provided by the
President's Innovation Fund, the Vending Machines committee, the
Office of the Provost and Extension's Landscapes for Learning,
all of Clemson University. 
                              END