California State University, Fresno student Cayella Castaneda is the recipient of the Student Leadership Award presented at the 2011 Alcohol and Other Drugs Education Conference for Institutions of Higher Learning.

Castaneda, a senior psychology major, is the Student Coordinator for the Alcohol Education Program at the Fresno State Student Health Center. Since fall 2010 she also has been chair of the Alcohol Safety Council (ASC) Student Subcommittee at Fresno State.

More than 275 students, faculty and staff from throughout the California State University system and other colleges attended the conference at CSU Dominguez Hills. Fresno State was represented by 15 students, four staff members and one faculty who are members of the Alcohol Safety Council.

Castaneda was nominated for the award by Kathy Yarmo, coordinator of the Health Promotion and Wellness Services at Fresno State and adviser to Alcohol Safety Council Student Subcommittee. Yarmo said in her nomination that Castaneda has helped reinvigorate the ASC Student Subcommittee with participation by students from across campus.

Castaneda has written and overseen the design of six “Stall Seat Journals” full of wellness-related information that are posted monthly in restroom stalls across campus, implemented the 2010 Fall Harvest Fest with over 1,500 students in attendance in honor of National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week and managed the 3rd Annual Spring Break Extravaganza, a safety fair.

She oversees the ASC Student Subcommittee’s Facebook fan page, maintains an active ASC Student Subcommittee and is co-investigator of the campus’ spring 2011 National College Health Assessment survey.

At the conference, Yarmo and Michele Davis, a staff member in University Courtyard housing at Fresno State, made a presentation on “How to Help a Friend” who is misusing alcohol.

Flindt Anderson, director of a Fresno-area agency called P.A.I.N. (Prescription Abusers In Need) was a keynote speaker and addressed the growing problem of prescription drug abuse. He is a member of the Fresno State Alcohol Safety Council, which includes students, faculty, staff, and representatives from the community, law enforcement, alcohol and drug agencies and the alcohol beverage industry.

Fresno State will host all 23 CSU campuses as well as other local colleges/universities for the next Alcohol Conference on our campus on Ap