SUPERIOR, Nebraska (STPNS) -- The mood was somber, to say the least. The students were as quiet as that many youths have ever been in one room.

A mother stood before the packed bleachers and, as she has done many times in recent years, relived the worst time in her life, the tragic death of her beautiful and talented daughter.

Patty Spady's daughter, Sam, was found dead in September 2004 in an unused room of a fraternity house on the campus of Colorado State University in Fort Collins. The coroner there ruled the death accidental and named the cause of death as alcohol poisoning.



Spady's April 16 presentation at Superior High School was sponsored by South Central Area Rallying to Eliminate Drugs (SCARED) and the Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice. The presentation, which took place in the last hour of the school day, was attended by all students in grades five through 12.

Spady and her husband, a car dealer, live in Beatrice, where they raised Sam. Patty described her daughter as class president, head cheerleader, honor student, girls' state representative and devoted community volunteer. She said Sam had begun college as an art major, but had changed her major to business and expressed an interest in working with her dad in his business.

A display of Sam's drawings stood across the gym as Patty spoke to the students, serving as both a testament to her daughter's talent and a tragic reminder of the young life lost.

"Everyone possesses some talent," she said. "To blow it all on one night of drinking is such a tragic waste."

Spady said her daughter's death occurred during Labor Day weekend, after the annual football game between Colorado State and the University of Colorado. She had apparently been "tailgating," which involved beer and tequila, then went to a party with friends at the fraternity house, where she along with everyone else there drank a large amount of vanilla-flavored vodka to chants of "Go, go, go," and "Chug, chug, chug!"

As she left the party with a friend, she reportedly passed out and was carried to an empty room in the house to "sleep it off." She was found dead the next day by a student giving a tour of the fraternity house to his mother. The coroner said if they had taken her to the hospital when she lost consciousness, rather that carrying her back into the house, her life would likely have been saved.

Spady said she showed no signs of being a binge drinker in high school and she knew of only one incident in which she experimented with alcohol prior to going away to college.

"We were convinced she was responsible or we would have never let her go," she said. "She made two fatal mistakes that night. She decided to drink at all, and then she decided to drink a lot at the party."

Spady said the type of drinking done on college campuses has changed over the years; the "keg parties" of old have been replaced by drinking shot after shot of hard liquor. It is estimated about 1,400 deaths similar to Sam's occur on U.S. college campuses per year.

"There is a celebratory ritual of drinking 21 shots on your 21st birthday," she said. "That's just alcohol poisoning waiting to happen, and it could be you, your brother or sister, or your best friend."

She also said the liquor companies are contributing to the problem by flavoring their products to taste like candy or dessert, making them much more palatable for young binge drinkers.

She started the Sam Spady Foundation in 2005, which has produced wallet cards warning of the dangers of alcohol poisoning. The cards were distributed to all students at the convocation. Among the messages on the back of the card: Never leave an intoxicated person alone. Stay sober to take care of your friends. The legal drinking age is 21. Call 911 if a person has any of the following symptoms:

· Unconscious or semiconscious.

· Breathing less than 10 times per minute or irregular breathing (check every two minutes.

· Cold, clammy, pale or bluish skin,

· Cannot be awakened by pinching, prodding or shouting.

· Vomiting without waking up.

The foundation also produced the DVD, "Death by Alcohol: The Sam Spady Story," which was shown to the audience at the end of the presentation.

"I urge you seniors especially, as you go off to college, don't become prey to it, and take care yourselves and each other."