By HEATHER BREMNER, Staff Writer
Saturday, February 28, 2004 10:22 PM PST

JULIAN — When Eric Vasquez escorted students to Camp Stevens last week, it wasn't difficult for him to understand the teen angst that brought some of the students to tears during the two-day trip.

Not long ago — 11 years, to be precise — he was attending the same Club Live Leadership Camp as a student at Frank Wright Intermediate School.

The 24-year-old moved up the ranks, joining Friday Night Live when he entered high school and then as an adult landing a job as a prevention specialist with the Imperial County Office of Education student well-being and family resources department.

Vasquez thinks after-school drug and alcohol prevention programs are so essential that every junior high and high school student should participate.

"Being so close to the border, and these days drugs are easier to get than alcohol," it's important for kids to learn about the hazards of substance abuse, said Vasquez.

For 13 to 14 years the student well-being center has hosted a trip to Julian for Club Live teens. While preventing substance abuse is essentially the camp's goal, advisers don't approach the subject simply by repeating the well-worn "say no to drugs" slogan.

Every year, advisers try to shake up things so students who have attended the camp don't have to sit through the same activities year after year.

This year students arrived at the cozy camp nestled in the hills of Julian on Wednesday morning and made the trek back to the Valley on Thursday afternoon.

From 10 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Wednesday and 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. Thursday, the students engaged in a slew of activities, discussions and workshops, most headed by Friday Night Live members who served as mentors and leaders.

From team-building activities such as constructing a tent with newspaper and masking tape and making sure the entire group fits inside to workshops on chemical dependency, the students spent the two days learning leadership and critical thinking skills.

During lunch Thursday the Friday Night Live members — from Southwest, Central Union and Imperial high schools — talked about what they hope they successfully conveyed to the junior high school students.

Patti Jensen, 15, and Patty Rodriguez, 16, who attend Central and Southwest high schools in El Centro, respectively, know expecting teens to never touch alcohol, drugs or tobacco isn't realistic.

The high school sophomores — who during camp eased the confusion of having the same name by referring to themselves as "Patti with an I" and "Patty with a Y" — said it's easier to get illegal drugs in high school than the legal substance like alcohol.

The girls said the majority of the students they know drink or do drugs and they have friends who are at the point where they function while under the influence.

"I know some people who do smoke pot but they can go home and do their homework high," said Patty.

The girls said they know students who make excellent grades but smoke marijuana daily.

Even though some students function while high, they may become addicted and avoiding drugs and alcohol altogether is the safest tactic, they said.

"Because everyone takes chemicals differently," said Patty. "Some person might try ecstasy once and O.D. and a person can take it for weeks and they're fine."

>> Staff Writer Heather Bremner can be reached at 337-3445 or hbremner@ivpressonline.com