It's about 1:30 Saturday morning, and you decide to walk home. You may have had a couple of beers, but not enough to intoxicate you. But, before you venture outside to make the perilous journey home, you smear the black camouflage paint across your face, slip into jet-black fatigues and put on black combat boots. You hide in the shadows and stumble through underbrush, taking the least visible route home.
You must be careful. You know that campus police are out there, and they are out to get you.
It seems that Dartmouth's own police force has lost sight of its official title, "Safety and Security." Although I'm sure that this change in attitude is not intentional, one can simply look at the attitudes of students to see that something is not right.
While the presence of Safety and Security should make students feel safe and grateful, many students are instead afraid and hateful of the force. Although the campus police have certainly made many advances in making Hanover a safer place, such as providing emergency telephones and escort services, they have lost student trust concerning the issue of alcohol.
Safety and Security's new mission seems to be to get out and "catch" students who have been drinking conservatively and having a good time. It is not a mission of protection and prevention, but instead a strategy of stealthily catching and punishing.
This new purpose can be likened to other law enforcement tactics. Take speed enforcement as an example. The principle behind speed limits is to prevent accidents that result from traveling at excessive speeds.
If the highway patrol were to enforce this law according to principle, they would make it extremely clear that a certain area is a speed trap. That way, all of the cars would slow down. Some states do adhere to this principle. However, many enforcers hide their cars equipped with radar guns in places impossible for drivers to detect. Thus, the majority of people continue to speed, while some unlucky fellow is caught and punished.
Safety and Security seems to be following the same model. Again and again, I hear stories of underage friends being "caught" by Safety and Security and later disciplined for something as minor as holding a beer, even if he or she was not intoxicated.
I understand that the purpose of these College reprimands is to discourage underage drinking. I also understand that it is illegal for a person who is under the age of 21 to drink. But, I fear that the consequences of disciplinary action are more harmful than beneficial.
The plain fact is that a student will drink if he or she wants to, regardless of whether that student faces further disciplinary action. Rather than abstaining, students become more secretive about their habit. Since they fear being caught by Safety and Security they will attempt to avoid them at all costs, even if it means endangering their lives.
The analogy that I used at the beginning of this column may seem silly, but what if a student is so intoxicated that his life is in danger? Since this fear of "being caught" lingers in every student's mind, he or she is not going to do the rational thing and turn himself or herself over to the people that will ensure his safety. His friends may not turn him over because they do not want to face his anger in the morning. Sure, it is totally irrational for a student to put his or her life in danger to avoid a minor fine and disciplinary action, but drunk people rarely do rational things.
I visited Williams College this past weekend and was astonished to find a campus police officer at each party that I went to. Yes, minors were drinking beer, just like they do on every other college campus in America. According to my host at Williams, the officer was present to make sure no "townies" came into the party. "Campus police are your friends," he said.
To provide a safer atmosphere at this College, Safety and Security needs to establish a better rapport with the students that they are in charge of protecting. Although underage drinking is illegal, one must question whether reporting someone to a dean for drinking responsibly may have adverse consequences. I think it will. I know it already has.
