To the Editor:
Someone on my hall came home Friday night with the following frightening story of how students at Dartmouth deal with drinking "problems." After a student passed out, on the upper floor of a fraternity house, he was dealt with in the following manner. He was taken downstairs by four other attendees: grabbing him by the arms and legs, they pulled his limp body down the stairs, sometimes letting his head bang into the steps.
Next, when they were repeatedly urged to check if he's okay, they responded that they were just trying to get him "into a room," presumably to get him out of sight, and kept tugging on his body. Only after they were screamed and cursed at to stop did they abandon their plan and drop him as he was -- on his back, sprawled out on the floor. One of the bystanders had the presence of mind to hold his head sideways as he vomited onto the floor. Had she not done this, he might have suffocated in his own vomit. Next, Safety and Security, not an ambulance, was called. Safety and Security did call the ambulance once they assessed the situation.
While not an avid partygoer myself, I imagine that similar incidents are not infrequent. The abominable, idiotic treatment this passed-out guy received at the hands of those trying to pull him into a room might have, on an other night, been damaging or fatal.
I blame the attitudes of both the College and Dartmouth's large contingent of party-minded students for this. The College, for its part, wishes away the alcohol problem Dartmouth has by coming up with rules that represent unrealistic expectations on the part of the College, are poorly enforced and obviously not complied with. The fraternity system promises and pretends to comply, but nothing really changes. The College needs to come to terms with the way drinking happens here. It needs to realize that it will keep happening in excessive quantities that will not be curtailed by rules or monitoring. When that happens, the College may focus its efforts on meeting the problem head on by teaching students how to deal with alcohol related problems. The Greek system, for its part, needs to pay attention.
Sending us yearly fliers that summarize past drinking problems and remind us of how much we're allowed to drink does not help anyone -- that's why no one reads them. Perhaps learning how to recognize the signs of an overdose, how to treat those who are severely drunk and knowing when to call an ambulance would. It certainly would have helped the guy on the floor Friday night.