The numbers of students hospitalized at SGA sponsored events is raising some concern among students. In the wake of frequent student health incidents, the administration permanently cancelled the annual Halloween Moorebid ball last year, yet this seems to have had no barring on their occurrence of substance related health problems.
At the Junior Ring event last weekend, five students were brought to Saratoga Hospital for treatment, while an additional three were treated by SCEMS but opted not to be transported, reported Denis Conway of the Campus Security Office. “I am extremely proud of the excellent work of the SCEMS members at the event (both on- and off-duty) to help keep students safe,” commented Nicolas Friedman, the head of the SCEMS program.
Robin Adams, Director of Leadership Activities and advisor to the Student Government Association provided the following comment:
“The numbers this year are higher than some recent years, lower than others. I’m not sure that number hospitalized tells a complete story though. If all other aspects were equal, would we consider the event a grand success if “only” three went to the hospital? These large scale events — where a significant amount of dangerous drinking is very much normalized — are quite worrying. I think at the end of the day, there is only so much that the institution or the administration can do. We can staff up and have often collaborated on advance programs about making responsible decisions but a lot of this comes down to the fact that individuals make these choices and many choose to not drink responsibly — and in fact, quite dangerously.”