There have been about a dozen of these on campus already.
Last year, 22 ambulances came to campus for students and their guests due to alcohol-related issues. This year, within the first few weeks of school, there have already been eleven alcohol-related hospital transports. Seriously? That’s half of last year’s total and it’s not even Thanksgiving. It’s okay to go out on Thursday and Saturday nights and have fun. Maybe even Friday nights! But at some point, a line needs to be drawn. How many ambulances need to come before enough is enough?
The ambulance issue has been a problem for the past several years. My sophomore year, we basically had a campus lock-down and were forced to talk about Conn’s drinking culture (or drinking problems) with professors, student leaders and administrators in an effort to make things stop. Clearly the problems have not been solved: ambulances have been making somewhat regular appearances on weekends for the past two years. I don’t get it. My brother goes to school at Colgate, which is in middle-of-nowhere, New York. He never notices ambulances coming onto campus for alcohol issues. While it may not always seem like it, we are not in the middle of nowhere. Why must this keep happening and what is it going to take to get it to stop?
Some people have experience with alcohol before they come to Conn and some people don’t drink even after coming here. We’re all smart people, but losing control and getting transported to the hospital via ambulance because you had way too much to drink on the weekend is not smart. It’s time for a wake up call.
Did you know that getting transported to the hospital in an ambulance could cost around $800 if your insurance does not cover it? Do you really want to risk that?
According to CC Curtiss, Director of Student Wellness & Alcohol/Drug Education, the average college student has zero to four drinks on a party night. It’s okay to drink, but it’s a problem if you don’t remember how you got home or if a bottle of tequila is your date for the night. The sight of ambulances is a visible sign that some people have one, two or three too many drinks on a certain night. I know not all ambulances are due to alcohol, but thus far eleven have been.
So what can we do? Perhaps we can advertise more activities that do not involve drinking for the weekends. It’s safe, smart and a sure way to know that your liver has not degenerated by the time you’re thirty. I know people have brought up the idea of having more activities that don’t involve alcohol, but perhaps it’s about time to actually do something. Check out the bulletin boards in Cro.
Go see Scott McEver in the Office of Student Life and ask for some suggestions. Additionally, there’s no shame in hanging out with your friends and not drinking. You can keep an eye on them and have fun at the same time. You can always make fun of them for some of the stupid things they do while under the influence. Drinking doesn’t always equal fun.
If you think you may actually have a problem regarding alcohol, go talk to someone! There are resources on campus. We have the lovely and bubbly CC Curtiss, and there’s always the counseling center. Use your resources.
Perhaps underclassmen need to start hanging out with upperclassmen more often. We’re not that scary. Administrators, I’m not trying to “encourage” underage drinking here, but by the ages of 21 and 22, upperclassmen definitely have more experience with drinking than freshmen and sophomores. Upperclassmen are fun to hang out with, too. Try it sometime.
Eat, drink and be merry. Party hardy. But just please be careful, look out for each other and take care of each other. Tell your friend when you think he or she should stop drinking. If they’re telling you to stop drinking, then they clearly care about you and your well-being. Listen to them. If someone really is in danger, call Campus Safety. Don’t put your life or someone else’s at risk if there is a medical emergency, but then again, don’t let it get to that point.
Some of us may have life threatening or chronic illnesses. These are things we cannot control. Whether we were born with them or they developed as we grew up. Getting taken away in ambulance because you had too much to drink and are on the verge of death – that’s something you can control. Life is precious. If you really want to be that careless, that’s between you and whatever god you believe in. When you’re taken away in an ambulance it not only scares you, but it scares your friends, your family, your professors and your administrators.
I’m really not trying to judge anyone; I don’t care how old you are. I’m just trying to ask you to be responsible because this reflects very poorly on our school, which many of us love so much. Having this many students taken away in ambulances due to alcohol is embarrassing to Connecticut College. If you go here, you clearly got in for a reason. We’re all adults, and as much as many of us don’t want to, we should grow up and start acting like them. •
“Some of us may have life threatening or chronic illnesses. These are things we cannot control. Whether we were born with them or they developed as we grew up. Getting taken away in ambulance because you had too much to drink and are on the verge of death – that’s something you can control. Life is precious. If you really want to be that careless, that’s between you and whatever god you believe in. When you’re taken away in an ambulance it not only scares you, but it scares your friends, your family, your professors and your administrators. ”
Thank you so much for this.