Students packed 105 Dartmouth Hall last night for a forum to discuss the 11 principles drafted by the College Committee on Alcohol and Other Drugs Fall term.
Members of the committee, re-established in winter of 1995 by Dean of the College Lee Pelton to examine the role of alcohol on campus, divided students into groups of 10 or 11 to discuss the principles. The principles are intended to be the foundation for a re-examination of College alcohol policy.
Many students questioned the fifth principle, which states that "the existing 'self-monitoring' system in CFS organizations has failed in its purpose of enforcing compliance with alcohol laws and policies."
"In three and one half years, there have been no reports from monitors of a single instance of an organization serving minors or intoxicated persons," the principle states.
Some students disagreed that the self-monitoring system has failed.
The principle gives an impression of "deliberate misrepresentation" of the effectiveness of the self-monitoring system, said Matt Richards '97, who is a Coed Fraternity and Sorority system monitor.
"It is not true; we haven't failed," he said.
"We've made it our policy since 1995 not to report underage drinking," Richards said.
The mission of the self-monitoring system has changed within the last few years, Richards said. He said the committee is judging the system based on old policy.
Chad Sclove '97 said, "There have been a lot of successes in the self-monitoring system."
"The purpose of the self-monitoring system is to transfer liability from the College to the [Greek] house," he said. When a monitor notifies the social chair of a Greek house, liability is transferred to the house, he said.
Sclove said self-monitoring has been successful in keeping students safe.
Craig Allen '97 said attempts to stop underage drinking would require major policy changes for the College.
The College "ought to be more concerned with safety and not with disciplining people," he said.
One female student said the fourth principle implies that students organizations do not engage in risk-management.
The principle states, "The College and College-recognized organizations should engage in sound risk management practices in order to reduce or eliminate unreasonable liability risks."
The student said, "In fact, most organizations are, and that should be recognized."
Some students said College policy changes could exacerbate underage-drinking at the College.
"If Safety and Security comes to monitor our parties, we are not going to have fewer people drinking underage, said Kappa Kappa Kappa Fraternity President James Jung '98. "We'll just have more people taken away."
"We will have more people drifting to [parties in] the dorms," Jung said. Jung said Greek organizations are aware of the danger signs of a student drinking too much.
"There'll also be a shift towards more hard alcohol instead of beer," said Craig Allen '97, a member of Sigma Nu fraternity.
Safety and Security Proctor Robert McEwen said the College's policies come from a desire to protect students.
"We consider College policy in providing safety to the students to foster the best educational environment," he said.
"An intoxicated student recently fell of the roof of a fraternity house," McEwen said. "We were lucky he wasn't killed."
"These things are going to happen," McEwen said. "The question is: 'What is the best way to handle the situation?'"
Chris Bateson '99, a member of Alpha Delta fraternity, said, "Bad things are going to happen no matter what policy the College takes."
