I have to take issue with the latest "Verbum Ultimum" (Feb. 18). I absolutely disagree with the statement, "The College should take no disciplinary action in response to a 'Good Samaritan' call, regardless of the history of the individual or organization making the call or the severity of the incident in question." Invoking the Good Samaritan policy should be a last resort, not a get-out-of-jail-free card. Focusing on whether or not the policy is being upheld is missing the point. If someone drinks so much alcohol they need to be hospitalized, that person, his or her friends, and the hosts of the event all need to stop and think about what they're doing that got them to that point, not about whether they are going to "get in trouble" or not. If you want to be trusted to run your own parties, you need to step up to the plate, not argue about why you should not be held responsible.
Previous to Dartmouth, I worked for a very small (700 students) liberal arts college. In my first year there a student died of exposure. He was attending an off-campus party, drank too much, got in a fight and stormed off. It was November, snowing and he was in a t-shirt. I, and hundreds of others, participated in line searches for a week with no success. His body was found in April, in thick brush not a half mile from the house. In attending the memorial service, student after student talked of what a great friend he was and how much they had loved him. The number of "best friends" he had was astonishing. Where were his "best friends" when he was drinking his face off? When he couldn't walk straight? When he left the party and stumbled off into the darkness? Why didn't they take care of him that night?
The next year two students died in a car crash. They were pledges, on their way back from Montreal where their "brothers" had taken them for the night. Three other guys in the car lived through the crash. What do you think that's like? Once again, at the memorial service, these two guys had more "best friends" than anyone I've ever heard of. Is that what "brotherhood" means?
I still think about these guys and how stupid and senseless their deaths were. Next time you egg someone on to drink more, or laugh at someone who's obviously had too much, think about them. Don't wait until you have to worry about "who's going to get in trouble if we call Safety and Security." Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the purpose of drinking was to have fun. What's fun about throwing up or blacking out?
If you want to drink, drink enough to have fun, not so much that you need medical attention. You all got into Dartmouth, you're obviously smart enough to figure out how to do that. Watch out for your "brothers" and your "sisters" and your "best friends." If you were really serious about those names, "getting in trouble" because the College didn't uphold its end of the Good Samaritan policy would be the last thing on your mind.
