In an effort to combat high-risk drinking, sexual assault and hazing, Dean of the College Charlotte Johnson proposed new alcohol policy reforms after discussions with Greek leaders, Johnson wrote in a campus-wide email sent Thursday afternoon. Proposed reforms include mandatory hazing education, offering immunity to reporters of hazing, random Safety and Security walkthroughs of residential facilities and the requirement that any hard alcohol to be served by licensed bartender. The email marks Johnson's first official public announcement of the proposed policies. Johnson announced the proposed policies to summer Greek house executives on July 2. This fall, the College will finalize the new policies based on preliminary reforms and student feedback. While Johnson said that the College plans to implement final reform measures by next term, she encouraged students both on and off campus to ask questions and provide suggestions in person or online regarding the proposed policies. An open forum for the discussion of the policies will be held at 5:30 p.m. on July 31 in Carson L01, according to the email.
On July 1, the Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington, Vt. became affiliated with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center after months of negotiations, the Bennington Banner reported. The agreement, developed to reduce the medical practice's high costs, will allow the health care center to attract new physicians and gain access to DHMC's technological resources. Due to the larger size of its patient base as a result of the agreement, DHMC will potentially gain government insurance benefits if hospitals begin to receive funds in proportion to the number of patients they serve, executive vice president for medical affairs John Butterly told the Banner. Patients to the center will not see many differences other than having access to DHMC physicians, according to the Banner.
Several of Pennsylvania State University's top officials displayed a "total disregard for the safety and welfare" of children involved in the Jerry Sandusky scandal, according to an independent report led by former FBI director Louis Freeh, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. The report found that despite possessing knowledge of Sandusky's wrongdoings, Penn State officials failed to take action or alert authorities, thereby violating the Clery Act, which requires all institutions on the federal student financial aid program to report crime on their campuses. Specifically, university President Graham Spanier failed to notify the Board of Trustees in 1998 and 2001 about known allegations of sexual misconduct by Sandusky, according to the report. On June 22, Sandusky was found guilty of 45 counts of child molestation, according to The Chronicle.
