News
As part of National Alcohol Awareness Week, the College Committee on Alcohol and Other Drugs is sponsoring a series of events, speeches and discussions promoting awareness and education about "Alcohol at Dartmouth and Beyond."
"There is no can of beer or bottle of wine that's going to tell you how much to use it or when to stop, like a bottle of aspirin or cough syrup," Janet Sims, chair of the CCAOD said.
"Because alcohol is legal in our society, students may use it a lot but don't know that it's a drug, that it can be toxic and have side effects," Sims said.
Sharon La Voy, chair of the Alcohol Awareness Week Committee, a sub-committee of the CCAOD, said the purpose of the week of activities is to "try to tease out what the issues are."
La Voy said the events will focus on education about alcohol as a drug and the prevalence of alcohol at the College, not on condemning students' drinking habits.
The committee, which planned most of the activities last summer, chose to focus on the ways alcohol affects students' lives both at the College and after graduation.
"We want to know if students have to change their attitudes and behaviors regarding alcohol after leaving the College," said La Voy.
Sims, who is assistant director of outreach and administration for the College's Health Services, said there has been a higher number of students checked into the infirmary with high blood alcohol levels recently.
"We had seven students hospitalized this past weekend, and it wasn't even Homecoming weekend," Sims said.
Coordinator of Student Programs Linda Kennedy said five students have been admitted to Dick's House with blood alcohol levels of over .20 so far this term.
Organizers of this week's events are "trying to make students realize that 'normal' behavior is not necessarily getting drunk," Kennedy said.
Kennedy cited a student survey last year that reported that 46.8 percent of Dartmouth students consume the equivalent of three drinks or less per week.
"That means that very close to one half of our students don't binge drink," Kennedy said.
Sims identified two main groups of students who drink on campus.
