Alcohol sends another Hill frosh to HUP

The male student became at least the third Hill House resident hospitalized this year for alcohol-related illness. A Hill House freshman was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania last weekend for alcohol-related injuries, a University employee confirmed. The male student -- who has not been identified -- remained in the hospital overnight after repeatedly throwing up and losing consciousness at Hill College House, although the employee stressed that the student did not necessarily drink in the dormitory. The student did not suffer any permanent injuries, and it was unclear whether HUP doctors had diagnosed him with alcohol poisoning. The incident was at least the third time in as many weeks that a Hill House freshman has been hospitalized with alcohol-related injuries. Earlier in September, two Hill House freshmen were taken to HUP after drinking too much. Neither suffered serious injuries. Hill House Assistant Dean Tracy Feld declined to specify the exact number of Hill House residents taken to the hospital so far this year or to answer questions over the phone regarding the dorm's alcohol education programs. But in an e-mail to a Daily Pennsylvanian reporter, Feld expressed confidence in freshmen to make informed decisions about alcohol. "They got into Penn; they're very smart," she wrote. "And by now, I think they know most of the facts about alcohol. We gear our programming toward trying to get them to apply those facts and those smarts towards keeping safe and behaving responsibly." Since the incident, a number of Hill House residents have used a voluntary dorm listserv to discuss student drinking. "This certainly is a problem in Hill that needs to be addressed," College sophomore and Hill House Upper Class Board member Phil Yoon wrote in an e-mail. In his e-mail, Yoon -- who accompanied the student to the hospital -- wrote that "it was terribly frightening to see the condition this person was in. It's strange, because you see things like this on TV or in movies and you think it can't happen, and, boom, it happens in real life and is much scarier." In a telephone interview, Yoon recommended that the University provide more alcohol education for students. "I'd certainly like to see more seminar type things from the University to help curb the problem in each of the dormitories -- especially the freshmen dorms," he said. Yoon and other students stressed the importance of students being able to trust their Graduate Fellow or resident advisors in an emergency situation. College freshman David Kay praised Hill House upperclassmen for letting students know that "if we have a friend who is stupid enough to get that drunk, we can go to our GFs and tell them and get help and know that nothing is going to happen to [the drunk student]." Additionally, University policy places student well-being above punishing underage drinkers, and stresses that "efforts to obtain emergency help will not in themselves lead to disciplinary charges." Drug and Alcohol Resource Team advisor and health educator Kate Ward-Gaus explained that the organization was created to enable students to educate their peers about alcohol use. Each year, DART members lead alcohol education workshops for dorms, Greek groups and athletes. In the month of September, DART received more workshop requests from first-year programs than in all of last year, she added. "We acknowledge that in any given group, there will be non-drinkers, there will be drinkers who will be sporadic in their usage? and there will be people who drink too much probably too often," Ward-Gaus said. "What we strongly advocate is that communities work together to move towards responsible usage." Males often begin to become impaired after five drinks, while women may only need four, she said. Nine drinks can put a 160-pound male at risk of needing hospitalization, she added. People suffering from alcohol poisoning may vomit uncontrollably, have pale, clammy skin and lose consciousness. If not put on life support, some sick students can suffer permanent brain damage.