Alcohol sends frosh to hospital

Alcohol poisoning landed at least two Hill College House residents in HUP this weekend, officials said. At least two Hill College House freshmen were taken to the hospital over the weekend due to alcohol-related illnesses, University officials confirmed yesterday. All students involved have since recovered. In one incident Sunday, a male student stopped breathing after taking a large number of shots of liquor. Other students waited 15 minutes to notify the suite's graduate fellow, and the student was put on a respirator upon arrival at the hospital, according to information given to Hill House freshmen by a number of GFs. Since the incidents occurred, GFs have emphasized to freshmen the importance of immediately alerting them when students may be in medical danger from overdrinking, several Hill freshmen said. The University has traditionally maintained a policy whereby students who seek help for themselves or friends are not punished for underage drinking. Reports from students and administrators varied as to the number of people involved, with some students claiming that more than two students may actually have been sent to HUP. Hill Senior Administrative Fellow Tracey Feld acknowledged that "a number" of freshmen were sent to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Sunday night after drinking alcohol, but she would not divulge whether the students were male or female, the exact number involved or the nature of their illnesses. And Associate Vice Provost of University Life Barbara Cassel confirmed that she, too, had heard of one incident last weekend when a Hill freshman was taken to the hospital after drinking. Feld and Cassel both cited the students' right to confidentiality in refusing to give further details of the incidents. The students who were hospitalized will be referred to a social worker in Penn's counseling center, who will then determine whether each student has a problem with alcohol or if the over-drinking was a one-time error in judgement. Although Hill -- like other dormitories on campus -- does not have a formal alcohol-education program for freshmen, Hill Master James O'Donnell insisted that GFs regularly discuss alcohol issues with their residents. "We put a lot of time into working -- through our Graduate Fellows -- to encourage students to obey the law and to behave responsibly," O'Donnell said. "They don't always [follow the advice]." He added that "there is discussion in every single suite. Every graduate fellow raises questions in whatever form seems best to the group they are working with." And Cassel stressed that the University is "very much involved" in educating students about the perils of alcohol, citing initiatives such as the University's Alcohol and Drug Task Force and Drug and Alcohol Resource Team. A similar overdrinking incident occurred on campus last fall, when three freshmen were taken to HUP after becoming seriously ill from alcohol. At the time, one student's alcohol-poisoning was classified as life-threatening. Daily Pennsylvanian reporter Dina Bass contributed to this article.