Alcohol poisoning lands frosh in HUP

The freshman Phi Delta Theta pledge passed out in the Quadrangle with a blood alcohol level of .356. An unconscious Penn freshman was rushed to the emergency room early yesterday morning with alcohol poisoning so severe he needed a respirator to breathe, authorities and friends of the student said. The 19-year-old Phi Delta Theta pledge is expected to make a full recovery. As of late last night, he remained at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in stable condition and was scheduled to be released sometime today. The incident was at least the third alcohol-related hospitalization of a Penn student this semester, and the number of students sent to the hospital in similar incidents since the beginning of the school year is greater than 10. Several of the freshman's friends, who asked to remain anonymous, said the 6', 180-pound student had told them during an afternoon visit that his blood alcohol level was .356 when he was admitted to the emergency room in critical condition between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. That level would be only slightly lower than the .41 an 18-year-old Massachusetts Institute of Technology freshman had shortly before he died of alcohol poisoning last fall. Several of the student's friends said he did not remember exactly how much he drank while bartending at a cocktail party at the fraternity house, which is located at 3700 Locust Walk. He passed out shortly after arriving back at the Quadrangle at about 2 a.m. His fraternity brothers eventually took him to HUP, friends said. Two of the student's friends who visited him in the hospital yesterday said he was "fine" -- although he still had an IV connected to his body -- and that doctors said the freshman's mild case of pneumonia could be partially responsible for his vulnerability to alcohol. His friends added that the student's father had been notified of his son's condition. Kate Ward-Gaus, the advisor to the student Drug and Alcohol Resource Team, said despite fraternity and sorority pledging, alcohol-related hospitalizations have significantly decreased since last semester, when at least five freshmen entered HUP for alcohol poisoning. "There wasn't a lot [of binge drinking] going on up until pledging, and even then there weren't any major situations with regard to hospitalizations," Ward-Gaus said, adding that she was "aware" of only two such hospitalizations this semester prior to the student's. All six students interviewed with regard to the student's hospitalization emphasized that he chose to binge drink, and was not encouraged to do so as part of fraternity hazing. "He was working the bar," said one of his friends who attended the party. "He probably took a few sips here and there without thinking." Daily Pennsylvanian staff writer Liz Goldhirsh contributed to this article.