UA late-night NSO events may not have reduced heavy drinking

The Undergraduate Assembly's late-night events during New Student Orientation were intended to curb heavy drinking, but many students have said that this year's NSO involved just as much drinking as in past years.

Although in theory late-night NSO events are a great idea, said College senior and Penn Medical Emergency Response Team Chief Josh Glick, they have not actually reduced the number of reported alcohol-related medical incidents.

"If anything, the number has increased," said Glick, explaining that MERT received approximately 20 to 25 calls last year and 25 to 30 this year.

He added that this year, the calls simply came in later, with many between 2 and 4 a.m., rather than between 12 and 2 a.m., which is usually the case.

Penn Environmental Group executive board members Ashima Sukhdev and Abby Waldorf, both College sophomores, hosted a late-night bonfire on College Green from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Friday night. Even though freshmen attended the event, Waldorf guessed that many were just stopping on their way to parties.

According to College senior and Queer Student Alliance co-chairwoman Katherine Atkinson, who hosted a Queer Quizzo game Friday night, some students had been drinking before the events, and many students said they planned to go out after.

"There was no drinking at the event, and it did at least provide a two-hour hiatus from drinking during a time period in which heavy 'pregaming' often occurs," she wrote in an e-mail.

Even if they intended to attend parties later, some freshmen said they appreciated the alternative activities.

"I already went out [Thursday] night with my floor," said Logan Troppito, an Engineering freshman who attended the PEG bonfire. "It's good to know what's happening on campus."

College freshman Elena Madan, who attended the Penn Student Government event Saturday night, said, "Even if I went to a party, I'd still be trying to meet people. [At the late-night events] I can actually see people, meet them and talk to them. At a party, no one remembers your name."

But she added, "I still think [parties] are important though. Most parties start after these events end, so I'm going out anyway."

Wharton senior and Nominations and Elections Committee vice chairwoman Patricia Liu, who helped plan the PSG event, said the late-night events successfully "fill a gap of time not usually filled," during which freshmen would be likely to drink.

Still, "we are always going to see intoxicated students," Glick said. "The only thing we need to do better is work on preventing late-night, uncontrolled, alcohol-filled parties."

Undergraduate Assembly Chairman Alec Webley, a College junior, said he never expected the initiative to eliminate drinking from NSO.

"It's important that everyone remember that this was a pilot program," he said. "One objective was to impact underage drinking, but the other objective was to provide an alternate culture for freshmen who may have been turned off by parties."

He added that the events were well-attended, with each attracting at least 100 people and some attracting over 600.

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