[1731] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
Re: [Mit-talk] Seeking feedback on alcohol policy
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Sarah L Mcdougal)
Thu Feb 9 22:43:06 2006
Date: Thu, 9 Feb 2006 22:42:42 -0500 (EST)
From: Sarah L Mcdougal <asarahm@mit.edu>
To: mit-talk@mit.edu
In-Reply-To: <20060209124538.4cq659l8rwv4g4o0@webmail.mit.edu>
Errors-To: mit-talk-bounces@mit.edu
two thoughts:
i think it would be good to increase the knowledge of the general
population - signs that a friend has had too much to drink, coping
strategies for getting them either to slow down or get help, where to go
for help. could this kind of training (i'm thinking kinda like TIPs) be
expanded to the general population? maybe make it part of a hall feed?
could there be a number direct to MIT medical? there's always someone on
call there, and it would be the telephone equivalent of taking someone to
the actual building and ringing the doorbell. the first problem i could
think of is people would prank call. maybe there could be some kind of
intermediary? (nightline -> medical ? GRTs -> medical ?) that takes the
police and the deans out of the equation. and going to medical implies
complete confidentiality.
more thoughts?
-asm
On Thu, 9 Feb 2006, Jessica H Lowell wrote:
> This is bcc-ed to all the dorm talk lists, I think. If I've sent it to the
> wrong list, please forward it to the right one. Also, pass it along to the
> residents of the FSILGs - I would like to include them, but as far as I know
> they don't have talk lists that contain a large proportion of their population.
>
> Background: There were incidents in fall '04 and fall '05 involving "dangerous
> alcohol consumption" by freshmen. The freshmen would get drunk, and their
> friends, who didn't know what to do, would leave them somewhere to be
> discovered, or would be confused because they were in a strange residence and
> didn't know who to contact. People from CDSA, SLP, the UA, DormCon, the IFC,
> and Panhel were brought together to talk about this.
>
> Disclaimer: This is my attempt to get feedback from students and others in the
> community, and I am speaking as an individual who was part of the group, rather
> than speaking officially for the group.
>
> The first initiative that the group came up with was "communication and
> education of the community" which includes the red "How to help a friend"
> posters that you should have gotten and will also include dissemination of
> policy/procedure info.
>
> The second initiative involves each dorm developing a sort of
> housemaster-or-GRT-on-call system, where some member of the houseteam will be
> in the dorm from midnight to 4am during weekend and other "high-risk" times,
> and that person's contact info will be posted at the dorm's front desk or
> entrance while they are on call so that someone at, say, a party in an
> unfamiliar dorm, or bringing a very intoxicated friend home, will know who to
> talk to. I believe this idea was presented to the housemasters and received
> positively.
>
> A student who is taken to medical for alcohol intoxication will not be subject
> to MIT discipline unless the situation also involves violence, sexual assault,
> hazing, etc. This also applies to a student who gets another student help.
> The student who is treated will be expected to participate in a confidential
> alcoholism screening program known as BASICS, which is administered by MIT
> Mental Health and consists of two 55 minute meetings, and does not go on the
> student's disciplinary record.
>
> Please let me know what you think about this. Also, if you're a member of the
> group, and see that I've somehow botched something horribly, speak up.
>
> - Jessie
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> MIT-talk@mit.edu
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>
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