Should NYU faculty and their dependent children receive full tuition remission?
As I logged onto good ol' NYUHome last week, I saw the usual "New E-mail" button and naturally thought, "Oh, maybe it's the daily Theater Mania newsletter or possibly a friendly reminder about a six-page paper I need to write by midnight." You know, the usual curiosities of an NYU student. I was mistaken as my eyes soon scanned an e-mail from Office of Student Affairs with the subject line, "Substance Use Among Undergraduates," in bold writing. A message from the administration about students binge drinking on campus … this should be interesting.
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Apparently in the past month (that's only 30 days), the number of students written up for consuming excessive alcohol and seeking medical attention for alcohol poisoning skyrocketed, causing panic among Student Affairs officials. Excessive alcohol consumption? Alcohol poisoning? Skyrocketing? Those are words reserved specifically for Welcome Week and Arizona State University, not the entire month of September.
For this sudden increase, the e-mail orders students to "stop, to take stock and to think carefully" about certain relationships with Captain Morgan and Mr. Daniel. In essence, the message is more of a guilt trip than an actual public service announcement. According to this piece, alcohol causes people to do the following horrendous acts: "separating friends in a crowd," "making themselves vulnerable to others with bad intentions," pillaging towns in Medieval Europe, dancing like Rick Astley in "Never Gonna Give You Up," etc.
Sarcasm aside, alcohol poisoning is extremely dangerous and should definitely be regarded as a significant health issue. Student Affairs is simply saying that pre-gaming with straight shots of vodka before going to a bar is probably not a smart decision. I know college means freedom, liberty and whatever other noun from the "Declaration of Independence" you want to throw in there, but it is also a place of maturity where students should know how to have fun in a safe way. With that, my message to the undergraduates is basically if you want to drink, just drink in moderation.
While I was on the infamous Weinstein stoop last week, I overheard that a student was taken to the hospital for alcohol poisoning just before I got there. Of course, I worried for a moment about the student's health, but I could not resist thinking: "Wow … Monday night … really?"
This situation worried me for two reasons. One, the fact that the student's poor RA was probably pulling out her hair because she had to write up a long, detailed report due to the student's inconsiderate actions. The second reason is that, honestly, if you cannot wait for the Thursday-through-Saturday circuit, it just might be a sign of future AA meetings.
For these reasons, I am in complete agreement with the e-mail sent by Student Affairs. The senseless activity mentioned above is unfortunate yet easily preventable. On a Friday night, use logic that you learned from class before you start knocking back tequila or SoCo Lime, no matter how much the alcohol may deter your reasoning. This simple step will prove to prevent a never-ending night of hell and an even worse morning.
Students will continue to drink (that's common sense); I am just proposing a more sensible method of drinking. It is my hope that undergraduates will heed the message held by both myself and Student Affairs. By doing so, we can change this surprising statistic as soon as possible.
JSHAW
Oct 12, 2009
10:24 a.m.
I couldn't agree more with the administration.I am the parent of an NYU alumnus who started binge drinking his second week on campus.He and his dormmates hosted dorm parties every weekend for 4 yrs. with plenty of overimbibers(including himself.) Since graduation, he has led a downward spiral into alcoholism without being able to function as some alcoholics can.After many yrs. he is back living at home and had a recent culmination of his yrs of drinking - he couldn't be roused at 7PM one night and we had to call 911.Luckily, we had checked on him every 20 minutes after we realized he was so drunk.At the hospital I became very frightened when the Dr. told me there is no "cure" for alcohol poisoning and we have to wait it out and hope for the best while they gave our son a steady IV hoping to push the alcohol out of his system as efficiently as possible.As a parent I was stunned when I learned this since one hears how there are meds to "cure" drug overdoses so we had just assumed there was for alcohol overdosing.Wrong.One can and does die from alcohol poisoning - especially if the wait is too long before an IV is used-partiers who often let their friend "sleep it off" in bed while they sleep to their death.At 4AM that night our son finally woke up a bit and was able to answer "who are you" and "do you remember what you drank?" Here's my question to all of you - if you are smart enough to get into NYU how can you be so dumb to let yourself be manipulated by the false promises of drinking? I say this since I only have a high school degree but never drank to drunkenness.And yes, I know all about addictions. BTW, my son now attends AA meetings regularly where he has met many other very intelligent people- Doctors, CEOs, pilots, etc. He has not had a drop, sip, glass, or smell of alcohol since that night and he is proud of himself for finally using his intelligence to save himself and become happier.
JSHAW
Oct 12, 2009
1:10 p.m.
BTW, my son's BAC was .42 - in the death range.He drank 6 200ML bottles of vodka in 2 hours or so of time.
sam
Oct 12, 2009
10:56 p.m.
Well, the comment above has less to do with so-called university consumption and sounds more akin to a highly addictive personality.
As for the issue at hand which is over-consumption, it is simply that some students can't handle the freedom of college, and I attribute the danger of alcohol poisoning to the strict regulations enforced on teenagers in high school. Teenage drinking is bound to occur. Being a teenager is typically a time reserved for identity issues, social obfuscation, and general exploration: all are a result of impending adulthood. Surely, every once in a while a teen gets too drunk; as do adults.
But the influx of underage binge drinking comes as a result of society's inability to allow social drinking (one or two) into social situations and common settings. Let's remember, the 21 and under law was enforced to limit and reduce drinking and driving. However over the years, education about drinking and driving (dd's) has successfully integrated itself into the the culture (for teens and adults alike). However, binge drinking continues to increase because as society cracks down harder on alcohol, the teen looks at his beverage like a priceless commodity ('i need to get as drunk as I can while alcohol is at my disposal'). This thinking leads to poor decision.
As for the poster above, I feel for your sympathies. However, addictive personalities aren't prevalent among all college students. Some are just misguided in their immaturity and products of America's poorly handled postiion on alcohol.
What about the international problem?
Oct 15, 2009
8:23 a.m.
To Sam above: I used to also think that the reason irresponsible drinking was such a problem in the US was because of the higher drinking age, and the resultant view of alcohol as "forbidden fruit." Then I talked to an Australian friend, and she pointed out to me that it's also a big problem there, where the drinking age is 18. If you take a look at Wikipedia under "binge drinking" you'll find many references to international government studies showing that binge drinking is becoming (or already is) a big problem all over the world; indeed, southern Europe is unusual as a place where alcohol is legal and it isn't a problem. The most obvious evidence of this is that binge drinking rates are as high in Canada as they are in the US, despite the drinking age being 18 or 19 (depending on the province).
I think it is clear that the issue is much more a cultural one than a legal one. For whatever reason, a person who gets drunk until he or she pukes and passes out has gone from being an object of pity or ridicule to a person who is cool and knows how to party. Until that changes all of the laws in the world won't do a thing.
JShaw
Oct 21, 2009
11 a.m.
After reading Sam's post above I was going to comment but changed my mind because it sounded like the same arrogant crap my son used to say to me.But I changed my mind again after reading the post above.So, Sam, if you have a problem it sounds like you are nowhere near getting better, And if you don't have a problem, perhaps you should keep your manipulative drivel out of print because you may responsible for the next student's trip to the hospital.I'm really tired after all of these years listening to crap like yours spew from the mouths of intelligent(?) people like yourself.
Pot Calling the Kettle Black
Nov 03, 2009
11:59 a.m.
I'm sorry lady above me, but I think you just proved Sam's point. You're being overbearing to him when he was making a completely valid point. I'm from an area (and family) where drinking was demystified at a very young age. That doesn't mean that my parents pumped me full of gin as a baby, but they satisfied my curiosity by letting me smell the beer, then at an older age, letting me taste the drink, which at a young age does not taste good because our palates are different. As a result, neither my friends back home nor I have ever binge drank or had alcohol poisoning. To be honest, I've only ever been drunk twice in my entire life. Anyway, you lashed out at him because he expressed an opinion that was slightly different than yours. I also must tell you that I agree with him, your son's problem is not in the majority on college campuses. I think that giving more information and compassion rather than restrictions and criticism to students would go a long way. Furthermore, we are freshly minted "adults" upon entry into college. Our main examples of how to be an adult come from our guardians (i.e. you in your sons case), so I think it's about time that parents start to take responsibility for their kids' actions whether it be wild partying habits, video game violence come to life, teen pregnancy whatever. You need to get off of the WSN opinion pages and into your son's life. Don't lash out a college student for doing what we do best- having opinions. I know you won't be pleased with what I have to say but oh well, this is an opinion section. Sam can keep spewing his "manipulative drivel" all day. On that note, your response really made me question who was the more mature of the two of you. Maybe somebody HASN'T been the best example of maturity for her son...doesn't feel nice to be personally attacked does it?
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