Everyone knows “that guy.” The one who gets a little too obnoxious at the party and slurs his way through conversation with everyone in the room.
The one who talks too loud about how much he drank and about just how long his keg stand really was.
“That guy:” the one who stumbles out the back door and barely makes it outside before everyone starts to see just how much he drank.
Despite the annoyance factor, the biggest problem with “that guy” is what happens after the people at the party stop paying attention.
On Nov. 9, CNN.com reported that an average of 1,400 college students die per year of alcohol-related causes. The article cites one female student at Colorado State who had more than 40 drinks before dying in a fraternity house.
It should not come as a surprise to students that drinking is a national college epidemic, especially not to Fairfield University students who have been legally sanctioned in order to curb their parties.
Though Fairfield University has not in its 62 years of operation been exposed to a student death from alcohol poisoning, it has certainly not been withou problems.
“We, as a community, cannot dismiss the incidents that have occurred on- and off- campus in which alcohol played a possible role in the death or injury of a community member,” said Jeanne DiMuzio, director of wellness and prevention. “We are not left untouched by the tragedies that have occurred here and at home.”
Yet some argue that the university is not doing all it can to encourage students to take care of each other.
“We took my housemate to the Health Center last year because we were told that if you bring a friend in that you’re worried about to get help, then no one will get in trouble,” said Robert James Finnerty ’05. “Next thing I know he got a letter from judicial, received points, got a letter home and was fined. I mean talk about discouraging helping your friend.”
In addition to deaths as a result of binge drinking on campus, off-campus students who are usually of legal drinking age and living in private residences create a problem for school administrators in holding students accountable for their actions.
The students living at Fairfield beach pose a challenge. Some have compared the beach to a unique sort of fraternity row, the kind of situation that strongly encourages binge drinking.
The university seems to have made an effort to bridge the three-mile gap between campus and the beach by posting a Fairfield representative at the beach. Duane Melzer now acts as a liaison between Fairfield, the students and law enforcement agents.
“The addition of an off-campus coordinator assists both sides in educating the students and bringing the permanent residents into a more harmonious coexistence,” DiMuzio said.
Despite the dangers, some feel that students at Fairfield are well under control.
“If anything, I think campus security takes things too seriously on campus,” said Sarah Delaney ’05. “The way security is all over everyone makes people want to hide friends that are too drunk instead of getting them help. It’s getting to be prison-like.”
The problem with binge drinking neither starts nor ends with Fairfield University. Fairfield must continue to work to find a compromise between students, administrators and security to ensure the continued safety of all involved.
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