Why is the Department of Public Safety
acting like it cares less about the safety of the public than it does about issuing citations?
As reported Wednesday, “DPS automatically issues a municipal citation when responding to calls where a student potentially has alcohol poisoning if that student is under 21 years old and is sick enough to need transportation to a hospital, DPS Interim Director Tom Hicks said at a Public Safety Advisory Group meeting Tuesday” (“Two University alcohol policies
conflict,” ODE, Feb. 23).
The Office of Student Life, in an effort to
encourage students to seek help, contradicts the DPS policy and promises students there will be no consequences for reporting potential
alcohol poisoning.
DPS Cpl. Michael Eppli expressed concern that failing to penalize really drunk students would encourage other students to drink more in order to avoid citation. But it is ridiculous to think that somebody would potentially poison themselves simply to avoid a fine. What could happen is that students who need to seek
medical help will not do so in order to avoid an automatic citation. This kind of chilling effect is very real and potentially deadly.
Each year 1,400 students nationwide die from alcohol related causes , according to an Emerald report (“After the party,” ODE, Nov. 24). Usually students do not realize their peers are suffering from alcohol poisoning and elect to let them
sleep it off. To combat this, students should be encouraged to overreact when they suspect
alcohol poisoning. The DPS policy, on the other hand, encourages students to do nothing and hope that everything will turn out okay.
Working with students to deal with their drinking problems proactively and anonymously would be a much more effective response
following alcohol-related incidents. However, DPS seems to view students as enemies that
deserve to be punished at all costs.
Don’t get us wrong. Alcohol abuse is a
serious problem, not simply for the individual but for the community as a whole. Drunk
driving, rape and alcohol-fueled riots are just a few of the problems DPS deals with because of student binge drinking. But issuing citations for those with alcohol poisoning is not a solution.
Underage students should be free to seek medical help for any reason without fear of DPS’s reprisal . If not, the University might be dealing with one or two cases of alcohol
poisoning in the residence halls each week; the University might be dealing with one or two cases of alcohol related deaths.
That’s a hell of tradeoff for handing out a few more citations.

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