Are Vassar students drinking dangerously?
In 2007 Vassar Emergency Medical Services (EMS) received 130 calls, a nearly 50 percent increase from 2006, and a 130 percent increase from 2002. Forty-five students had to be hospitalized, and 50 went to Baldwin, the majority for alcohol-related problems. It is figures like these, seemingly indicating a rise in high-risk drinking behavior, that were on the minds of college deans and administrators when they addressed the Vassar Student Association (VSA) at its Feb. 10 meeting. What followed was a long dicussion between the deans and VSA, in an attempt to understand and solve what they see as a possible crisis. But, is there a crisis? “I don’t think Vassar has any more of a drinking problem than other small liberal arts schools,” said Head EMT Sasha Brin ’08. “I think the rise in calls mostly has to do with people being more comfortable with calling, and that’s a good thing.” Brin said that one innocent force behind the increase in calls could be the Good Samaritan policy. Instituted i
