Party at Leverett! Mather! The Spee! UHS!

Four weeks after their arrival in the Yard, Camp Harvard came to an abrupt end for the class of 2008.

Around 1:00 a.m., an ambulance rolled onto the grass past Memorial Church to the Canaday courtyard, breaking the silence of the night with flashing lights and shouted commands. Two weary-looking Harvard University policemen loaded a still figure onto a stretcher while their colleagues kept an eye on the gathering crowd. The ambulance doors slammed shut, its idling motor fired up and it departed—only to be replaced in short order by another.

The Canaday party was over, but for the students on the stretchers, the after-party was just beginning, courtesy of University Health Services (UHS).

Freshmen seem to be hitting the bottle harder and harder, as they made up the lion’s share of the 24 students admitted to UHS in the abbreviated month of September. And while some dismiss the dangerous levels of intoxication frequently achieved by members of the freshman class as the antics of inexperienced “high school drinkers,” it is undeniable that ambulances cruising around the freshman dorms on Saturday nights have become weekend staples.

Indeed, last year saw a record increase in the number of students brought to UHS because of alcohol abuse, which prompted Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 to create a committee specifically designed to combat the problem.

Last Wednesday, the Committee to Address Alcohol and Health at Harvard released its findings—a pointed call for increased outreach and the establishment of an administrative post to provide a guiding hand to alcohol-related programs at Harvard.

UHS Director David Rosenthal, who advised the 24-member Committee, says that the best strategy is not only to treat students who come in to UHS for alcohol poisoning, but to attack the root causes of the problem. He suggests mandatory evaluation or counseling for repeat patients to diagnose possible cases of alcoholism, as well as improved education.

He also suggests that when students travel in groups, one should act as a “designated observer” who will not drink but will keep an eye out for the safety of his or her friends.

Even now, however, UHS should not be accused of simply treating the symptoms and ignoring the disease: after patients have sobered up and been monitored overnight at UHS, they are required to fill out a questionnaire and schedule a meeting with their primary physician to ensure their hospital stay does not indicate a more serious problem with alcohol.

One freshman who asked that his name not be used says he found the information given to him when he awoke on how alcohol affects respiration very useful.

One crucial piece of information, however, was not clear to this freshman until he got to UHS: that his stay at Stillman Infirmary Saturday night would not result in a trip to the dean’s office Sunday morning.

The same night ambulance after ambulance pulled through Canaday courtyard, one freshman forcefully resisted the attempts of his friends to take him in for care. He grabbed hold of lampposts and door frames on the street in front of Old Leverett, terrified of the consequences he imagined must follow a hospital stay at UHS. Eventually his friends won out, and he received the care he needed, but not without a fight.

UHS is more than well-versed in treating cases of alcohol poisoning, but the only problem is getting students treated in the first place. Logic would seem to dictate that turning oneself over to employees of the University after losing 12 consecutive games of beer pong must result in disciplinary action. As such, many freshmen interviewed for this story said that, prior to treatment, they would not have gone to UHS for alcohol-related maladies except, perhaps, as a very last resort.

As proctors and doctors explain, however, that reluctance could prove fatal.

UHS Director David Rosenthal stresses that no punitive action is taken against anyone admitted to UHS for alcohol poisoning, even if they have violated the Harvard rules and regulations concerning alcohol use.  All this is, of course, explained during freshman week, but of those freshmen interviewed who have spent a night at UHS, most said that prior to their stays they believed disciplinary action would be taken against them.

The culture of fear surrounding UHS and the HUPD was addressed in the Committee’s report. The proposed solutions focus on using education to combat misconceptions, suggesting that tutors, proctors and students all contribute to the outreach efforts.

This year, the message was sent to the Class of 2008 twice: on their first night at Harvard, in a mandatory proctor meeting, and a few days later, in a video on alcohol use, drug use and sexual harassment. In the video, two students have a conversation about serious issues, breaking frequently to shots of administration officials expounding the virtues of Room 13, HUPD and UHS.

But although the message came through student as well as official voices, many students remained unclear about alcohol policies.

“Back home, when your friends got sick, you couldn’t do anything with them, or they’d get in trouble,” says a freshman who asked not to be named. “You can bring your friends to UHS and nothing happens.”

Everyone knew the consequences of calling the cops to help a friend with alcohol poisoning when they themselves were probably not far short of the condition themselves, and it is that sort of programming that UHS needs to combat. While those interviewed all described the UHS staff as helpful, friendly, professional and experienced and acknowledged that no disciplinary action had been taken against them, it shouldn’t require a drunken trip to UHS to convince anyone of their intentions.

For now, as reformers hash out exactly how to change the system, UHS will in all likelihood remain the province of the dangerously drunk, the seriously intoxicated and those too trashed to stop their friends and roommates from dragging them to Stillman.