<p>[Princeton</a> says 13 intoxicated students taken to hospital | Philadelphia Inquirer | 02/09/2009](<a href=“Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey News”>Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey News)</p>
<p>I really don’t think any campus is immune from these incidents. I wish I had an answer.</p>
<p>A good place to start would be to immediately disband any fraternity, faux-fraternity, or sports team involved in an alcohol poisoning hazing incident and expel the student “leaders” from college.</p>
<p>What is the solution to then taking unrecognized frats off campus, and parties in off campus housing?</p>
<p>Ah, see, I just read it. This took place at an off campus eating club. These things are taken off campus when the frats are not recognized on campus.</p>
<p>A good place to start would be parents taking more of responsibility of raising their kids. There will always be outside influence, but how kids will react is a direct reflection of their family life. Most kids will err, but how they recover is a testament to their upbringing.</p>
<p>I got a suggestion! How about disciplining the people that drank themselves silly? </p>
<p>Oh wait! That would infer taking responsibility for ones own actions instead of assigning fault to someone else. </p>
<p>What was I thinking?!</p>
<p>I think the problem stems from the fact that many of these people are so goddamn boring when sober or are surrounded by really boring people.
Alcohol makes things a lot more exciting usually.
Once you’re with a bunch of people who are so obsessed with their own ‘social status’ and desire acceptance so much, they are going to be pretty boring people… since in order to be exciting you have to do things which won’t necessarily guarantee you social acceptance.</p>
<p>^^ Now THERE’S a helpful comment!</p>
<p>Oldfort- I don’t buy the “parental responsibility” thing, especially once the kids are in college. I really don’t think you have much control over high school drinking, much less college…</p>
<p>Yes…things seemed quite crazy as I walked by. As we listened to the a capella groups perform, a rowdy bunch in togas were walking towards nassau st…dunno why.</p>
<p>I think lowering the drinking age migh be helpful.
I will never get how come it is possible to drive a car at 16, marry at 18 but can’t have a beer till 21 :)</p>
<p>The “off-campus” ruse is just plausible deniability for the college administrators. Princeton knows darn well that those eating clubs are a prominent part of the social scene. They could simply expel any student caught participating in an eating club if they had any inclination to get rid of the faux-frats.</p>
<h1>6. LOL x10. I think you may have the answer.</h1>
<p>That article is pretty vague…I don’t think all eating clubs are the same, and the article doesn’t say if the drunk kids came from a particular club, multiple clubs, or something else.</p>
<p>Here’s an article about it from the Daily Princetonian–also a bit vague:</p>
<p>[Thirteen</a> go to hospital post-Bicker - The Daily Princetonian](<a href=“http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2009/02/09/22675/]Thirteen”>http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2009/02/09/22675/)</p>
<p>It’s better than the story from two years ago (Newark Star-Ledger) where the Princetonians were making a fetish of eating their own vomit.</p>
<p>There were actually 16 emergency transports, and 13 of them admitted to the hospital. There are no “off campus” eating clubs, or, to say it another way, they are ALL off campus, and central to campus life.</p>
<p>(Disclosure: my d. is a graduate student and praeceptor at Princeton.)</p>
<p>Hmmm…this is interesting. I learned from some on these boards that I’m supposed to steer my kids away from colleges with “drinking problems.” Does that include Princeton?
Oh, and I’m with MOWC - how can you possibly target the parents in this case? Are we saying that the parents of these 16 lost souls were irresponsible? Lazy? Distracted? Big Time Drunks themselves? Don’t think so. I guess if you have an angel who never gets into trouble, it’s easy to think that. We have a family next door…one kid (the older one) is an angel…the other a bit of a monster who gets into trouble…a LOT. Maybe they should have stopped at one?</p>
<p>Why does it have to be an initiation with danger, stupidity, and grossness? Why can’t it be a Welcome party with really great food? (It is an eating club after all)</p>
<p>I strongly agree with lowering the drinking age. All we have done is driven drinking underground, instead of it being at places where adults are there.</p>
<p>These 13 are some of the most intelligent adults in the nation. They should be held responsible for their own actions.</p>
<p>What are there new handicapping odds at Pton? Do the praeceptors do the merits/demerits like in Harry Potter?</p>
<p>I am familiar with the eating clubs as they exist now, and with how kids get “McCoshed” or “PMC’d”. The fact that going to these medical facilities has been made into a verb says something… a significant percentage of Princeton kids belong to the clubs and the clubs have a drinking culture. Let no one tell you otherwise. </p>
<p>However, what you may not understand is that the number of kids sent to McCosh or PMC is at this point less an indicator of rife out of control drinking than it is an indicator of the success of Princeton Borough and the university in convincing the clubs that the officers - students all - are responsible for the safety of their members. Clubs have Safety Patrols, also students all. When kids show sign of being seriously drunk, off they are sent to a medical situation by their peers. And they get sent off quite readily. At many many campuses across the country kids way drunker than these Princeton students are just left to vomit in the stairwell.</p>
<p>The centralized eating clubs in fact probably make Princeton, among drinking campuses, safer than others. </p>
<p>Now, whether the current president will succeed in her initiative to make the drinking culture a minority at Princeton, that’s another question altogether. Increasing investment in science and arts departments, 4-year residential colleges, additional alcohol-free social environments and student centers are all part of the effort.</p>
<p>May be a invite to Michelle?</p>