<p>19 year old sophomore found dead in his suite. Cause of death unknown.</p>
<p>“In a phone interview, Miller (college dean) said it would be premature to speculate on the cause of Narcisse’s death, but added that she has been communicating over the past week with masters and deans to share concerns about alcohol and drug use on campus. After last week’s Safety Dance, at least eight students needed medical attention.”</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s a good thing for anyone to drink to the point of needing medical attention. However, lets not go overboard. I read the article and it said that there were 2,000 students at the dance. 8 out of 2,000, while not acceptable, isn’t that alarming.</p>
<p>Actually, I think 8 out of 2000 partying students needing medical attention is horrific. ‘Needing medical attention’ to me sounds like they were at the least passed out and unresponsive to attempts to wake them. </p>
<p>Also, this was at a college-sponsored event. With adults present (I don’t know how many, but I would guess a fair amount). I understand that officially there is no alcohol served at the event, but in fact there is plenty of alcohol brought in by party-goers, and plenty of pre-gaming. There is very little said by anyone with authority about the dangers of getting smashed out of your mind. There is plenty of nod-and-wink, ‘we understand that you are all going to drink’, plenty of enabling, and plenty of encouragement to drink. I don’t know that there is any more of it at Yale than at any other comparable university - more’s the pity. </p>
<p>My daughter is a freshman and doesn’t party. She’s had wine at dinner at my house, but is disgusted at public displays of out-of-control drinking. She’s judgmental about this stuff and refuses to attend parties at which the action is mostly about drinking. From what she’s seen so far, that describes most parties, and certainly all the big college-sponsored events. I’ve counseled her in the past that a party with some out-of-control drunks probably also has a lot of other kids more or less like her who are just looking to have a good time with a little social lubricant – but I’m not at all sure that I’m right. That’s what things were like in my undergraduate days, but perhaps it’s different today, or different at Yale. She played in the YSO concert last night and was disgusted. She came close to being vomitted on a few times. </p>
<p>This kid dying is sad beyond belief. But it’s not surprising that it happened, given how much public drunkenness is accepted and encouraged in the circumstances he was in.</p>
<p>I agree that it is wrong to speculate at this point. A young woman who graduated from D’s high school had a heart attack in her dorm room at a top 20 school recently. Fortunately, her roommate was there, emergency responders were quick, the school’s hospital has one of the finest cardiac units in the country, and the girl survived. Had she been alone & died, the cause would have been unknown. Turns out she had an autoimmune disease - she had no clue beforehand. She has since had a heart transplant & is recovering (complicated by a stroke that occurred around the time of the transplant). But had she died … it would have been some time before the cause was known. How difficult speculation would have been for her family.</p>
<p>One thing Yalies commonly like to brag about in all the endless H vs. Y arguments is how much less restrictive Yale’s alcohol policies are than Harvard’s and how that makes for more parties, much better parties, and much more fun. Maybe it’s time for Yale to rethink. (Not to say that no one ever drinks at Harvard).</p>
<p>My D says parties at Harvard are pretty boring and she likes it that way. She’s dry and likes it that way, as well. Usually leaves after 30 minutes when people start getting too stupid for her.</p>
<p>Excessive drinking is certainly not unique to any campus but remains one of the stupidest things kids do.</p>
<p>However, check out this gem from the Yale Alumni magazine online titled:</p>
<p>“Eins, Zwei, Drei, Bier”</p>
<p>"Yale’s musical history includes a long list of come-and-gone ensembles — the Banjo and Mandolin Club used to be HUGE — but the Yale German Band had escaped my notice until I saw this item on the website of the Yale Club of the Suncoast. (That’s the Sarasota, Florida, area.) Bob Courtright ’48, a member of that club, founded the band, known for its “outrageous oompah sound and zany antics,” and its “motley ‘uniforms’ and battered helmets.” The band played gigs on campus and made road trips to Smith and Vassar and even a debutante’s coming-out party. Their only compensation? “Beer, beer and more beer.”</p>
<p>It’s hard for someone who didn’t live through that time to imagine that less than three years after World War II, Ivy Leaguers thought nothing was funnier than paramilitary faux Germans. Of course, I did grow up on “Hogan’s Heroes” reruns.</p>
<p>Anyway, check out the page — there’s even audio."</p>
<p>This makes me want to cry. I spoke with my son immediately after receiving the e-mail notifying the Yale community about this young man’s death and reading the YDN article, which referenced administrative concerns about alcohol and drug use among students. We talked, for the kabillionth time, about the perils of binge drinking. He told me that Halloween is a particularly big drinking night on campus (as I suspect it is on virtually all college campuses.) He then told me about the traditional Halloween midnight YSO concert, which he said was really fun. How cool, how (relatively) wholesome, how quintessentially Yale,I thought. Sure, I figured kids would be there with, as you put it, memake, a little social lubricant. But vomiting during a concert? It’s beyond my understanding. </p>
<p>I am not opposed to college students drinking moderately. But what motivates them to drink themselves sick? And how do we persuade our children that excessive drinking can be deadly?</p>
<p>And coureur, I know you’re not a provocateur, but I’d really like to not turn this discussion into another Harvard vs. Yale contest.</p>
<p>Me neither. I didn’t mean it as praise for Harvard (heaven knows they are not perfect either), but I do think that Yale’s liberal alcohol policies come with a cost - chickens coming home to roost as they say. And regardless of what H or any other school is doing, Yale could use some reform.</p>
<p>Coureur: I don’t know. Maybe you’re right. But I hear these same tales of out-of-control drinking about every campus, Harvard included. I honestly am not aware of how Yale’s drinking policy is less restrictive than policies at other schools. Son says the modus operandi is pre-gaming – drinking large quantities very quickly before venturing out to a party, a symphony concert (!), or some other public event. That’s the classic method of operation when drinking has to be done on the quiet, i.e., when there is a restrictive drinking policy in place.</p>
<p>I tried googling some more info about this particular student. Evidently, he hailed from Roosevelt, LI. Not sure which HS he attended, but Roosevelt HS is ranked 113 out of 115 of HS’s on LI. It is historically one of the most troubled districts and at one point was going to be closed down. According to its published stats, very few kids even earn a NYS regents diploma, and hardly anyone makes it to a 4 year school OOS. He must have been an extraordinary young man with a lot of promise to get in at Yale. His family members must’ve been bursting with pride and imagined a bright future for him.</p>
<p>I hope we can just offer our condolences to this man’s family. If by chance he was the son of one of our regular visitors to CC, let us just tell them how deeply sorry we are.</p>