Student drinking causes concern at Williams

By Linda CarmanPrint Story | Email Story
Some experts believe that a culture of drinking is a major problem for students
Williamstown — Williams College first-year students – and prospective students visiting the college – are drinking themselves into the college Health Center or the North Adams Regional Hospital emergency room in ever greater numbers this fall, but college said they don’t have an exact handle on what those numbers are. They are high enough that college administrators are concerned. Associate Dean Dave Johnson said in a story about student drinking in last week’s Williams Record, “We get closer and closer to a major catastrophe.” If the trend continues, Johnson and Dean Nancy Roseman said in the Record story, the college may have to make major changes to student residential life. “The fact is that college students die every year of alcohol poisoning,” Roseman told the Record. “If you pay attention to colleges and universities where that happens, the aftermath is almost always dramatic changes in institutional policies on residential life and student behavior.” Roseman, who was out of town early this week, wrote in a recent e-mail response to The Advocate, “I don’t know if this is a national trend, but I have inquired at the other NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference) Schools and at some, but not all, they are also seeing an increase in students who require hospitalization due to alcohol. “We all wish we knew why. If we could answer that question, we could attack the problem head-on,” Roseman wrote. A group of NESCAC deans will discuss the issue at an annual conference Dec. 8 and 9 “to see if we can formulate a response and work together on this very troubling and frightening issue,” she added. College spokesman James G. Kolesar said Monday, “The sense of people involved is that the numbers are up this fall, and that it’s been a serious situation for small numbers of students who drink until they do themselves harm.” “Some incidents have involved freshmen and pre-frosh here on prospective student visits who became seriously intoxicated,” Kolesar said. “It seems like there’s been an endless amount of alcohol education and discussion but with a sense of heightened concern by all those involved.” He said there has been some talk on campus about restricting access to dormitories to only students who live in those buildings, at least during certain hours. “And there’s talk about legal liability,” he added. “Dean Roseman has been emphasizing that message of late, particularly that anyone providing alcohol to someone under age 21 [the legal drinking age] has exposed him-or herself to extremely serious legal liability.” In the Oct. 28 Record, Roseman was quoted as saying, “Students who are purchasing alcohol for other students, and particularly underage students, are truly playing with fire … to state it baldly, if you supply a student with alcohol, any alcohol, and they die, you have just committed a form of homicide, and you will be prosecuted” She said she did not believe many students understood that servers and hosts at parties could be held responsible for drinking that occurs at social events on campus Roseman noted that Health Center visits due to excessive drinking have increased among students of all classes, not just first-year students. And Kolesar said the increase at Williams has happened despite the college’s diversity and absence of fraternities — both factors that, according to a recent wire story, tend to modify excessive drinking at colleges. College Director of Health Services Ruth G. Harrison told the Record that officials were “very worried” because the numbers of students going to the Health Center and needing to spend the night there for alcohol-related problems were up. Roseman and director of admissions Richard L. Nesbitt sent a joint e-mail to all Williams students regarding reports of prospective students having bad experiences involving alcohol while on a campus visit. According to the e-mail, several such incidents have occurred in recent weeks, some involved the prospective student witnessing a severely intoxicated student, and some involving a negative experience by the prospective student. Sometimes these negative experiences have caused the prospective student to decide against attending the college, according to the e-mail. “Watching someone almost kill themselves, when your original intent was to simply visit a college campus to see whether it is where you want to spend four precious years, is the kind of negative experience I was referring to in that letter,” Roseman was quoted as saying. “When a visitor to campus spends the night being verbally abused and intimidated by drunk Williams College students, it is no surprise when they choose to not apply or attend.” Eric Hsu, a senior and co-president of Junior Advisors (JAs), told the Record, “It is too common a misconception that upperclassmen can get first-years really trashed and sent them back to their dorm where the JAs will be waiting to take care of them. “JAs always want to do their best to help frosh and keep them safe, but if the campus at large will not help us and continues to provide liquor without serving it responsibly, it makes the JAs’ jobs hard and sometimes impossible,” Hsu said. JAs this year have undergone additional training in how to handle crisis situations.
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Lanesborough Fifth-Graders Win Snowplow Name Contest

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — One of the snowplows for Highway District 1 has a new name: "The Blizzard Boss."
 
The name comes from teacher Gina Wagner's fifth-grade class at Lanesborough Elementary School. 
 
The state Department of Transportation announced the winners of the fourth annual "Name A Snowplow" contest on Monday. 
 
The department received entries from public elementary and middle school classrooms across the commonwealth to name the 12 MassDOT snowplows that will be in service during the 2025/2026 winter season. 
 
The purpose of the contest is to celebrate the snow and ice season and to recognize the hard work and dedication shown by public works employees and contractors during winter operations. 
 
"Thank you to all of the students who participated. Your creativity allows us to highlight to all, the importance of the work performed by our workforce," said  interim MassDOT Secretary Phil Eng.  
 
"Our workforce takes pride as they clear snow and ice, keeping our roads safe during adverse weather events for all that need to travel. ?To our contest winners and participants, know that you have added some fun to the serious take of operating plows. ?I'm proud of the skill and dedication from our crews and thank the public of the shared responsibility to slow down, give plows space and put safety first every time there is a winter weather event."
 
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