Sober friends take place of duty office

Fewer students have used the new components of the alcohol policy, namely the sober friend and the duty office, than the services offered by Parton Health Center in previous years.
Sober friends have been required in 30 instances this semester, compared to the 37 students who went to Parton Health Center in the same time frame last year. The duty office, or “the drunk tank,” as it is known around campus, has been used to house inebriated students three times since its creation at the beginning of the semester.
Director of Public Safety Lisa Boudah admitted that she had some initial concerns about the new protocol. She “wondered if ambulance calls would increase,” but her fears have not been realized. As of right now, there have been five reported incidents of students who needed to be trans- ported to the hospital, compared to three incidents last fall.
According to Boudah, the majority of these students required immediate hospital attention, so the hospital was not used as a substitute for the health center.
Public Safety considers the sober- friend initiative the most important part of their new alcohol policy. After notification from another student, staff member, First Year Counselor or officer, Public Safety helps the intoxicated student find a sober friend. If they can’t find a sober friend, the student may go to the student-based night coverage office in Ross. Unlike the “drunk tank” idea, students do not stay in the office for an extended period of time. Instead, the office helps locate friends who may be able to help. Boudah said that the students use Facebook and general “who knows who” knowledge to try and find friends.
Boudah stressed that the duty office should not be thought of as a “drunk tank” because finding a sober friend is the first priority of the new alcohol policy, and the office has only actually been used a total of three times.
Once a sober friend is located, they are
given a GordieCheck card, which tells the symptoms of alcohol poisoning and what to do, as well as Public Safety’s and Por- ter Hospital’s phone numbers. They are then left responsible for the student for the night.
Boudah was “worried about people not wanting to take responsibility for some- one” at the beginning of the semester, but has been pleasantly surprised by students’ willingness to help their friends. In fact, she believes that the new protocol will empha- size “community responsibility.”
She compared the system to the “friends don’t let friends drive drunk” cam- paign and said that people will be more af- fected and aware of the dangers in drinking through this more community-focused response. Before, by removing a student from the situation and taking them to the health center, people were less affected by the consequences of student drinking, according to Boudah. This new policy, however, helps promote “personal accountability.”
Some question whether the sober- friend policy will always be effective. Coffrin residential advisor Divya Deither ’12 thought it was difficult to compare the care of a friend to the care you would get at the health center. The health center was a reli- able and stable resource for students to go if they felt they were in danger. In addition, Deither expressed that “it isn’t right for a friend to have the same responsibility” that a professional nurse at the health center would have in caring for another friend.