STUDENT SAMPLE CO 201 Sam Sarkisian 14 February 2020 The Dangers of Teen Drinking in Greek Life

BOSTON- A recently released BU Today article showed an increase in the number of students

transported to the hospital last semester due to drinking compared to the past two years. As the

university approaches rush week for both sororities and fraternities, it is important to recognize

the detrimental impact Greek life has on dangerous, underage drinking habits and how Greek life

contributed to the statistics.

Eighty students found themselves in the hospital after a night out in the fall semester, which is an

increase over the past two years, according to BU Today author Rich Barlow.

Rich Barlow, the author and reporter responsible for this BU Today Article, informed me that in

the past decade Boston University hasIn response to the increase in student hospitalization, BU

has “adopted new protocols to reduce excessive drinking based on effective protocols used at the

University of California Los Angeles,.” according to the same article. “They [The Wellness Center] can't completely explain the fluctuation of the statistics, they hope

it's due to the good Samaritan policy, where students are not being prosecuted, but they can’t tell

whether it [the change in data] is statistically significant,” said Barlow.

This statistic does not factor in thea common fall tradition of rush week. At many schools, rush

week takes place in the fall, but at Boston University girls and all freshmen do not rush until the

spring. Rush week is when students complete a variety of tasks, one being binge drinking, and

attend events in hopes of being selected to join a sorority or fraternity. Even though less than half of students at Boston University participate in rushing, Greek life still

has a large impact on the university. Fraternities are responsible for a large portion of the parties

held that students attend.

One student who wished to remain anonymous was hospitalized after attending a party at a

fraternity in Allston.

“I think more people end up in the hospital because they won’t get in trouble the first time it

happens to them and whoever sent them won’t get in trouble either,” they said. “You don’t know

you drank too much until you wake up handcuffed to a hospital bed.”

According to one study from Harvard University, “4 out of 5 fraternity and sorority members are

binge drinkers. In comparison, other research suggests 2 out of 5 college students overall are

regular binge drinkers.”

When asked whether Greek life is a large part of the reason students drink too much alcohol,

Detective Lieutenant Kelley O’Connell commented through email.

“Yes, they are a reason, dependent upon the code of conduct of the specific fraternity or sorority.

Any venue whether it be a fraternity, sorority, private residence or even a licensed establishment

has an obligation to ensure that all attendees are of legal age,” said O’Connell.

Griffin Morrill, a freshman who rushed a fraternity this semester and currently pledging said,

“They lined us up and handed us a bottle while we were blindfolded and told us to chug. ‘You

trust your brothers, don’t you?’ they said to test our loyalty to the frat.”

Morrill also reported that many kids were too drunk after the initiation activities and “so many

guys were passed out or sitting with their heads in trash cans.”

In contrast, sororities have a different rush process that often forbids drinking. One freshman,

Lauren Hund, was asked if she had any concerns about alcohol use during rush week. “I guess I’ve always heard from people that rush week is a time when sororities don’t drink

alcohol, so I guess it didn’t make me hesitant to rush because I know they don’t drink during

rush week,” said Hund. “Even if I was told that they did drink during rush week I wouldn’t be

hesitant because drinking is a choice, so if you don’t wanna do it you don’t have to do it.”

Although the transport rates of students to the hospital mentioned in the BU Today article have

increased, this is not necessarily a negative statistic. Transportation to the hospital means

students are being monitored after they have had too much to drink which was the ultimate goal

of the new protocols Rich Barlow mentioned.

When asked about the increase in the number of students being transported to the hospital,

O’Connell was not sure of the clear-cut answer.

“It’s a two-fold issue; there’s more of an awareness to the dangers associated with intoxication.

Therefore, more people are reporting when there’s a dangerous situation. While there is still the

issue of students who are experiencing alcohol for the first time that become overly intoxicated

more easily” said O’Connell.

“Students have to be cautious when they go to frats and start drinking” Morrill warned. “Know

what’s being given to you and watch how much your friends are having. People aren’t smart

when they drink and that’s when things go wrong.”

This is a pretty solid news story with balanced reporting and an objective news voice.

Unfortunately (perhaps partially due to time restrictions and insufficient data) you don’t give any

solidified information or what to do about it, so this in some ways weakens the newsworthiness

of your article.

Look through my comments on line-specific suggestions and corrections.

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Prof. S - Grade: B+/A- (90) Sources:

Harvard Study quote: https://www.addictioncenter.com/college/drinking-drug-abuse-greek-life/

Bu Today article: https://www.bu.edu/articles/2020/alcohol-transports-increased-this-fall-over- fall-2018/

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