NU alcohol policies see changes

By Alex Gleeson
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

As students return to Northfield and begin hitting the books once again, the Norwich Alcohol Awareness and Prevention Committee, along with Charles Keinath, the university drug and alcohol policy coordinator, have formulated and are preparing to implement new protocols for the university's alcohol policy.

Vice chair of the committee Michelle Rouleau, a 20-year-old sophomore communications and psychology major from Orange, VT, says that the majority of the committee's work has been clarifying the "gray areas" in the policy.

"We clarified most of the toleration issues," Rouleau said. "There were a lot of gray areas there. We also clarified policy for enabling. We don't want people thinking underage drinking is okay if there is a designated driver."

According to Rouleau, under the new policy designated drivers are no longer charged for toleration if their friends call them after a night of drinking and ask them to drive them home. However, students who plan in advance to drive for fellow students who are drinking underage will still be charged with toleration.

Committee chairman Chris Tucker, a 20-year-old junior business management major from Pittsfield, Mass, said that the policy has not yet been finalized and is still subject to change. The Norwich Alcohol Awareness and Prevention Committee finalized their proposals, and Colonel McKean, the Vice President for student affairs, has approved them. The final say belongs to President Schneider. The proposals were sent to his office September 20 for approval.

According to Tucker, under the new policy toleration is not treated the same as a violation of the alcohol policy (VAP). Tucker said the first conviction of toleration for either a cadet or a civilian results in a negative counseling statement.

A second conviction results in 15 tours and 15 days of closed military confinement (CMC) for cadets, according to Tucker. Civilian students will have to perform 15 hours community service with the university building and grounds crews. Both civilians and cadets will be required to attend Norwich Alcohol Policy classes after their second conviction.

The third conviction carries a minimum 30-30 penalty for cadets and 30 hours of community service for civilians. In addition, Tucker said that both civilians and cadets have hearings with the commandant after a third conviction of VAP toleration.

Another section of the new policy will include sending letters home to the parents of students prior to formal balls and other activities, according to Tucker. These letters would serve as warnings to parents who give out their credit card numbers to their kids for renting hotel rooms for post ball celebrations. The letters would warn the parents that they would be subject to lawsuits if the hotel room they paid for is enabling underage drinking.

In the past, cadets found in direct violation of the alcohol policy received 30 tours and 30 days on CMC. Under the new policy, cadets found in direct violation will instead receive 30 tours and 30 days in the corps' motivational platoon.

Motivational platoon is the highest form of punishment administered by the corps, short of expulsion. It is an experience that has been described by some cadets as worse than rookdom.

"It's hell," according to Jason Kauffin, a 22-year-old senior communications major from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. "Basically, it makes you want to quit the school."

Kauffin served two weeks in motivational platoon his platoon his sophomore year for toleration of an alcohol policy violation after walking in on some students drinking in their dorm room.

According to Tucker, the committee felt that the old punishment of 30 days in CMC was not harsh enough. Instead, the committee decided that the thirty days of living in the basement of Alumni hall, where members of motivational platoon live a Spartan existence for the duration of their punishment, will "knock it through people's heads that drinking will not be tolerated on campus."

As it stands now, the civilian punishment for a VAP is 30 hours of mandatory community service of their choice. According to Heather Allisot, 19, a sophomore architect major from Bath, Maine, "In most cases, the resident advisors get civilian students easy jobs to work off their hours of community service."

The new policy will mandate that civilians must complete their community service hours with the university building and grounds crews.

"If [civilians] talk about having equality on both sides, then they should have just as harsh a punishment as the cadets," said Derek Drouin, 20, a junior international studies major from Nashua, NH. "Both sides are students; why not hold them both to the same standards?"

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