We've entered the "red zone," the crazy first five weeks of the semester when some students feel it necessary to get so trashed that they have to be transported to the hospital. This year, however, it's worse than ever. Apparently the Class of 2010 (and, yes, thanks to your Facebook group, we know you party hard) can now boast one of the highest transport rates in recent years.
One point of interest is that in all of these partying-turned-stomach pumping incidents, students were partying off campus. Although it's better that freshmen weren't partying in the dorms (AU is still a dry campus), it means that the super-drunken partying was most likely facilitated by upperclassmen. It's disconcerting to think of upperclassmen getting freshmen drunk in the first place, but just plain sketchy to think of upperclassmen encouraging freshmen to drink themselves ill.
In all seriousness, remember the consequences. Though AU won't call the police when students need a transport, underage drinking is illegal. Students who are transported have to call their parents and tell them what happened and face a session with Judicial Affairs, which often leads to drug counseling. Too many transports can lead to forced participation in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and expulsion from residence halls.
If freshmen are smart enough to make it to college at AU in the first place, they should be smart enough to know that a frat party isn't the place to learn your limits.
And that getting your stomach pumped just isn't classy.
