What was supposed to be a night filled with innocent candy consumption, quickly turned into a dreadful halloween horror story early Sunday morning.
The security officers on the Manhattan College campus were put to work early Sunday morning when a twenty year old female student belligerently stumbled inside the East Hill dorm after what appeared to be a reckless night out.
Halloween has been known to be the beloved holiday in which children of all ages dress up in their favorite costumes and parade door-to-door to collect an excessive amount of free candy. In the college world however, if you ask any student their definition of this holiday you may find students, typically females, dodging sweets at all costs in order to fit into skin tight pieces of thinly cut fabric, their idea of costumes.
The halls of East Hill were patrolled hourly from 9pm to 1am. There were no signs of mischief, misbehavior, or any form of mishap. The halls remained surprisingly quiet, that is until herds of students came back from their hallows eve festivities.
Residence life professional staff, Mollie Otto states, “The RA rounds are starting too early. The halls are going to be quiet because people are getting ready to go out. It is between 12 and 2am that students really start to get more rowdy either in their dorm rooms, or upon returning.” Otto states that when she was an RA at her former institution, Saint Mary’s College in Minnesota, she was mandated to do rounds from 12-2am on weekends.
Makeup smeared, with eyes flickering open and closed, Mary Smith lied vertically on the couch of the first floor in the East Hill Lobby. After witnessing the student literally falling through the door, officer Scott immediately called the resident assistant on duty to investigate the scene.
“This building usually doesn’t have many students making hospital runs frequently on weekends, but I guess with the holiday the kids are getting more out of control, they don’t realize how much danger then can actually be putting themselves in,” states Scott.
When the resident assistant arrived, she began to ask Smith simple questions like her name and room number to see if she was able to comprehend and answer correctly. The student was able to say her name in a slow fashion, but did not respond to the other questions. She held a plastic bag beside her in case she became ill again.
Smith was surrounded by an entourage of friends who appeared to be relatively sober and willing to help their friend who was serious need. One male sat beside Smith offering her water and comfort.
The resident assistant proceeded to ask Smith’s friend, Junior, Katie Roe, for Smith’s identification number and past experiences with alcohol. Apparently Smith had not eaten that day and had begun drinking early on. She had made an impromptu decision to go out to a local house party that night where alcohol was being served and proceeded to consume far more than her limit permitted.
“She usually does not drink up to this point. We all wanted to let loose and have some for halloween, just like any other student, but it got to the point where Mary couldn’t move. She was falling all over the place, and it started to get scary, we knew we had to get her help,” stated Roe.
Minutes later the resident director on duty for the north side of campus, Liz Gibbons, evaluated Smith. It was clear that an ambulance was needed to be called immediately, and a trip to the hospital was in order.
Within minutes the paramedics wheeled in a stretcher and Smith was told to lie down.
“Stop giving her water, she’s just going to throw it up,” shouted one of the paramedics to Smith’s friend as he lifted her onto the chair.
Friend Katie Roe volunteered to accompany Smith to the Allen Pavilion hospital in the Bronx. When ever a resident is being sent to the hospital it is mandatory procedure that either the roommate or a friend accompanies the person in need of medical care.
After Smith was wheeled out of the building and taken to the hospital, RD Liz proceeded to call Smith’s emergency contact, which in this case was her mother.
There were four other incidents in the East Hill building alone between the hours of 12 and 3am that involved trips to the hospital. In comparison to last years holiday, trips to the hospital in the East Hill building this year alone doubled. In Horan, the neighboring dorm, there were also three hospital trips made early Sunday morning.
Since the student was illegally consuming alcohol off campus she will be charged accordingly by MC residence life board, and could be facing a mandatory alcohol awareness course, and other sanctions that will not be so sweet.
No comments:
Post a Comment