With Halloween weekend approaching, University of Connecticut faculty urged students to consume alcohol safely and look out for each other’s safety in an email sent Tuesday afternoon. (Creative Commons/Kyle Sullivan)
University of Connecticut faculty urged students to consume alcohol safely and look out for each other’s safety during Halloween weekend in an email sent Tuesday afternoon.
The email was sent on behalf of Associate Vice President of Student Affairs Eleanor Daugherty and Executive Director of Student Health Services Suzanne Onorato. It advised students to “make thoughtful choices that will continue to support [their] success and the well-being of our UConn community.”
“When students engage in high-risk behavior around alcohol and drug use, it negatively affects the UConn community as a whole — from the overall quality of the UConn experience, to our reputation with our neighbors and the surrounding community and ultimately to the long term health and safety, and success, of our students,” the email said.
The email offered suggestions to help students stay safe during Halloween weekend, such as not accepting drinks from strangers and watching drinks at all times, or choosing not to drink.
It also advised students to pace themselves if they decide to consume alcohol.
“Drinking too much, too fast by doing shots and drinking mixed drinks, such as ‘jungle juice,’ is extremely dangerous,” the email said.
The email recommended students plan a safe way to travel back and forth from events and avoid traveling alone.
“Choosing to protect our pack is a real concern at UConn where we know that 26 percent of college students nationally report engaging in high-risk drinking,” the email said.
The email said though many students at UConn choose not to participate in excessive alcohol use or high-risk behaviors, the consequences may be “devastating” for those who do.
“According to the National Institutes of Health, excessive drinking among college students is associated with a variety of negative consequences that include fatal and severe nonfatal injuries both to yourself and to others,” the email said.
The email recommended students never leave a seriously intoxicated person alone.
It provided symptoms of alcohol poisoning including unresponsiveness, vomiting while passed out, a slow heart rate, 10 or less breaths per minute, a skin color change due to hypothermia and eyes rolled back in head.
“Call 911 for a friend who is in need of immediate medical assistance,” the email said. “Accessing medical assistance for a person suffering from over-consumption of alcohol and/or drugs must be the first priority over any other consideration.”
The email noted the substance-free events which UConn has planned for Halloween weekend, including Late Night events on Friday, Oct. 27 and Saturday, Oct. 28 in the Student Union.
On Friday, Oct. 27, Late Night will have karaoke, Halloween laser tag, attack zombie photos, a costume contest, sticky hands, candy bags, make-your-own stress balls and the movies “Halloween” and “Hocus Pocus.”
On Saturday, Oct. 28, Late Night will have “stuff a zombie” and seasonal candy bags. They will play the movie “It.”
BOOBog will take place on Monday, Oct. 30 from 2 to 5 p.m. It will have fall activities and crafts, such as mini pumpkins to paint and fall foods.
The fall foods will include pumpkin spice lattes, apple cider donuts and candy corn. The movie “Spirited Away” will play.
Gabriella DeBenedictis is a staff writer for The Daily Campus. She can be reached via email at gabriella.debenedictis@uconn.edu.
