Tufts' Spring Fling decision is more than disappointing; it's dangerous. Spring Fling will now be a dry event; that is, no alcohol will be allowed on the premises. This is a direct result of last year's catastrophe: at least 10 Tufts students were hospitalized and there were thirty calls to Tufts Emergency Medical Services for excessive alcohol consumption, according to Ben Gittleson's April 27, 2009 Tufts Daily article, "Spring Fling leads to mass casualty incident." Although I'm sure that the new policy came out of the desire to help students and prevent the disaster of last year, I think this policy is at best useless, and at worst actively dangerous.
The only difference between last year's policy and this year's policy is that now, students over the age of 21 are no longer allowed to bring in alcohol. For underage students, the policy is exactly the same as it was before. A dry Spring Fling will not help in preventing another mass casualty event, and it will not help in preventing underage drinking. This is obvious from the statistics of hospitalized individuals from last year. All the students that needed medical attention were underage, according to Ellen Kan's Feb. 25, 2010 Daily article, "Senate adds voice to Spring Fling discussion." Spring Fling was intended as a dry event for those individuals already. Clearly, making the event completely dry will not prevent overconsumption of alcohol.
However, Tufts can keep Spring Fling a dry event and prevent another mass casualty incident if it follows one other policy: Let students leave and reenter Spring Fling.
Of course, allowing students to leave and reenter Spring Fling may permit some of them to leave and drink. However, when they leave, they will be able to take advantage of the chance to drink water and eat food as well, tempering any alcohol they've had and preventing dehydration. Additionally, they will have the chance to recover from the heat and revelry, away from the crowds and sun. Finally, and most importantly, these students, if they do choose to drink, will be drinking over a longer period of time, during separate sittings. It seems clear that a student who wanted to go to a dry Spring Fling and experience the entire concert under the influence of alcohol would have to drink to excess in one rush, rather than spread out over the several hours.
Tufts cannot prevent students, even underage students, from drinking before the event, but the university can make it safer for everyone.
Even for non-drinkers, Spring Fling can be tiring, and heatstroke is a predictable consequence of four hours in the sun. Each year, there are insufficient supplies of food and water for all the revelers. This is not helpful for students who need to drink water to prevent alcohol poisoning or even heatstroke. If students were allowed to return to their dorms or apartments, they could eat at their leisure and drink plenty of water without fighting a crowd in need of the same.
But how could Tufts bring about a reentry policy at Spring Fling without changing the infrastructure already in place? I think reentry could be simply put into effect though use of hand stamps. Just like at certain clubs (or the Boston Museum of Science), Tufts could buy a standardized set of hand stamps, and then deny reentry to anyone not sporting one. Because we already have police officers stationed at the entrances, we could easily have them stamp individuals on their way out who think they'd like to return.
This policy would be beneficial to any individual who comes to the concert, not just those who consume alcohol before (or during). Tufts would not have to give up the idea of a dry event. But Tufts can keep students and visitors safe by allowing them to leave and reenter the concert. This fix is simple and much cheaper than financing a 21-plus bar area. Thus, Tufts would cut down on dangerous pregaming, keep drinkers and non-drinkers alike safe and solve problems related to scarcity of food and water, simply by instating a policy of reentry at this year's Spring Fling. We all want a fun and safe Spring Fling. Reentry is the best way to achieve that.
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Karen Gerlach is a graduate student in French.
