University alcohol incidents top Borough Council agenda

PU officials and students expected to attend tonight’s session

By: Kara Fitzpatrick
   The Borough Council will meet with Princeton University officials tonight in a discussion about the use of alcohol on campus.
   The discussion, which borough officials say will focus heavily on recent reports of elevated alcohol-related incidents, including hospitalizations and sexual assaults, is part of the annual report provided by the Princeton Alcohol and Drug Alliance.
   Borough Council President Peggy Karcher, who serves as the PADA liaison, said university officials expected to attend the meeting include Vice President for Campus Life Janet Dickerson, Chief Medical Officer Danny Silverman and PADA liaison and campus health services psychologist Robert Schiraldi.
   In addition, representatives from eating clubs and resident assistants are expected to attend.
   The conversation follows a meeting last month in which council members voiced concerns over reports that were published in the student newspaper, The Daily Princetonian, indicating that this year’s bicker season — a process by which students are selected for club membership — resulted in an uncommonly high number of alcohol-related incidents.
   Ms. Karcher said last year, the heads of most if not all of the eating clubs signed a letter of intent indicating that the consumption of high levels of alcohol and underage drinking were not acceptable activities on their premises. But, Ms. Karcher said, recent reports indicate otherwise.
   "Certainly a high consumption of alcohol is going on," Ms. Karcher said. "I want to know, not only from the students but also from the (resident assistants), what goes on on campus, what goes on in the dorm rooms."
   Borough Administrator Robert Bruschi said the council is likely to discuss progress the university has made in offering alternative events, as well as efforts by the eating clubs to curtail underage drinking.
   Mr. Bruschi and Ms. Karcher acknowledged the conversation would likely also touch on the issue of sexual assaults on campus.
   The number of sexual assaults is "not yet at a trend level, but it’s at a level we should be concerned so it doesn’t become a trend," Mr. Bruschi said.
   The public hearing and adoption of the 2006 budget, originally slated for tonight, has been continued until the meeting of May 23.
   Tonight’s meeting is scheduled to begin at 7:30 at Borough Hall.