Transports decreased at beginning of school year
Alcohol-related hospital transports at USC from the beginning of the school year through October decreased by 20 percent compared to the same time frame last year.
From August through October there were 40 alcohol-related transports compared to 51 from August 2010 through October 2010.
Dept. of Public Safety Capt. David Carlisle said he hopes the drop is a direct result of education efforts on the part of DPS, particularly the ones focused on the Greek community.
“We’d like to think it’s the impact of the education of our crime prevention staff,” Carlisle said. “Our officers have been reaching out to the Greek community and have conducted a four-hour program with each house.”
Part of the new policy is the designation of risk managers who help ensure parties remain under control on The Row.
“What the [risk managers] do is basically be the people designated to be sober at parties, making sure people don’t overindulge,” Carlisle said. “We emphasize the Trojans Care for Trojans program and this is just an extension of a program that already exists in the residence halls on campus.”
David Crary, a senior majoring in applied and computational mathematics and economics, said the increased emphasis on safety in the Greek community makes its members more cognizant, leading to the decrease in transports.
“Fraternities are being more vigilant about safety, since we understand that transports look bad upon the Greek community as a whole,” Crary said. “Transports shouldn’t even be happening in the first place.”
Mina Saffarian, a freshman majoring in global health and a member of the Greek community, said some members of the Greek community have been more careful this year because they know an increase in transports would reflect negatively on the community.
“We know that if we get more transports, the Greek system could be penalized, which is a strong deterrent from being unsafe at parties,” Saffarian said.
Educating members of the Greek community on the effects of alcohol has been a helpful tool in preventing alcohol-related hospital transports, Saffarian said.
“Greek life education could be very helpful to many new members of the Greek community, since it provides real life scenarios that could help someone if they are ever in that situation,” Saffarian said.
Isabelle Mason, a freshman majoring in international relations (global business), said the embarrassment of being transported to the hospital after excessive consumption encourages students to be safe when drinking.
“Seeing other people being in bad situations and getting transported is a large incentive for most people to be safe while drinking because they would not want to be in that situation themselves,” Mason said.
Carlisle said the decrease in transports does not appear to be a consistent trend, as data for November as of Friday suggests transports occurrence is on track for similar numbers to those of last November.
My son is in the greek system. He even lives in a fraternity house. It is a struggle but he reads the bible every day and knows the bible. The problem here is a lack of faith and a lack of following HIS word. Sorority hussies raised by parents that like to “party party PARTY” . I see them. They walk around in skimpy outfits drinking cheap white wines right out of the bottle. Don’t blame it on my son, when it’s your daughter who acts like a whore. On yes John 52 – im a goof ball parent. A goof ball for the Lord and proud of it!
To the above poster, that has nothing to do with USC and everything to do with greek life. If you have such a huge problem with it, take your daughter out of her sorority but don’t act like it is USC as a whole that is all party party party.
Back in our day, we knew how to handle our alcohol. No one ever got an ambulance ride for too many beers. I’m ashamed of your weak generation!
God help American survive these kids and their goof-ball parents!
As the parent of a freshman student who is involved in greek life, I can say that the stories my child relates to me are horrifying. The use and abuse of alcohol is alarming. Many close calls that go unreported for fear of reprimand. The social culture at USC is all about party party PARTY! Academics in greek life? Not so much. Was unhappy to see the alcohol flowing so freely at recent parent’s weekend in the fraternities. Is this what we are paying so much for?