Seniors Elsbeth Paige-Jeffers and Rory Brinkmann gave a presentation in favor of a proposal advocating gender-neutral housing to the Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) at its Wednesday night meeting. For the full story, please see "Doubles policy now gender neutral."
The proposal states, "Upperclassmen housing should be determined in a gender-blind lottery and students should be able to choose their living situation regardless of gender identity."
"Students are mature enough to make these decisions," said Paige-Jeffers.
"I'm glad we've got to a phase where something could be done," said Class of 2010 Representative Rutledge Long. "I'd really like to see us support this unanimously."
In the second half of the BSG meeting, President Mike Dooley '10 asked for ideas and suggestions about how to prevent more hard alcohol-related transports to the hospital.
So far, 19 students have been transported to local hospitals for alcohol-related emergencies as compared to 17 in the 2008-09 academic year.
"It's crucial that the recent trends of alcohol-related hospital transports be reversed as soon as possible," wrote Dooley in an e-mail to the Orient. "If we continue down the path we are currently on, it's only a matter of time before something tragic occurs."
"It appears to me that we as a community have drifted from our sense of mutual responsibility," said Dooley, when asked if the increase in transports reflects a change in students' attitudes toward drinking.
Long proposed that a possible explanation for the increase in alcohol transports: a disproportionate number of people that studied away came back with a "bigger party mindset."
There was further discussion about the hard alcohol policy and the increased presence of the Brunswick Police Department (BPD) on campus.
According to the Brunswick Times Record, the BPD received a $12,000 state grant from the Communities Against Substance Abuse (CASA) that will allow local officers to step up enforcement of underage drinking laws, as well as increase education on the subject.
"Bowdoin Security is being undermined by Brunswick police," said Shana Natelson '10 at the BSG meeting.
A "more responsible step for administration than calling the police on us should be to educate students about hard liquor," Long said.
"It's counterproductive to blame the administrations," said Class of 2011 Representative Hannah Bruce. "It's our friends and peers who are drinking and going to the hospital."
Bruce suggested starting a campus-wide campaign to address the issue.
Dooley ended the meeting by summarizing the various ideas proposed by the discussion to resolve the problem: an awareness campaign, "low-chem" events and peer-health demonstrations among others.
According to Vice President for BSG Affairs Anirudh Sreekrishnan '12, since there were no proposals, a formal BSG agenda of the night was not printed in order to save paper.