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We extend our condolences to the Washington State University community and the family of Kenneth Hummel, who died this weekend from alcohol poisoning.

The 18-year old Hummel had a blood alcohol reading of 0.40 when he died early Saturday morning. Police found him unconscious in his dorm room, after his peers had called the police.

In the wake of campus alcohol courses, peer intervention groups, extended campus counseling, and more, it is sometimes difficult to understand how nearly 2,000 students die annually from alcohol related injuries. Within the next week, we will begin posting testimonials from college students that answer the questions, “What is the single largest determinant in your drinking? And what most deters you from drinking to excess?”

Choose Responsibility Blog

College students all across the country can be brought up on charges related to underage drinking and other types of student offenses. From time to time, the national media gets its hooks into allegations that arise in college dorms or at frat houses. Recently, allegations out of Tennessee grabbed such headlines after a 20-year-old male student was hospitalized with a blood alcohol level measuring over 0.40 percent.

News reports suggested that a group of students at a fraternity at the University of Tennessee had used an enema containing alcohol. Law enforcement claims that their investigation revealed some suspicion that fraternity members had sought to ingest alcohol through the use of a rubber tube.

Authorities cited twelve members of the fraternity with underage drinking. And one student reportedly is facing a disorderly conduct offense as a result of the police investigation.

But the student who reportedly was hospitalized says that the national media frenzy about the alleged use of the rubber tube as a form of an alcohol enema is simply not true. He says that the false accusations have harmed him.

The young man’s lawyer says that some members of the fraternity may have participated in what is called a “Tour de Franzia,” a game of drinking from several bags of wine, according to CNN. The student at the focus of media reports says that the claims that students used rubber tubes as a form of an alcohol enema are completely untrue.

Ingesting alcohol in such a fashion can be extremely dangerous. The idea is discouraged as it can easily lead to death. Alcohol molecules are absorbed quickly –without the protection of enzymes in the stomach that protect humans. The enzymes reduce the toxicity of the alcohol, an Atlanta doctor told CNN.

Source: News Channel WCTI 12, “UT student denies using alcohol enema,” CNN News, Oct. 2, 2012

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Everett Glenn, a charismatic freshman at Lafayette College, died of alcohol poisoning on Saturday, May 5, 2012. The Huffington Post reported that Glenn was celebrating his 19th birthday just days before the beginning of his final exams. After drinking throughout the afternoon, Glenn returned to his dorm room to sleep where he was later found unresponsive.

While our thoughts are with the entire Lafayette community, and especially with the Glenn family, we are also reminded of the harmful effects of a drinking age that encourages sequestered binge drinking in underage college students.

Choose Responsibility Blog

An op-ed from the Cornell Sun, Cornell’s student newspaper, reflects on the school’s social culture and on the importance of creating safe spaces where alcohol is consumed.

The article, mentioning the Amethyst Initiative, speaks specifically about binge drinking as a result of the restriction of alcohol at student social events.

Choose Responsibility Blog

A sophomore guard at Wake Forest reportedly resigned from the team and withdrew from the university after a North Carolina drunk driving arrest over the weekend. The player was a star freshman last year at the university with high hopes for a continued basketball career.

The young college student reportedly has been charged with driving while impaired and underage DUI after an incident early Saturday morning in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Police claim they found the 19-year-old college sophomore unconscious behind the wheel of a 2000 Lincoln. Police claim the engine was running at the time of the encounter.

The basketball star reportedly submitted a breath sample, which measured .09 percent, in excess of the North Carolina legal limit of .08 percent. However, the Wake Forest sophomore is under the age of 21. North Carolina law has a zero tolerance policy in terms of underage DWI. Law enforcement and prosecutors can seek underage DUI charges based upon any measurable alcohol concentration under North Carolina law.

The accused is scheduled to appear in court on the North Carolina DWI charges on September 28 in Forsyth County. Reports indicate the young man has a separate court date on September 26 in Guilford County on allegations of underage alcohol possession charges.

The former Wake Forest student plans to return to college in the future and hopes to resume his basketball career.

The young man reportedly surrendered his driver’s license after the DWI arrest. He was released based upon a written promise to appear in court September 28.

Source: Winston-Salem Journal “Basketball player J.T. Terrell leaving Wake Forest after DWI charge,” Dan Collins, Sept. 7, 2011

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