Amnesty protocol unlikely to become policy

Supporters of a Good Samaritan policy may find their goal even further out of reach after an official administrative recommendation deemed transforming the existing protocol into a policy unnecessary.

The Promoting Responsible Action in Medical Emergencies protocol — which was established more than a year ago and allows students seeking alcohol-related medical attention for themselves or others to call 911 without fear of university sanction — finished its trial year at the end of the spring semester and was evaluated over the summer by the Office of Student Conduct for its effectiveness.

John Zacker, the office's director, delivered a report yesterday to the University Senate Student Conduct Committee, which handles the issue, stating "there doesn't seem to be a need to modify this protocol for a more formal policy at this point."

Last semester the Office of Student Conduct administered a survey to 1,500 students to determine how much they knew about and how they perceived the protocol, but the Student Conduct Committee won't debate or discuss its findings until October.

Committee Chairwoman Nan Ratner said instead of pushing for a policy change, the committee will work to make the language of the protocol more user-friendly, because it still seems threatening to students.

The committee will then make a recommendation to the full senate, where the protocol's final fate will likely be decided at some point this year. If the senate approves adopting it as a policy, it will have to be signed by university President-designate Wallace Loh and then by the Board of Regents — a 17-member board that sets university system policy.

Zacker and his office made the recommendation after they spent the summer analyzing the survey's data, while also taking into account the increase over the past two years in medical transports for overconsumption of alcohol.

But because the protocol has only been in place for a year, Zacker said it's difficult to determine a cause-and-effect relationship between the spike in calls and the protocol. He said it is unclear whether having the protocol in place has been successful in ensuring students won't hesitate to ask for medical care or is actually an incentive for students to drink more.

"There really is no direct method of determining whether the [Responsible Action Protocol] itself is the cause of an increase in medical transports," Zacker said. "In looking at the numbers of medical transports and the number of students for whom the Responsible Action Protocol was applied, we can't then infer the implementation was a success."

It is that uncertainty that sparks debate between student supporters and those against establishing the formal policy — which would essentially be a get-out-of-jail-free card for students who call for help, committee members said.

The protocol in its current form, however, states that students who call for help — and are drunk or in possession of alcohol — will be judged on a case-by-case basis.

For university undergraduate senator and former President of Students for Sensible Drug Policy Irina Alexander, the issue is simple: As long as there isn't a blanket statement telling students they won't get in trouble under any circumstances, the protocol isn't good enough.

And while committee members maintain the protocol is sufficient, Alexander said administrators can't understand what it feels like to be in a situation that would warrant using the protocol, when choosing to call 911 isn't a snap decision.

"It's so hard to convey to administrators the reality of the situation when there are so many things going on and you have to think about your education and scholarships and consequences and so many things," she said. "We need to make it a simple decision."

But Zacker said in practice, the protocol already protects students, noting his department typically looks favorably on students in judicial proceedings who had acted responsibly under tough circumstances. The protocol was just putting that on paper, he said.

"I'm not particularly caught up with what we call it as long as it promotes students to call when they need it," he said, adding that his department has established a new advertising campaign with the Resident Life Department to tackle the issue of perception.

The campaign slogan is simple: Friends make the call.

"That's what we're looking for," Zacker said. "We're trying to get that message that if you care about your roommate or friend, call 911. Don't wait."

redding at umdbk dot com