The Tufts Community Union Senate's recent focus on the problems associated with excessive student drinking has highlighted another dilemma on campus: our Health Service's limited hours. We applaud the Senate's efforts to expand the hours of Health Service and recognize that our student representatives have long been fighting this battle.
There are two principle problems to be resolved here. First of all, money ought to be prioritized so that at least one staff member can be in the Health Service center during the day on Sunday. Several other NESCAC schools have either a registered nurse on duty during the weekends or limited hours of operation on Saturday and Sunday. Students do not get sick on a strictly Monday through Saturday basis, and ailments such as tonsillitis or an acute ear infection should be treated immediately but do not necessitate a trip to the ER.
The second predicament will require a more nuanced solution. Should Health Service be available for overly-intoxicated students on Friday and Saturday nights so that those partiers will not have to call Tufts Emergency Medical Service (TEMS)?
This option might solve what appears to be a disturbing trend at Tufts: students are growing reticent to call TEMS because they know that a simultaneous write-up will be filed with the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD). A Friday and Saturday night presence at Health Service might also cut down on trips to Lawrence Memorial Hospital.
While we recognize the need for Tufts to provide safe and reliable help to those students who have drank to the point of poisoning, we don't believe that the general alcohol policy at Tufts should be radically changed. If a student becomes so intoxicated that he needs medical attention more than once per semester, he should not be protected from reprimand.
The biggest advantage of extended evening weekend hours for Health Service would be a reduction of trips to Lawrence Memorial. If students could be evaluated by a professional on campus, the number of expensive ambulance trips to Medford would be cut. We also would be able to avoid some of the community resentment stemming from incidents involving inebriated and obnoxious drunk Tufts students in local emergency rooms. Dealing with too-drunk Jumbos here on campus would be a way to keep our problems in the family.
It is important to remember, however, that all of these hypothetical situations are just that: hypotheticals. Acquiring funding to staff Health Service late into the night on the weekend won't be easy, but finding that money should be a main concern for administrators.
At the very least, we should be able to find a few bucks in order to keep a nurse on duty for a few hours on Sundays. If the Eaton computer lab is available until 4 a.m. Sunday night, can't we get some health care from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.?
