In the past several years, administrators have observed a baffling increase in the number of students taking advantage of the amnesty clause-the portion of the alcohol policy that prohibits disciplinary action against students who seek medical attention for alcohol-related illnesses.
Under the amnesty clause, 42 students avoided disciplinary action last year, compared with 33 in 1997-1998 and only 24 in the 1996-97 academic year. So far this year, the clause has been invoked 24 times.
"It always is difficult to pinpoint the reason for statistical increases, particularly with the 'amnesty' numbers," said Kacie Wallace, associate dean for judicial affairs. "Our hope is always that students are calling for help out of concern for their peers' health and safety, not just because it will shield them from judicial follow-up."
The clause, found in the "Health and Safety Intervention" section of the Duke University Alcohol Policy, states that, "information obtained during the delivery of medical treatment (including the actual transport of a student to obtain treatment) will not be used to bring disciplinary action under the Alcohol Policy against that individual or against a group or members of a group who assist the student in obtaining medical treatment, provided that the student/group has not violated any other (non-alcohol) university policy."
Jack Hol, coordinator of Duke Rescue and a Trinity senior, said the vast majority of amnesty cases involve students who receive attention, not the people who report them.
"Most people do not know about the amnesty clause and only hear about it when we tell them in a call," Hol said. "We have had many circumstances where we have been dispatched to a call and found that the patient's friends had whisked the person away to an unknown location, trying needlessly to avoid legal problems."
But Trinity sophomore Alison Benton says students are informed about the amnesty clause. "If someone is in need of medical attention, my RA told us that that person is not going to get in trouble [if EMS is called]," she said.
Krishna Gumidyala, Trinity senior and a resident adviser on West Campus, agreed that RAs try to inform their students about the amnesty policy. "Obviously, RAs are concerned about the safety of their residents," she said. "However, I haven't noticed any policy changes that would relate to a change in statistics."
Because it does not seem that students are abusing this policy and because it does not seem that students are more aware of the policy than in years past, administrators have been left grasping for reasons for the increase.
Sue Wasiolek, assistant vice president for student affairs, raised the possibility that students are simply drinking more. "Any increase in the number of students engaging in abusive consumption of alcohol is very troubling," she said.
Wallace remained reluctant to pinpoint a cause for the increase in amnesty cases. She cited statistics showing that last year's 188 alcohol violations, 13 percent higher than average, still composed the average 41 percent of total judicial violations.
"It is hard to know whether the increase in [amnesty] numbers necessarily means an increase in drinking or if it indicates that students are more willing to call for help," she said.
Wasiolek and Wallace agree that the alcohol policy is not to blame in this situation.
"It is clear that just modifying the alcohol policy will not necessarily change behavior," Wasiolek said. "Somehow, we need to focus on all of the other aspects on the alcohol culture on campus."
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