It’s a situation that many students have experienced personally: A friend has one too many drinks and passes out. His friends must make the decision whether to call for help and risk disciplinary action from the university for their own drunkenness or just wait and hope their friend sleeps it off.
The fact that Boston University poses this dangerous choice to students is proof enough that the administration should adopt a medical amnesty policy. The Student Union has devoted a task force toward developing this initiative, but the proposal has fallen victim to poor communication and disappointing leadership.’ The time for surveys and debates has ended. It’s time for the Union to act.
The Student Union’s lack of progress concerning this vital issue has been troubling. If the Union has been working on this issue for six semesters, then it should be far past the ‘conversation’ stage. Many excuses have been given as to why the medical amnesty initiative has suffered so many setbacks. Blaming previous Union administrations to justify the current lack of progress is unacceptable.
With the start of each semester, initiatives should not have to begin again from scratch. Transitioning from one Union administration to the next does not need to lead to a state of complete disorganization. Union President Matt Seidel talks about the work he did over the summer on the issue, but too much time was wasted this fall as those working on the medical amnesty task force only accomplished what has already been done in the past.
If the leaders of task force initiatives cannot even communicate with other members of the Union about the business at hand, then the only way to bring about action is through a change in leadership. Task force leaders complain that nothing is accomplished when old and new administrations do not communicate with each other. True leaders do not wait for another to take the initiative to contact them.
The Union president needs to ensure that egos do not get in the way of bringing critical issues to the university’s administration as quickly and efficiently as possible. Without proper organization and effective transitions from semester to semester, other important proposals are destined to fail as well. Medical amnesty is too important an issue to be left behind with each new semester. The Student Union has fought hard to convince the student body of the need for a medical amnesty policy. Now is the time to prove they can deliver it.
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still not Socrates
is one going to act morally, ethically, responsibly, appropriately, maturely, and intelligently as any adult should? It seems pretty silly to ask oneself whether to call police or EMS when a fellow human being is in dire medical need, never mind a ‘friend.’ It is amazing that this is a concern of well-educated people. Do students really need to sign a petition so their peers will act responsibly? The question isn’t ‘does one need medical amnesty’; rather the question is how could one possibly live with oneself if that individual dies because you failed to take the appropriate and responsible action called for in that situation, but did not because you were afraid. Afraid of what? BU does not punish people who act responsibly in an emergency. The mark of an adult, even a young adult, is to be responsible for one’s actions.