07/28/2005 Drinking flap results in university policy review   By: Gretchen Webster , Editor   Fairfield University officials met this week to formulate a revised camp policy after nine camp counselors - all but one of them Fairfield University students - were dismissed in a drinking incident. University officials have confirmed that the incident occurred July 12 when the parent of a boy attending an overnight swimming camp came to campus and was accompanied by campus public safety officers to the room were his son was staying. They found the camp counselors together in a room drinking, with the campers gathered in another room where they had placed the call to the parent on their cell phones, Mark Reed, associate vice president and dean of students confirmed Tuesday. "Upon reaching the residence hall, the [campus security] officers found counselors and their supervisor with alcohol and obvious indication that they had been drinking," the university said in a statement released on Monday. "The individuals who were responsible for the campers exercised incredibly bad judgment," Reed said. "It was dealt with swiftly and was resolved immediately." The counselors and their supervisor were escorted off campus and dismissed, according to the university statement. "The counselors who were Fairfield students will be handled through the University's Student Conduct process for violating University rules," the statement said. The press was alerted to the incident late last week by the camper's father who came to campus, who is a resident of Pound Ridge, N.Y. On Monday, Fairfield police said they had investigated the incident but are not planning any arrests in the case, according to Sergeant Ed Greene. The camp is run by U.S. Sports Camps, Inc., headquartered in San Rafael, Calif. Camp officials did not respond to calls before press time. After company officials were notified by the university that the camp would have to be shut down unless a reliable staff was brought in, new counselors were brought in by U.S. Sports Camps, with the university's Department of Residence Life staff supervising during the transition. The swim camp continued, and is now in its third week, Reed said. Reed said the university was satisfied by the company's response to the situation. Among the policy recommendations the university is implementing in the wake of the incident are forging a stronger link between university residence life staff and camp directors, and requiring camps to provide the university with a list of all campers, staff and the rooms to which they are assigned. The university staff will also meet with all incoming campers to explain safety procedures and how to alert the university's Office of Public Safety if there is a problem. This summer there have been 11 sports camps on campus, four of them run by U.S. Sports Camps, university officials said in the statement prepared after their Monday meeting. "We've run camps for many, many years without incidents like this," Reed said. "In light of the overall picture, it has been a very, very positive summer camp experience. "Fortunately, individual campers, although frightened and nervous, were not physically harmed in any way. The safety of the campers was never compromised," Reed said. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14936607&BRD=1653&PAG=461&dept_id= 12717&rfi=6 Back To Guvment Skool Page 7 COPYRIGHT "DUHMAG.COM" 2005