Night receptionists are trained to assess a resident’s health when they enter a residence hall, said Charlie Thompson-Orsua, Residence Life assistant director for staff selection and training.

Staff members look for signs of alcohol poisoning including incoherency, confusion and inability to answer questions such as, “Where are you,” and “What is your room number,” said Natisha Adams, coordinator of the night receptionist program.

“It’s really a case-by-case basis,” she said.

If a student appears to be in immediate danger, or putting others in danger, police could be called, she said. If a student shows signs of alcohol poisoning, the mentors on duty are called, Adams said.

Mentors are trained to look at who the resident is with, whether they know who they are and if they are able to take care of themselves, Thompson-Orsua said. In a chain-of-command process that takes a few minutes, they decide whether to contact a hall director or assistant hall director, who would then decide whether to call the MSU Police Department or an ambulance, he said.

In the 2008-09 academic year, 572 total cases of alcohol-related incidents were reported in the dormitories, a decrease from 608 the year before, Residence Life director Paul Goldblatt said.

But some students, such as premedical freshman Jeffrey Karson, question whether the policies create dangerous alternatives. An underage student might choose another less safe option to avoid the possibility of getting busted in the dorms, he said.

“It’s ridiculous we have to fear coming into the dorms,” he said. “If (students) come home at least they’re going to be safer.”

Prenursing freshman Amanda Maher said she has heard stories of people being afraid to return to the dormitories after drinking.

“I definitely knew people that have stayed in sketchy places because they’re afraid to go back and get in trouble,” she said.

But Thompson-Orsua said the benefits of a check-in process outweigh the drawbacks. Residence Life staff members should watch for students, and having no system would destroy the idea of security, he said.

“There might be some consequence. I would prefer that to not having a security system where any person could come and go out of the dorms,” Thompson-Orsua said.

Night receptionists use discretion in allowing students to pass, communication senior and night receptionist Autumn Maison said. They receive 12 hours of training and are able to judge levels of intoxication, she said.

“It’s definitely just a level of common sense,” Maison said. “We’re all college students, too — we’ve seen it in our friends.”

Someone who hasn’t been drinking and can spot alcohol poisoning is better equipped to notice danger, said Kent Yaney, an emergency room resident at Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital.

“If you can’t arouse them, it’s an emergency,” he said. “We were all in college, but it’s nothing to joke about.”