Two hospitalized after ball

Two students who were taken to the hospital Saturday night after the student-athlete formal for health concerns related to alcohol consumption are in good condition and were released later the same evening, according to Jim Daves, assistant athletic director for media relations.

"[The] athlete was underage," said Daves of one of the students, "and the particular team's coach will file disciplinary action."

The student-athlete and a date arrived at the Crowne Plaza Hotel already intoxicated, attending a house party before the dance. The students were observed in the hotel lobby by dance chaperones who alerted the two off-duty police officers who were hired to coordinate security, said Molly Seaman, Washington Student-Athlete Advisory Council (WSAAC) president.

"Neither [student] even made it to the coat-check," said Seaman.

Based on the advice of the chaperones and police officers, an ambulance was called for the students, she said.

Seaman and Suzanne Steen, a Husky sports nutritionist, accompanied the students to the hospital and stayed with them until they were released several hours later, said Seaman.

Seamen and fellow staff adviser Blake Bidleman, vice president of the WSAAC, made the decision to end the formal early for several reasons, according to Seaman. In addition to the two students who were taken to the hospital, there were several "completely random" people who attempted to gain admittance to the dance, Seaman said.

The formal was organized by the WSAAC, members of which created a security proposal prior to the formal encouraging coaches to review their respective alcohol policies with athletes before the event.

Also included in the security proposal was a provision stating, "No containers will be allowed into the dance."

"We only confiscated two bottles," said Seaman, "and they turned out to be water and Gatorade."

According to Daves, the event itself was in no way at fault for what happened.

"They ran into a problem that is prevalent on all college campuses," said Daves, "the problem of students making poor choices regarding alcohol."

The problem was not widespread, according to Seaman.

"It is unfortunate that the actions of less than one percent of attendees should have repercussions on the vast majority of students who were just there to have a good time," she said.

One athlete, who was at the ball but didn't want to be identified, said many students were "stumbling around" and appeared to be intoxicated.

Tom Burke, Night Audit Manager at the Crowne Plaza, said he witnessed several students who appeared to be so inebriated they were vomiting.

Of the estimated 400 students who attended, most were behaving properly, said Daves, who believes the advisers and the WSAAC representatives took very responsible actions.

"Overall, we handled it in the best way possible, and stopped the event from getting out of control," said Seaman.